Seneca the Younger attributes to Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus – that’s Caligula, if you forgot Roman History 101 – the saying: Allow them hate, so long as they dread. Not too long ago, these sentiments had been every thing Anderson Silva was not. He is scary, certainly, and deservingly so: Anderson Silva might be simply the best pound for pound fighter – better than even Fedor and GSP. He is a striker without equal, and armed with a deceptive soil game as nicely. With no a doubt, he is among the most feared MMA fighter in the world today. The hate though, that’s a new thing.
His work aside (exactly where he knocks individuals out regularly), Silva seems to be a fairly cheerful person. He’s often is soft-spoken and frequently well intentioned whenever speaking about his peers, and would routinely bow to them before their matches. He owns an infectious grin that belies his vicious persona within the Cage, and this duality he’s been cast in the role of the villain for his antics in the Octagon recently.
This duality isn’t much more apparent in his main event vs Patrick Cote; the fight was pretty even right up until Cote injured his ACL early within the third round, forcing him to concede the fight, prematurely ending the match. Visibly upset at the boos becoming directed at his opponent, Silva admonished the crowd, in essence expressing that Cote was entitled to more than that, simply because it was nevertheless a great fight, till that sickening moment when his calf betrayed him. Some people would say a win’s a win, but that moment showed how classy Anderson Silva could be.
But public approval of him began to sour right after the Thales Leites fight in UFC 97 – the very first time any of his fights were decided by the judges. Both men were booed for being cautious, but Silva was uncharaceristically mindful in the course of the fight en-route to some win. Things peaked in UFC 112, the infamous Demian Maia battle, where Silva dominated Maia in the very first couple of rounds but pretty much refused to engage in the following 3, dancing around and generally avoiding contact. Despite winning once again by way of Unanimous Choice, Dana White called Silva’s overall performance “an embarrassment”, casting doubts on the Brazilian superstar’s heart and attitude, even going as far as to say that Silva doesn’t “deserve” to fight Gsp.
And now in UFC 117, Silva is going up versus his most expressive detractor, Chael Sonnen, and the UFC may be hyping Sonnen up as the man to beat Silva… just like they hyped up everyone else prior. And like everybody else, he will fail. Look into his most recent fights: the only fighters that posed a risk were Brazilian JiuJitsu artists; each other fighter, he puts to sleep. While he has a great wrestling background, Sonnen is ultimately flawed, and whose dependence on Lay and Pray brings out his greatest weakness: he can’t knock folks out. And give some thought to how great Silva is in taking non-submission punishment: he took a beating about the soil from Dan Henderson in UFC 82, but he still hung on to win, and by a choke, no less.
Long story short, Sonnen has a terrible matchup with Silva; styles make fights, and his style is a thing that Anderson Silva just breezes through. But that’s apparently what Dana White wants. Silva is too good a fighter to overcommit to some BJJ practitioner, which makes the struggle “boring”. So the UFC is pitting him against Sonnen – and later Jake Shields – due to the fact they’ll stand up with him. Is that a bad point? It definitely depends on wherever you sit; the UFC is carrying out for Silva what Floyd Mayweather Jr. did: only choosing the very best fights, not fighters, for him. They’re fascinating as hell, but with the outcome all but assured, they truly do not resolve anything. I’ll watch UFC 117 online, without a doubt… but even betting men ought to feel a bit guilty picking Anderson Silva. But then again, they’d be pretty silly not to.
