Apr 11, 2010

Anderson Silva: The Man, the Myth, the Arrogant


By Hobson Lopes

If you’re a fan of mixed martial arts, then you’ve obviously heard of Anderson Silva. The current Middleweight champion, who has won eleven straight fights in the UFC, including six title fights is considered one of the best pound for pound fighters in the sport. That debate in recent years has included UFC Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, and Fedor Emelianenko. If you’re a fan of Silva’s as I am, you are probably extremely frustrated about the lack of excitement in his recent fights.
Minus his fight against Forrest Griffin at UFC 101 in August, his last three Middleweight title defenses have gone a combined thirteen lackluster rounds. Those fights, against Patrick Cote, Thales Leites, and Demian Maia, are fights that Silva knew going in, he was the better fighter. In each fight, it only took one round for Silva to realize that he could win those fights at any moment.
What happened in the Leites fight had a lot to do with Leites being afraid to make a mistake and get knocked out. But in the Maia fight, Silva was toying with him and showboating most of the time. He was obviously the better fighter, but instead of finishing Maia off, like UFC President Dana White would have wanted, he wanted to dance.
It is almost as though Silva has grown tired of beating his opponents quickly. In his first seven fights in the UFC, Silva won five by knockout, and two by submission, in only ten rounds. His last four fights have gone fourteen total rounds, with one knockout, two decisions, and one win by injury.
White believes Vitor Belfort, the original opponent in the Maia fight, is the only legitimate contender for the Middleweight title. However, Belfort hasn’t done anything in recent years to even deserve the title shot. What White needs to do before the fans start to walk away from ordering UFC pay per view cards with Silva on them, is set up a mega fight with St-Pierre. St-Pierre has gone through his weight class in much the same way Silva has. Matching these two legends will make for an exciting fight. They would be facing the toughest opponents of their careers. Silva will get an opponent who won’t be scared of him, and will attack, and all MMA fans will finally be able to see who the best in the world is.