Now I am not one to hate the player, nor the game for that matter, but I can't help but think Silva was exposed a bit in the fight against Sonnen. He is no doubt about it a great fighter and a beast with his hands and feet when he is on point, but on point he was not. Silva had never been through a beating like the one he took Saturday and he looked worse for the wear afterward.
Silva has been known as the best striker in MMA for some time now and that did not seem the case as he was rocked several times by the wrestler Chael Sonnen. With a showing like he put in against Chael it would seem very likely that if he were to have been granted the Boxing match against RJJ that he so desperately wanted that he would have been knocked out cold.
Vitor Belfort has recently been chiming to Dana White asking for the fight against Silva that he lost out on due to injury tweeting: "Dana please give me the fight that every one wants to see. This fight will be the fight of the century. Give me Anderson." It seems to me that he may be so anxious to get at Anderson because of the flawed performance he put in Saturday. Belfort's light bulb probably lit up brightly when he thought of the staggered state that Silva was in after punches from Sonnen. If Sonnen would not have tired and gotten a bit sloppy with his ground and pound while leaving his neck and arm available for the wrenching, he would be the new Middleweight Champion.
Anderson and his camp have come forward and revealed that Silva's ribs were injured and he went to work anyways. Now that Silva is out until 2011 recovering from said injuries he will have the chance to fully heal and make people like me eat my words when he steps back in the cage. Until then the Middleweight contenders are probably foaming at the mouth watching tape of Mr. Silva taking a drubbing by the Republican master of shit talking, Chael Sonnen.
2 comments:
I don't think he was exposed. He is a great striker with decent BJJ. He isn't a wrestler, not to say he is awful at it though. In hindsight, here is the scenario:
- Fans and Dana White had put great pressure on Silva's style... any form of evasion (however valid) was gonna be immediately looked at negatively. So he was gonna be limited in how he could keep distance.
- Silva's grandma that he was close to passed on 3 weeks prior (so I hear), which would have a significant toll.
- Silva had bruised/damaged ribs leading into the fight that a doctor told him to not fight with. With Sonnen calling him out saying he has run from him for four years he still chose to go in.
Keeping the above in mind, he met with an opponent who had a very good plan and executed it very well. Chael is definitely no slouch and he did strike with some impressive speed and accuracy on his feet, even catching a Silva kick turning it into a takedown.
Did Sonnen rock Silva badly? I don't think so. He did get a bit staggered on the first hit, but seemed to regain composure very fast and duck away from the immediate next strikes. Possibly the follow up hits had a dazing affect but I think he ate more hits and bigger hits when on the ground... yet he had no problems heading to his corner and coming out for each round.
In terms of Silva's wrestling, his rib injury would definitely have affected any wrestling of his own and his ability to escape from Sonnen's clutch. After all he needed to protect that side and not give it away to Sonnen that it was injured.
To say Silva's striking looked bad - I wouldn't go that far. He hit Sonnen hard when he did and with some good speed, power and precision. His elbow strike staggered Sonnen and his kicks to Sonnen's midsection would have hurt a lot. At one point Silva's striking looked to have Sonnen in trouble although when it went to ground with Silva on top, Sonnen switched him without problem.
Would this have happened if Silva had no injury? I don't know.
Part of the reason Sonnen was able to hit him is because Silva had to watch out for takedowns. This significantly alters the way you would strike... a boxing match against RJJ wouldn't involve that.
I also disagree he looked very bad after the fight, due to damage taken in the fight. I'd say Chael looked more damaged on the face and was the one bleeding during the bout.
But yes, I do think that this might have broken a lot of people's ideas that Silva had become untouchable. It may have given challengers hope where before they had none.
Hats off to both fighters for a great effort.
To me this fight only exposed Anderson to be as unbeatable as I tough he was. To come into a fight with such a significant injury like a rib injury with one goal and one goal only, to keep his promise and submit Sonnen (best wrestler in the division)or loose his title.This was a promised vs a promise and Anderson snatched Chael's dads promise right out of Chael's hands two minutes away from victory.Now that is impressive, next time around Anderson wins by devastating Ko. Anderson "The Spider" Silva Middleweight Champion of the World and best p4p on the planet. NOGUEIRAS BROTHERS JIU JITSU!!! follow by a smile that says"Respect it"
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