When Pride Causes You to Fall

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Saturday night I hung out with the hubster into the wee morning hours to watch the Silva vs Weidman UFC fight.  I'll admit I've never watched UFC before and I was there more for the people watching than the fight watching but it was a fun night out with my man.

For those of you that are UFC challenged, like myself, I have learned recently that it is a big deal when Anderson Silva comes into the ring. Silva has held the longest title defense streak in UFC history (until Saturday), with 17 consecutive wins and 10 title defenses. *  So, we can agree to agree that Anderson Silva is a good - if not excellent - fighter, right?

When Anderson Silva got into the ring on Saturday night, I saw someone that was sure of his strength and ability to take down his opponent.  He knew he was good...so much in fact that he began to taunt Weidman.  He would bounce around and let Weidman take free hits while his hands were down at his side - he was surely playing a game with him.  After the 1st round, I was sure that Silva would enter the next round and throw those awesome knock out punches that I had only heard about from the spectators around me.  But, he didn't....

He continued to play with his enemy - taunting him - thinking he was too good of a fighter to be taken out by this guy.  To me, he seemed very prideful and arrogant (although I realize that he very well may not be this way in real life but that is how I portrayed him by his actions that night).  He knew he was good and his pride got the best of him.

Then, the unexpected happened in a split second - his opponent punched him and down he went with a thud.  He was out and Weidman is now known as the first man to knock out Anderson Silva in MMA competiton.  In a split second, he ended Silva's seventeen fight undefeated streak since 2006.

"Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall" Proverbs 16:18

After the fight, I started thinking....I wonder how Mr. Silva feels now.  Ashamed?  Embarrassed?  I can only imagine that he regrets playing around with his opponent and not going in and fighting like he has been trained.  His pride lead to destruction of his winning streak. 

Like Silva, we are in a battle, but ours is different.  It is daily and one that we don't wrestle with flesh & blood but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in the dark world, and against evil spirits. (Ephesians 6:12).  We must train daily in the Word and exercise our faith and prayer life so that we are prepared for our fight.  We cannot become prideful in our life walk - we must humble ourselves before the Lord on a daily basis.  It is not our ability but HIS ability through us that helps us defeat our enemy.