Who Can Blame Anderson Silva? I Sure Can.
Since Anderson Silva’s extremely disappointing UFC 97 showing two general arguments have emerged regarding his performance. The first puts the blame on UFC matchmaking and more specifically Thales Leites for not pressing Silva to the point where he even needed to fight a real fight. The second lambastes Silva for wasting an opportunity to finish an opponent who clearly could have been executed by the third round. While I cannot disregard Leites’ role in what can only be described as an epic failure, I am undeniably more inclined to side with the latter argument. Put simply, I blame Silva. No excuses.
Could you at least try to fight, please?
When I think about Anderson Silva’s decision to display leg punching and occasional pop n’ lock moves on Saturday night as opposed to legitimate combat, I can’t help but recall something my father used to say to my brothers and I when we were younger. Whether it was little league, math class (I still have nightmares), or learning how to drive, pops would always say “I don’t care if you fail, I only care if you don’t try”. That echoing phrase in the back of my mind sums up my rationale for being so disgusted with Silva. I don’t care if The Spyder ever finishes another opponent again, I am concerned and bothered by the fact that twice now, Silva has looked as if he had everything else in the world but fighting on his agenda when he took center stage in the main event of a $44.95 pay-per-view.
It is his job, after all
Let me ask you something, could you walk into your job tomorrow and half-ass it all day just because you feel that the tasks at hand are too easy and beneath you? Perhaps you could get away with that for a little while depending on where you work, but eventually you’d get canned (especially in this economy) without so much as a decent reference. My point is that Anderson Silva is an employee of the UFC, and just like any other type of employee he has a job description, albeit more implied than written. Silva’s job is to utilize his talents in an effort to defeat an opponent, regardless of how lousy that opponent may be. Sadly, The Spyder has clearly forgotten this simple credo somewhere along the line.
Even if our champion is not concerned with entertaining fans, the obligation to his employer remains the same. When the now infamous Kalib Starnes ran away from Nate Quarry for three rounds, no one blamed Quarry for his goofy (and glorious) antics because it was obvious that Quarry was trying to engage and attack his opponent. The same could not have been said for Silva in his last two outings.
I don’t care who he is
Some have said that because he is our undisputed god-like middleweight champion, Anderson Silva is held to a less strict standard than the average UFC Joe. Well that is complete and utter B.S. If anything, champions should be held to an even higher standard, to perform to the very best of their ability no matter who flops on the canvas and pulls guard in front of them all night. Let’s be honest, if an unknown, up and coming fighter who the UFC took a chance on phoned in the same performance that Silva did, he would be cut faster than Nicole Brown in ’94 Brock Lesnar from the Minnesota Vikings.
Explain how being the champion warrants any leniency regarding atrocious performances. You get paid significantly better, earn much more sponsorship money, and most importantly the UFC puts their brand name behind you 100% in terms of building pay-per-views, public appearances, etc. Your title as a UFC champion provides the opportunity to earn and enjoy an enormous variety of endorsement deals and perks that other common men could only dream of. Don’t take that for granted.
The bottom line
If we are being fair, we cannot expect Anderson Silva to put a severe beating on every single opponent that steps in front of him. However if nothing else we should expect, and deserve, to see a fighter do the very thing that comprises the prefix of his title. If they can’t (or won’t) do that, why are they even practicing the sport, let alone on the UFC’s esteemed roster.
Tags: Anderson Silva
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amen to that! i think that Tim Sylvia was another title holder that never really tried. i just wish Rich Franklin wouldnt have gotten destroyed in both fights…Rich was always a game champion.
Ask yourself this one question, who was the challenger and who was trying to win the title? It wasn’t Silva, and what sense would it make for the “defending” champion to play into the strengths of his challenger? Why isn’t anyone throwing verbal grenades at Leitis for not trying to engage the champion and “take” the title. Same rules that apply in professional boxing do carry over into most fighting sports and that one rule that matters n a title fght s the challenger must be the aggressor and TAKE the title not submit a form and ask for it to be handed to them.
Umm…it’s because they had someone bet on Laites going the distance with Silva.
This is quite obvious and easy to figure out.
Fighter A tells Person A to make a bet on a decision victory by Silva.
Person A deposits his winnings into a bank.
Person A takes out small increments and gives to Fighter A’s best friend (Person B).
Person B takes money and funnels it to Fighter A.
I believe that will about do it for Vegas odds manipulation. It happens all the time and Silva couldn’t deny the payout after it worked the first time.
Its possible, but thats a whoooole other article Dannyboy.
Completely agreed. Way to bring in a Nicole Brown reference also, lol.
This was hands down the worst UFC fight I’ve ever seen. Worse than The Battle of the Knees between Brandon Vera and Tim Sylvia. I didn’t think anything could be more boring than that, and I’ve now been proven wrong.
ufc 9 shamrock severn but i get ur point haha i stayed up til 6 in the mornin for leites to lie down 14 times was ridiculas an now theres a chance liddell is retiring but i hopw tht they keep him actually in ufc in some way or form on a higher note krystof sozynski (no clue on the spelling haha) was awsome an so was kongo, kongo should get title shot by end of 09 i think, possibly pit kongo and carwin an winner recieves shot?
i just dont understand how you guys can blame silva for comeing up with a completely one sided victory over a man who easily finishes in the top 8 mid div. silva showed pin point strikeing like he does in all his fights the only diffrence in the last 2 were that he was in fights were his opposition were men with ridiculously solid chins who could have ended silvas reign ether being a quick ko by cote or a takedown by leitus during any overcomitted flury.
thenicole broen reference wasnt funny, it was a very well written piece and presented good arguments. another one that hasnt been mentioned is if silva took it easy on leites because he didnt want to destroy a fellow brazilian. leites didnt give silva many chances to hurt him, but silva did bloody leites in the third round.
Oh god…a fighter got a bloody nose so it was good enough?
This is what I’ve been trying to argue for two days now. He’s just less abrasive than me (And a lot more gifted a writer).
I am more insulted by his real comments after the fight that were not translated properly.
Since I personally don’t know Portuguse. What exactly did he say???
There are some suspicions about the “more accurate” translations actually being more accurate.
That tells me alot Justin. Hahahahaha
Allegedly Silva was slightly less flattering to Leites and less apologetic than Soares made him out to be, but that “more accurate” translation was called into question, and I can’t find it where I had seen it initially. Also, Soares was on Junkie radio yesterday and denied those claims that he wasn’t accurate in his translation. He also said that Silva can now understand most English that is spoken to him, he’s just not quite confident to speak English himself, but he’s working on it.
Well put. I’ve never seen Fedor have fun with opponents before, regardless of how legit they are. Get in there and get it done. I have a feeling this may be his way of going after Roy Jones Jr. Get canned from the UFC and move on to the next challenge. It’s just too bad I paid top dollar for a ticket to see him spar with an unworthy opponent for five rounds.
Interesting that RJ jr. should be a tie in. Roy’s claim was that he always knew he might never walk out of the ring the same way he walked in. He had a buddy, Gerald McClelland, who slipped into a coma after a championship match and never recovered. That fear influenced the way Roy controlled a lot of the match making that was done. He ended up being one of the most apprehensive dominant champions of all-time. Days before the Silva-Leites fight, Silva was quoted using sentiments near exact to those of RJ jr. It used to be that Silva couldn’t wait to get in the ring. As his streak and mythology grows he may have started wondering how he’s ever going to get out of the ring.
Silva vs. Rampage
I just wanted to say i think the most boring fight in ufc history was gracie/ shamrock 2.And i somewhat disagree with some of your points eric,but i’ve been arguing for 2 days about it now so i’m done,you win.
Dude silva i think has kind of embrased this “p4p best fighter in the world” reputation in a bad way. You saw the way he was taunting leites (cote too) with his rediculous shoulder movement. WTF is that dude? finish him!! There were like 2 times he had leites hurt and he could have finished him but didn’t. He goes into the octagon and tries to maintain this “p4p best fighter” reputation by trying to look amazing, which takes his focus away from actually fighting who’s in front of him and beating them. I’m disapointed with both leites and silva dude i hope gsp beats alves then beats silva
I agree with your side Eric, but that Nicole bit was a little tasteless (although you did get a chuckle out of me). Regardless, I was there in Montreal and live that fight sure sucked. I was sure a riot would ensue. The ref should have been deducting points from Leites for lying around (can the ref do that?), and Silva should have tried to finish, period.
I said it when Silva fought Cote, he just dances around when he can’t find his oppening. What I saw in Montreal was not an MMA fight, but a K-1 debacle. No more main events for Silva.
But this may bring up another question: is mma sport or spectacle? If it’s sport, then you win at all costs. Look at the Devils in the NHL back in the late ’90s boring the world with their perfection of the trap; they were boring as math class, but they won some Stanley Cups. Sure they didn’t make an international fans, but those hockey fans in Jersey sure were loving it. Teams based on flash, Washington, Atlanta, Ottawa, will never hoist Lord Stanley’s Cut.
If it’s spectacle (anyone remember PRIDE FC?), then the fighter’s go out and swing for the fences (or grapple…..for the fences).
Excellent synopsis and I’m in full agreement that AS is responsible to be an entertaining fighter. Curious how Joe was defending AS, and Dana was apologizing.
I understand what you were trying to do with the Nicole Brown comment, but making a joke out of the butchering of someone is in poor taste, and only served to detract from an otherwise well thought-out and written article.
WOW!! thank you so much for typing this amazing article. I completely forgot about the epic fight between Kalib Starnes and Nate Quarry too. haha that fight made me laugh so hard, nate will be respected forever for that
I thought the Nicole Brown refference was amusing…im not going to get panties all tied …..can u guys give the Spider the benefit of the doubt like all you people who have man-crushes on St.Pierre did? give the man the benefit of the doubt….he’s accomplished more than anyone in the UFC and for all u guys know, he was sick, maybe his left testicle was bothering him, maybe he was depressed due to soemthing in his life…maybe you people all need lives to spend all this time after the ‘event’ which is solely for entertainment purposes JUST to trash talk someone who has clearly proven himself beyond a doubt. Has he lost??? How many fighters do you know that come in with a game plan and have to back track or jump in and make a costly stupid mistake or have promised great bouts only to disappoint? You immature people are acting like this is the first time in the history of the sport that a fight hasnt gone the way it was anticipated. Get reeeeeal… seriously . Get off your high horses and stop thinking the champ personally owes you anythin, and stop wasting your time bashing an athlete/entertainer. This guy isnt the president or someone who has an input on your personal life. He went out there and did his thing. All you people who are after a street fight, go to a bar/club…maybe there you can find what your looking for. I have been into martial arts my whole life. Ive been a fan of mixed martial arts for some time now. Martial arts is first about honor and respect. I as a fan was mesmerized by the uniquness Silva brought to the event. Whether you though it was the most exciting of fights or not, he put on a show. Im still in awe with some of the moves he actually tried in a FIGHT. Not in a circus or a dance off, he used those moves in a FIGHT and survived and won. Reverse behind the back leg sweep??!!! Are you kidding me? And it landed…the dude is insane and anybody trying to take away his glory is a douche. Chances are you (the critic) have suffered more setbacks and accomplished **** compared to the man who is reigning on top. I thought the 5 round bout was a special treat and am glad i can be a witness to such talent, skill and yes even showboating. If you dont like his showboating, then tough luck. Because there are some of us ( a lot of us ) out there who understand and appreciate what his style is all about. ( anderson used to also train in some form of dance fighting which reflects on his amazing technique ) I personally love the shoulder jiggles and head fakes…it gives him character ( something that a lot of critics on this site could use)… no one can force you to like anyone, but to take the time out of your day to sit, write and bash and trash talk someone who doesnt even know or care who you personally are, is ridiculous and just stupid. You dont like him? Fine…dont watch his events like you claim you wont ( although im willing to bet my life that you all are bluffing and will continue to purchase every event with or without spider on the main card ) …. bluff bluff …..i think the “fans” are split down the middle regarding this issue…the true MMA fans who get it were gratefull just to watch a man of his caliber perform, and the casual fans who like to get drunk and watch 35 second fights that consist of basically one punch and someone dropping, will continue to hate…you guys can always resort to boxing (meathead sport ) or WWE ( meathead soaps), or just find different athletics all together to be fans of…this is MMA…come correct…. only people to blame for this bout would be #1 Leites for not bringing it and being hungry for the title, #2 Dana for succumbing to the pressure of the rude montreal fans and making ridiculous statements..#3 Joe Silva for thinkin Leites was worthy ….. the spider gets praised by me for putting on a show for 5 rounds and showing me **** ive never seen in a fight before (except for Ong Bak maybe ) … id rather have seen that than to see Leites completely overwhelmed and one punched and boom…fight over…wheres the entertainment value in that?? I appreciate technique, the sport, and most of all the ahletes…otherwise, F— Dana and his big mouth…even chuck liddell (all your guys’s hero, angrily stepped up and defended Silva )…i personally respect Chucks word over Dana the douche’s …. So people, get with it, move on with your lives, some of us appreciated it, the rest of you didnt. Done and done….and if the greasegate thing comes up again without a solution, ( in essence just looking for more things to bash silva for ) , then i believe the St. Pierre incident has to be dealt with first….if silva cheated, so did GSP, matt hughes, rich frankiln, and the list goes on …. get real people…silva is king
ps.most boring title fights ever,,,clearly belong to Tim Sylvia, matt hughes … worst main event ever hands dowwwwwnnn… SYLVIA vs MONSOON … watch that fight over again and if you dont feel like peeling the skin off your face out of bordeom then we can talk … ps..i watched all of silvas bouts in a row again yesterday just to put things into perspective, including ufc 97’s… they were all great bouts…u people maybe should watch it again… otherwise move on with your lives people…because your going to have to eat your own words again when he steps up and kills the remainder of people on his contract … just like you machida bashers who have “seemingly” jumped on his bandwagon …but one technical fight … boom .. back to square one … you haters should move on , get a life …
and Montreal doesn’t ever deserve another event after the lack of respect shown overall ( forget they were booing silva, but watch the event again and you will notice they also boo the Luiz Cane figth which was one of the best of the evening and more)…that’s what uneducated drunk fans (mostly kids) do..why? Because they don’t know the sport and think GSP is the only fighter that matters…even though GSP’s fighting style has become so lame and boring, I don’t hear anyone complaining why GSP isn’t the GSP before the serra bout, or why he plays it safe in EVERY bout, or how he took fitch to a decision, and it took him 5 rounds to beat on a much much smaller Penn…or even greasegate….theres no room for double standards here …. Forget Montreal after that disaster, go to Toronto like you said, then come out to Vancouver and give us a treat like watching the spider perform for 5 rounds…garaunteed you wont get any boo birds here…
Word
I think you should hold back less and tell us how you really feel though, you know, open up a little.
Hahahahahaha. Did he just apply for a job on this site or what?
So we have to forget the Cote fight too? And if he does this again in the Maia fight, shall we just forget it or shall we note that it’s a trend?
Kid I like your style!
I agree on 80% of what you just wrote. No one even mention he set a record with Matt Hughes and H. Gracie only hate and bashing.
I have seen worse fights by other champions especially matt hughes. And baby matt hughes Sean Shriek too for that matter.
The Man is human and Maybe he has spoiled us to some degree but I agree with chuck liddell he fought his game plan not a fools game and fight on the ground and get caught in something foolish.
Remember when Mike Tyson Was ko’ing people in less than 3 rounds, then people started boo’ing him cause they say they didn’t get their money worth!! You get a no win Situation.
I said it before. All those who now love Loyoto all of a sudden and swore he deserved a title shot here’s a question for you what kind of champion do you think he will be. If He wins does anyone here believe he will chase down his opponents and KO every single One??? He doesn’t even have the belt and all he trys is not to get hit style of fighting and they call they brillant.
He tied the title defenses record with 5 would have set it but Lutter didn’t make weight…. He broke, Fitch’s and Royce’s record with his 9th straight victory in the UFC… I’m just a crazy with numbers
AMEN!!! THATS ALL I HAVE TO SAY TO YOUR COMMENT. THATS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT.
After chuck was KOed i needed a pick me up and that just wasnt it. I believe that silva wants to retire soon right that bet thing would make since to build a retirement plan up.
However you remember seeing Aroloski in his later fights with the UFC he spent so much time perfecting his game that he lost that exciting part which made him. same with tito. at least chuck went out trying to take someones head off.
ps…happy 4/20 everyone
… the spider is still king
I think this comes down to one question and one question only: What is more important, winning the fight or entertaining the crowd? That is really all it boils down to. This article is filled with valid points, no doubt about it, but they are only valid when supporting the argument that entertaining the mob is more important than winning. That’s where I have to disagree with you. Providing entertainment value is important, sure, but it should definately not be prioritized before winning. No way.
Besides, Anderson does not shy away from contact. He was not the one Saturday night who was backpedaling and flopping. He is not just going to crawl into your guard because you ask him nicely. It’s his title, if one of these fighters wants to take it from him, it looks like they are going to have to actually take it from him by force. That’s the way it should be taken. Because he is not just going to lay down on top of you and cater to your wishes. Is he a coward for that? Absolutely not. He is a smart fighter, and he is not going to simply push forward wrecklessly. The second we start demanding a fighter change his gameplan and jeopardize his success just to gain a few extra percentage points of viewer market share is the second the UFC becomes the WWF.
This guy wants to exchange with his opponents just as much as we want him to. I think that’s the truth. I really do. It’s his opponents that we have to worry about, not Anderson.
This argument against Anderson is the argument that entertainment comes before succeeding. I argue that winning is more important. As long as MMA is a sport and not situational drama, I think I will always argue that way.
I see your argument, but I think you’re missing the tone of the article. It has nothing to do with entertainment value, its that people feel cheated when it looks like a fighter who is supposed to be one of, if not the p4p best isn’t even trying. That was the key point of the write up- I thought it was pretty clear.
Also, Lyoto Machida might not be the most entertaining because he doesn’t press the action much, but he will at least seize an opportunity to counter and continue an attack instead of wasting time with ineffective maneuvers for his own entertainment.
Ah, but see, in reference to this as a pay-per-view event, the entertainment IS what’s selling. This was a boring, boring fight. Horrible entertainment value, therefore, not worthy of PPV status. At this point, I don’t see how Silva can be considered a main card event, which is very strange for the title holder.
Ya, i wanted to open up a little but im short on time…ill be back to fill you in with the rest of my thought process regarding the issue shortly… just dont forget to hold your breath
You are free to half-ass your job.. and your boss is free to fire you, but if your boss can’t or won’t fire you, then you can half-ass your job all you want. This is the position A.Silva is in – Dana White won’t fire him, incidentally A.Silva can’t quit either.
The contract may have allowed Dana White to prevent A.Silva from boxing Roy Jones Jr., but Silva’s bargaining power is so great that preventing him from fighting his idol and earning a 7-8 digit payday could be very costly to the UFC. A.Silva can simply ’sit down on the job’.. what can the UFC do? If he’s released from his contract (‘fired’), then he can go fight Jones for $$$, and if he still wants to do MMA after, Affliction would pay him more than the UFC did (lose-lose for the UFC).
The UFC’s only move is to step up the spite – give him no fights and let his contract expire after however many years (like they did to ‘Hellboy’ Hanson for not taking a pay cut), but the UFC still loses. Their path of least loss would have been to let him fight Roy Jones Jr. while still under UFC contract (maybe even ask for a cut of his Silva’s purse).
Just because Silva has accomplished so much in MMA and specifically the UFC is no reason in my mind to excuse the last two very boring performances.
Thankfully the rest of the card was good and the night was salvaged in my mind but when a guy starts throwing thigh punches and other silly shots is that not indicating a mindset of i own you and could take you out at any moment, so why didn’t he?
There comes a point where Anderson should say, “enough is enough i’m attacking this guy as he poses no real threat and is scared of me”, but for reasons unknown chooses to finish off the fight in a fashion less physical and less demanding then his sparring sessions in the gym.
Is there an opponent not scared of laying it on the line with this guy?
I’ll keep this short, Tech I stopped reading your babble after 3 lines, because bottom line is Cote doesn’t blow his knee out he is possibly the new champ, again I repeat possibly. But I firmly believe that there is no way Silva can handle GSP and that is why is corner has kept saying no, but thanks to Dana he can’t run anymore!
Ok, well Eric thank you for typing out your thoughts… I will go ahead and state that I don’t agree with you on all aspects of your thoughts, but hey thats why we are individuals…
I look at the main event a little differently then you guys do I guess, I don’t watch MMA for the quick ko’s (which are o so great) or just to see some sub put on from the underdog (Kampmann v McFedries is a good example) I watch MMA because I’m a true fan of the sport and Martial Arts in general… Now I have train in quite a few styles, and I for one understand Silva’s “style”, its great and as far as the show boating or whatever was imo Silva attempting to bait Leites into getting angry and fully commiting to attacking him….. In the first round when Leites had Silva on the ground as was working towards a head and arm choke, Silva locked him down and didn’t allow that to become a possibility, Silva than got up and looked at him like “ya kid what now you could’nt finish me with the move you are most famous for”… Then Silva proceeded to punish Leites in a Muay Thai style, I have had my front leg brutalized by my teacher before and it was very similar to what Silva was doing to Leites, I for one was entertained by that bout, yet I can see where people are coming from say that they didn’t find the bout entertaining..
I love the sport of MMA world wide, I truly enjoy it….. I’m not into the N00b v hardcore fan thingy, I will say that I’m tired of fickle fans but hey what can you do, some people have something against a certain person or fighter hell it is what it is, but what is with flipping from fighter to fighter just to complain about a performance, if it is GSP, BJ Penn, Anderson Silva, Chuck Liddell etc people “jump ship” for no reason….. I personally don’t get it, Chuck Liddell has lost quite a few bouts and brutally recently and people not only were asking for him to retire, but discrediting what he had done throughout his career WTF is that? Sooo now that you lost to top fighters in the best, deepest division in the world all your past accomplishments are worthless? How does that work out? I simply don’t get it. IF you dislike a certain fighter awesome, but when he wins a title don’t say “o this guy is the greatest ever”…. I’ve never liked Kos, but I can realize he is a talented fighter and if he ever won a title I would reconize his accomplisments and move on, not jump all over him cuz he is a champ…
I guess I can liken my rant to this, people understand football, baseball, basketball etc. because they grow up playing those games, they know the ins and outs” O you should have passed it to that guy for the win”, or playing “small ball” in baseball…. Well most who didn’t grow up doing Muay Thai, or BJJ, boxing or Kickboxing don’t realize the ins and outs of simple movements sooo when they see a boring fight, I see a chess match (not saying that it was totally the case Saturday just stating in general)….. I have so much more to say about this past match, but I will end this rant now and move on…
NOTE the personal attacks and childish behavior is uncalled for also attacks against other members is not needed either, comments of this nature will not be tolerated…… FR702
Thanks for the commentary FR.
Naturally I cannot speak for everyone, but personally I am much more concerned with the idea of fighters not giving 100% compared to fights going the distance. As most everyone knows some of the best fights have gone to decisions, but that isn’t the issue. Like I mentioned above in the whole bit about trying, if a fighter tries his best and still puts on a poor showing thats one thing, but to phone in a performance just for amusement…that ain’t right.
Thats what irked and provoked me to write the article. I genuinely believed and still do contend that Silva intentionally half-assed it against Leites. Call me harsh and judgmental, but at this level of the game I think we all deserved a better showing from the champion.
Of course, let us not forget Leites’ performance wasn’t anything to write home about. But IMO, Silva’s was worse in that he had the ability to do more but refused to for…well who knows why. Let the speculation begin.
I’ve read all of the comments and don’t particularly feel like responding to anything specifically, but I do want to get in my two cents so to speak.
I think that both fighters and the ref all three played a role in the way the fight went. Leites deserves blame for flopping to the ground and refusing to engage on the feet. Silva deserves blame for not taking the opportunities that were there (and they were there) to finish the fight. Lavigne deserves blame for not at least warning the fighters that they needed to engage.
I can see how some might argue that Silva deserves more blame than the others, because he could have finished the fight, and chose not to. However, I don’t think he should be tarred and feathered, which is what some people seem to want to do right now. I do not fault him for not diving into Leites’ guard on the ground and putting himself at risk. And I do not fault him for standing up after doing some GnP. (If you re-watch the fight you will see that when he was doing the GnP Leites was laying with both legs bent on top of each other, on his side. When Leites would get his hips and legs back to position for guard, Silva would stand up. I feel like that was the smart thing to do.) I do fault him for not taking the opportunities that he did have to finish the fight on the feet. Some of the strikes to Leites’ leg were creative and entertaining, but they weren’t going to finish the fight. There were other times when Leites was just standing there, looking at him and Silva danced around instead of striking. Not to mention, he mostly threw one strike at a time, and not a lot of combinations (if I’m off on this point, forgive me, I haven’t re-watched the fight myself yet).
One thing that I haven’t seen anyone mention is that he didn’t use the Muay Thai clinch during this fight. I think he had good reason not to. Why clinch with a guy who wants to get a hold of you and take you to the ground when you can fight him with range instead? The point is, Silva’s clinch game is one of his most devastating assets, and the fact that he was looking to stay off the ground against an opponent who only wanted the fight on the ground takes that weapon from his arsenal. I still think Silva could have finished the fight, but one of his means to that end was somewhat negated.
I was frustrated with the fight, to a degree, and I enjoyed some of the strikes that were just bonkers. Everyone deserves some blame, but I don’t think that Silva deserves all of the negativity that he has gotten over the last few days.
Good stuff Justin.
NOw that the dust has settled a little bit, I’d like to say that the people sticking up for Silva arent claiming that he coudlnt have finished the fight, or that KO’s arent exciting….ive already accepted the fact that he INTENTIONALLY displayed what he did. My argument is ( and i suppose anderson and his manager and even chuck and joe rogan etc etc ) that what Anderson did on saturday night was unique, intended that way, and perfectly executed . Its a matter of opinion whether you understood it or not i suppose. i was never formally trained in Muay tai or anything, but i understand the sport of MMA. I know when im being dazzled. He really caught everyone off gaurd on saturday with his performance, but when all is said and done and the haters have moved onto bashing someone else over something else…and even maybe after he has another fight or two and gets quick KO’s, i think people will look back and also appreciate his ufc 97 performance. We already saw him KO or submit someone7/7 times in under 2 rounds each. This was refreshing, and i think thats honestly where his intention was, even judging by his remarks post fight. He was confused why everyone was hating. It’s ok that he showed his dominance over another contender. He toyed with him like a cat does with a fish out of water. Smacked him around, but left the kill. Proving he could, but this time he didnt. Thats amusing and entertaining to me and makes me want to watch his next bout even more so. Leites would get close to his aura and he would crumble and fall ass back into a fetile F**k me position because he was scared..and the ones who arent scared ie.James Irvin and everyone else….get dealt with. How cananyone who has seen more than one fight on this guy, claim otherwise. It boggles my mind.
I understand MMA as a whole, and several of the different disciplines individually. Like I said above, I have an appreciation for some of the strikes that he did that were just over the top “look how good I am” strikes. What I don’t like is the fact that in multiple rounds there were opportunities to finish the fight and Silva danced instead, or threw one strike when he could have thrown five. I know he intentionally did what he did, and I don’t like it, because it created this whole debate. It has also lead to a handful of main stream outlets, who aren’t as dedicated to MMA as you or I, becoming frustrated and no longer covering the sport.
Yes Anderson Silva showed how great he is as an individual by embarrassing Thales Leites, but he damaged the sport of MMA. Sure you can take the standpoint that well only casual fans didn’t like that and true fans still enjoyed it, but that doesn’t change the fact that there are more casual fans than there are true fans, and they are the ones we need to keep MMA growing.
Justin,
“he damaged the sport of MMA” – Are you serious?
jaymz,
Edit that to say that the fight damaged the sport. Maybe not tremendously, but mainstream support was lost because of that fight, I know that for a fact.
Wow, I just commented on another site before i came to this one, which happens to be my 5 th fav as far as MMA sites is concered. You Mr Shapiro talked about everything i just finish complaining about. Thank you for the very well put story. Mr Spider (ANDERSON SILVA) has an obligation to the Fans, No matter what you guys excuses are for him, we are who pays his bills.
rick
Oh btw, I moved Frenzy to my 4 fav mma site. right after mma Weekly. thanks For listening.
hey Rick thx for stopping by the FrenZy, and putting forth your comments.. have a good one……….
This is the best MMA site. Just thought I’d let y’all know that.
You’re correct sir
Bull**** thread, silva pressed forward and punched alot, yes he didnt try to finish the fight… maby he wanted to go 5 rounds and test himself… still, no one ****ing bothers to complain about leites who did jack ****, he threw maby 10 punches in the WHOLE fight.
Nope. No one at all here blames Leites. There’s not 40 pages of people blaming Leites the last few days. It’s all an anti-Brazilian conspiracy.
Oh wait.
At the end of the day Silva short-changed his fans and tarnished his own reputation. Any real fan of mma is more than happy to see a 5-round war in which both combatants showcase their skills, vying for the advantage – a back and forth tug-of-war of parries, sweeps, strikes and mounts – but what we don’t want to see is a clearly dominant fighter playing around with an overwhelmed challenger. Where’s the awe-inspiring display of skills in taking hardly any action against a man who is clearly frightened to engage for fear of suffering extreme pain and injury?
Long, drawn-out fights are great, but only IF there’s a reason – if both fighters challenge one another enough to necessitate it… If Silva and the UFC are going to continue to provide us with lackluster performances like this one, they might as well hang a punching bag in the centre of the octagon and we can watch Anderson practice his full repertoire of strikes for 25 minutes on a target no one expects him to finish.
My take on the “Sport vs spectacle” argument is simply that Silva was showing no sportsmanship whatsoever, he disrespected the fans, the UFC and to an extent his opponent (not that Thales’ performance deserved anyone’s respect anyway) and provided neither sport, nor spectacle.
What happened to the Silva who religiously practiced his standing elbow strike just so that he could use it in his fight against Fryklund and provide us with not only a dominant display of skill, but also a beautiful and perfectly-timed knock out? Combining both sport and spectacle in an artistic display of fighting prowess..
Well said!!
Can’t agree more with that.
I think the comments should be limited to like 20 sentences,and not magazine like article comments.Just a suggestion.Not picking on anyone inparticular(tech)
I DON’T KNOW WHAT ALL THIS BI–TCHING IS ABOUT, I RATHER ENJOYED THE FIGHT. IT WAS A STALE MATE FIGHT. THALES “COULDN’T” STAND AND TRADE SO HE WANTED IT TO GO TO THE GROUND WHERE SILVA DIDN’T. HOW COULD ANYONE GET SO HURT ABOUT IT WHEN THEY BOTH WERE TRYING TO WORK THERE GAME PLAN. I CAN’T SEE HOW ANYONE ONE CAN GO AND TALK **** “HE SHOULD DONE THIS HE SHOULDA DONE THAT I DON’T LIKE HIM CUZ HE DID THIS” I MEAN COME ON. IF ITS THAT EASY IM SURE ANDERSON WOULD HAVE DONE IT.
ALTHOUGH I WILL HAD I DISLIKE HIS DANCING OR TEASING OR WHAT EVER IT IS… SAME THING WITH RASHAD.
Regardless if anyone liked the fight, thought it was Anderson or Thales fault for not engaging or anything else. The fact is that the majority of the people were disappointed with a guy who headlined over a co-main event that more people were there to watch. Bottom line is that the stock for one of the best fighters in the world just went down when he got a win. That’s not a good thing. Once again, regardless of anyone’s opinion, overall satisfaction wasn’t achieved. More people went to work on Monday and complained rather than boasted about what they saw. Rather unfortunate IMO.
I don’t know people are so hard on Anderson it was Leites fault not Anderson. Anderson punched the air and Leites still fell. I don’t know why Leites even got a title shot, he didn’t beat nate convincingly. He won by point deduction. I hope Dan Henderson and Nate get a rematch those will be good fights. I don’t like bisbing.
This IS an unfortunate circumstance in the professional sports world. The last 2 days at work, and everyone knows me here as an avid MMA fan, all I got was “Wow, I heard that last UFC really sucked”. This is from people who rarely/never watch pay per views and your average Spike-watching fans. None of the “true” fans said the card blew, but we did debate the Silva/Leites fight. The card was real good, I just wasn’t a fan of the last fight as a whole.
What I’m getting at here is that mainstream sports media is covering it – for the first time the Toronto Star and Sun had articles with pictures about mma – but they’re covering it for all the wrong reasons. No one talks about Shogun’s dirty KO, or Kryztof’s sub of the night. No, they talk about how Silva/Leites was boring, and what the public hears is “the UFC is boring”. That fight, in my opinion, did great harm to the UFC’s image to the casual/borderline mma fan.
If anybody is that retarded that they would base their view of MMA/UFC on one fight or one newspaper article,then…………………….
But guaranteed,every one of the people ****in WILL continue to watch MMA/UFC.
There are some main stream outlets that are saying they are no longer going to cover the UFC because of this debacle. Whether or not you think that is a fair judgement is one thing, but what matters is if that is the judgment or not.
If MMA/UFC takes the position that “Who cares about the casual fans? They’re just uneducated,” too many times, there won’t be any more casual fans, and the sport won’t grow the way we hardcore fans would like.
Justin,
Again,Are you serious?
MMA is here to stay and will continue to grow and prosper,barring human extinction or every fight from now on being boring(and you know how stupid that sounds).There will continue to be both hardcore and social/casual fans as there is with all sport.
As for the ‘main stream outlets’,talk is cheap-capitalism rules.
Jaymz,
Please don’t argue with me for the sake of arguing with me. I didn’t say that the sport won’t continue to grow. I just said that the sport won’t grow the way that the would like if that attitude continues. To say that there won’t be any casual fans was a bit of a hyperbole, I’ll give you that. But to say that this fight has potentially slowed the growth of MMA is not. A Washington, D.C. (a top 10 market, nationally) sports talk host who was pushing strongly with CBS radio for the coverage of MMA has now decided to stop his push, and stop coverage of MMA on his show.
Yes capitalism rules, and I suggested that you consider something with that comment in mind. The TV show heroes has dipped below 10 million viewers, 7 million at the lowest and is in danger of getting cut by NBC, the highest numbers MMA has done on TV to date is ~4 million. That’s a big difference, and anything that sets that number back is going to lead TV execs, especially at the major outlets, to question whether they want to take the risk.
I still think MMA will grow, don’t misunderstand, I just think that fights like Silva v. Leites will slow that growth. Not to mention a decreasingly marketable champ puts the UFC in a bind when it comes to scheduling.
Hey Justin,
I wasn’t arguing with you,I was engaging in debate because you are obviously a hardcore fan that is usually quite knowledgeable and informative.As for that sports talk host,to stop covering the sport of MMA due to one fight is absolutely retarded.How much influence can that one individual really have on a sport that is not only growing nationally but globally?There is just too much money/viewers involved for the media outlets not to capitalize on.And the comparison with Heroes is apples and oranges,although I understand the point you were trying to make.When the UFC stops selling out events and breaking records I might get concerned,until then-cheers.
Jaymz,
I agree that the talk host making the decision to to stop covering MMA due to one fight is dumb (though I suppose it could be argued that it was 2, if you include the Cote fight). You would be surprised how much influence one individual can have over a sport, when that individual has the ear of top people in a major media outlet.
Without getting too involved in a political discussion I would like to point out that I think that at least a portion of the economic downturn in the US was to do with the media saying that our economy was bad long before it actually was. Their negative talk towards the economy eventually cause the public to make decision based on a bad economy, before the economy was that bad, therefore causing the economy to turn bad (in conjunction with other factors). I say all this to illustrate that if you can have some degree of control over what the media says about a topic, you inherently can have a degree of control over the masses. To a large degree, people’s likes and dislikes are influenced, at least on some level, by what they see/hear in the media.
I do realize that the comparison to Heroes is a bit apples and oranges because of the time slot, and show type. MMA smokes other sports events head to head 99% of the time. (I would say that probably the Superbowl or Daytona 500 could beat the UFC, if the UFC were to ever go against them, but they wouldn’t go against them).
I do understand what you’re saying though that the sport will continue to grow, and I agree. I’m just saying that certain things can slow that growth, or speed it up. Slow growth is still growth, and I’ll take slow growth over negative growth any day.
Cheers.
I completely agree with the article. As a long time MMA fan, I was largely dissapointed with the lack of professionalism that Anderson displayed in his fight with Leites. Regardless of how lousy an opponent is, there is no excuse for the disrespect Anderson Silva showed to MMA that night. Leg punches? Or the stupid ‘quick kick behind my other leg’ trick? C’mon, if he was that easy to F*** around with, wouldn’t it have been that easy to finish the fight?
Another good reason to implement the card system that was used in Pride. Both fighters should have been penalized.
Regardless if a title is on the line or not, you still have to prove that you’re a better fighter than the other guy that’s trying to climb up the ladder. You wanna shimmy your shoulders and slap peoples foreheads during a fight? Go to boxing, where people get entertained by shenanigans and dance moves.
Tech-Tition, i think the issue is that while you were dazzled, a lot of poeple payed money because they were told “a fight” was going to take palce. What they got was a flopping/dance fest. If you pay $$$ to see whats advertised as an “Action Movie” but instead are treated to a magic show, you may be dazzled, but you didnt get what you paid for, and I dont care how much you like magic shows, you have a right to be pissed about it.
Who to assign blame? Well i kinda see it as, if you can toy with your opponent then you need to finish your opponent. People place a higher expectation on Anderson because hes champ. As its been said in other threads, this is exactly why a yellow/red card rule need to be employed by the UFC.
Zac and Malice,
The card system cannot be implemented here because of Athletic Commission rules.
I think the fans who are mad or irritated at Anderson Silva don’t understand the sport. No, it’s not a “regular 9-t0-5 job”. It’s a high-level sport where trying too hard, (i.e. a single decision to over-commit in order to please ignorant fans) can cost you an entire fight and a lot of money. It’s not like some desk job in a cubicle at all.
Anderson has had 7 great fights which were all stoppages. He knows how to finish opponents. Going to Leites’ guard because Leites refused to strike and refused to wrestle or throw Anderson would have been stupid. It’s not a Toughman show where you just slug it out ’til someone falls down. Liddell has pretty much been fighting like that in his last 5 fights, and that’s why he’s done. It doesn’t work, and it shortens your career.
Joe Silva needs to do a better job of finding opponents for Silva, period. Cote was scared, and Leites was scared. They both just wanted to survive, and Anderson showed a lot of discipline by not recklessly opening himself up with either of them just to keep the action going. If Silva had done that and suffered a flash KO or a submission, the same people would be calling Anderson an idiot for leaving himself open.
Everyone in combat sports, sooner or later, has a lackluster fight or two. The complaining just indicates shallow fans.
Exactly …
Yeah he has. And his last 2 fights looked like something you’d expect to see on a jr high playground. I’m not saying can the guy, I’m saying he’d been start trying again or someone will need to do something.
Maia’s coming up. Maia’s better on the ground than Leites. The good news is, I think he’s a little bit better on his feet than Leites. Hey, maybe I’ll charge forward with his chin out so Silva will feel comfortable finishing a fight again!
PS. “because Leites refused to strike and refused to wrestle or throw Anderson” There was one dominant takedown in the fight. Silva was on the receiving end. If he wants to stay out of the dirt and on his feet only he should do K1.
By your logic there at the end, all fighters who would prefer to stand should just go do K1, if all fighters had followed that logic within the past three years, Chuck would have been KOed out of K1 last night instead of out of MMA Saturday night, and a whole slew of fighters that are big names in MMA would either be big names in K1 or we would have never heard of them (Lawler, CroCop, Overeem, Silvia, Arlovski, Griffin, Franklin, Machida, Marcus Davis, Michael Bisping, Thiago Alves… etc) because they prefer to stand over fighting on the ground. Some are more willing to go to the ground than others, and some are more capable on the ground than others, but in general most of them prefer to keep the fight on the feet.
Fred,
You should realize that someone of Anderson Silva’s stature as a VERY highly regarded POUND-FOR-POUND fighter should be able to destroy a fighter like Thales Leites.
Study some more MMA and come back when you’re ready to admit that even ‘godly’ fighters f*** up.
(No personal attacks – Justin)
And for the record, if a fighter ‘knows’ how to finish fights, it is NOT ok for him to choose not to and say it was a ’smart tactic.’
Eric- Nice write up, even though I am not in total agreement with you I do respect your opinion. I haven’t read most of the comments above because I’ve been a lil tired of reading from some, so if I am repetitive I am sorry.
I have trained in Muay Thai since I was 17 and SAMBO since I was 18 and that’s why I do agree with the annoyance of someone dancing around their opponent. It is disrespectful and the one thing that all martial arts stress is respect, so to see a phenomenal athlete and Martial Artist dancing around was a lil annoying.
I do think Champions should be held to a higher standard but I also believe that in a championship fight the challenger has to do just what his name implies and challenge the champion. It is the challenger’s job to come after and take the belt. Leites did not do it. That said then it does become Silva’s job to press forward(not going to the ground per se) but at least if Silva was truly going after Leites it would have been more on Leites.
As far as the matchmaking side. Plainly put Cote(I like the guy too) beat Almeida and gets a shot. Even though he did not defeat any of the guys Marquardt, Franklin, Okami, even Leites, or even two guys who he lost to previously in Lutter and Leben. What did he do other than beat Almeida? Yeah he put a solid streak together against decent guys but if he had faced any of the guys I mentioned above I think he loses 3 or 4 at least. Leites I think should have fought Marquardt again to solidify his status as a legit contender before getting a title shot.
Now who do I blame for that? I think blame falls on both the UFC and Silva but mostly the UFC. The UFC should have set up the Silva-Okami fight(I know the first one was lucky for Okami) but it would have made it so maybe Marquardt and Leites fight again and then go from there. It also falls on Silva to fight whoever is put in front of him by the UFC no matter who it is. Even if he doesn’t like it. However, maybe the UFC needs to branch out and try to co-promote to keep their Champs happy. I think it would also make sense for the UFC to have some sort of ranking system rather than arbitrarily picking people for fights and title shots.
Anyways I could go on but we have forums for that. Nice write-up and thanks for sharing.
Please don’t bring up co-promotions here. There’s already been enough repetitive and cyclical debate without bringing up all the arguments for and against co-promotion.
Hence “that’s why we have forums for that”. I stayed on topic kept it clean and was nice haha.
ehhh . .. I just don’t agree. Anderson Silva engaged his opponent. Did you see the damage to Thales Leites face?
One thing that I barely hear detractor of Anderson Silva mention is setting up his opponents with his footwork and positioning. I think it is really difficult to engage an opponent that is backpedalling and flopping to the floor.
Chuck Liddell seems to agree with that point.
Take note and watch Rashdad Evans’ last two fights. It took the entire 1st round for him to set up Chuck Liddell and get his rhythm. It took him a while to really attack Forrest Griffin, 3 rounds. Chuck was practically chasing Evans, Forrest did not and does not backpedal. Liddell not Forrest flopped to the floor.
Lyoto Machida, a not-so-popular fighter usually sets up his footwork and positioning first. Thiago Silva, impatiently rushes in to attack. Note, he claims that Machida runs away prior to their UFC 94 fight. End result, Machida via buzzer-beater KO – 1st round.
Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote:
The fight was totally inconclusive. Cote and Silva were setting up their attacks, and adjusted their positions based on the changes their opponents made. Anderson Silva landed several strikes and cut Patrick Cote in the process.
Wanderlei Silva vs Quinton Jackson III:
The KO victory occured after 3 minutes of relative inaction. That one punch was set up with his footwork and positioning. Wanderlei does not and backpedal or flop. He is a BJJ blackbelt.
Wanderlei vs. Jackson 3 isn’t a good one to bring up there. Wanderlei and Quentin tried to kill each other in the first two. They tried not to go out early. Also you bring up Wanderlei’s Black belt but he has only submitted someone once w/ anything other than strikes(Bob Schrijber). He’s a striker through and through.
chrisl,
“They tried not to go out early” Exactly my point, they were very tentative in the 3rd match. Slow action.
Anderson Silva is a striker “through and through,” he destroyed many of his previous opponents.
Another note, I think many fans, bloggers and journalist really miscontrue what they think is clearly evident from Silva’s actions as fact. As if we know exactly what is going on in his head during a fight. It’s all speculation and opinions in the end.
chrisl, “I also believe that in a championship fight the challenger has to do just what his name implies and challenge the champion” Truly a great line.
At least Dana White was pretty much fair and placed the blame on both fighters as opposed to the unfair focus on Anderson Silva’s performance. Hopefully the next challenger doesn’t win fight for the championship belt via (#1 contender’s broken hand-Okami) and a split decision with Almeida or a submission victory over McFredries.
Hey Tech-Tition,
I have been upset about booing at fights for a long time now so it’s nothing new to report from Montreal, consider the source being people who payed hundreds more than we did to see an MMA display advertised as the best and most exciting in the world, it simply lacked as a main event and it was clearly evident Silva chose to end it in that fashion.
I thought from the concept it was a bust fight but if the guy earns the right you have to give it to him.
I dont see our slow local Vancouver government making any MMA decisions any time soon…happy belated 4/20 to you!
Perhaps the thing is nobody expected much from Leites, and guess what we all got damn near nothing from him.. people hyped themselves up to see Silva destroy some and in the eyes of many he disapointed.. When fans are “let down” from what they assume will happen arguments like this tend to happen.. When you don’t expect much from a particular fight or fighter and one of the fighters come out and put forth a great performance its like wow where did he come from (Maeda v Torres for example)…..
So do to the fact that most fans thought that Silva would murder Leites in the octagon and well that didn’t happen they are upset…
I agree put in someone that Silva can take seriously, make him prove something, like he had to do against Hendo, if you don’t challenge him or put someone who is willing to engage and try to take the title from the champ, what’s going to happen….
If Silva destroyed, or hurt Leites guess most of you guys would be like damn did he have to go that far or Leites is a chump they should find a real contender… Now that Anderson did what he did very few are willing to reconize that Leites has a lot to do with why that fight was the way it was…
(Sorry for spelling errors or whatever, doing this via CrackBerry)
I like the above comment about Fedor too in this context. Although an accomplished champion, Fedor has had perhaps more inferior opponents than anyone, yet he always treats them the same and does his job regardless of the other mans worthiness. You have to respect that.
Fedor has said that all of his opponents are worthy. He doesn’t look at them as inferior competition. Anderson Silva did not look at Patrick Cote or Thales Leites as inferior competition. The rankings, the P4P argument is something that fans worry about. Like some fighters, Fedor really doesn’t read too much into P4P or rankings created by bloggers or the sports media.
And while many fans, bloggers or journalist did expect much from Leites, Silva definitely expected and respected his ground game strategy.
“Now that Anderson did what he did very few are willing to reconize that Leites has a lot to do with why that fight was the way it was…” And in that context, Patrick Cote was coached by Mark Dellagrotte trained Jorge Rivera AND Travis Lutter against Anderson Silva. And I think the instructions Dellagrotte gave Cote, outside or screaming “DON’T BE PREDICTABLE” definitely involved switching up his position and changing his footwork.
And that had a lot to do with the action everyone saw in UFC 90 Silva vs Cote.
yeah dude well said
I never said that Fedor believes his opponents are inferior, only that some clearly were. But were getting off topic…
. . . that’s what I said, based on previous statement from Fedor. I wasn’t trying to debate your point, just showing a contrast between what the fighter thinks about and said compared to what’s written and percieved on the internet.
The question concerning his opponents’ validity for champion contention kind of correlates to your op-ed, because you’re questioning whether Silva cares about fighting percieved inferior competition and accusing him of a half-assed approach. BTW, I think stylisticly his fight against Cote was completely different . . . for the aforementioned reasons concerning footwork and positioning. Recently Alan Belcher has discovered how to engage Anderson Silva and said this, “Controlling the fight with your footwork is a really big deal.”
I think the Starnes-Quarry is very similar. There’s clear evidence on Thales Leites face that Silva tried and did engage. Did he go for the kill? No. Again, did Liddell rush in for the kill against Rashad Evans? Yes.
Eric, I’m not trying to change your viewpoint because I wasn’t really crazy about the Leites fight but I appreciated both recent Silva performances. I just think there’s a lot of evidence and tidbits that fans are not considering.
———
Quarry’s running = Anderson’s dancing = entertaining. I loved the dancing. Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, etc.
Don’t forget that Starnes DID break his foot…his mistake was not ending the fight due to injury.
anderson silva went out there to do what he had to do and that was win. you dont become the best pound for pound fighter in the world by looking fancy and completely dominating your oponents in the manner that he has . sure, its fun to watch but u become the best by beating the best and thats all hes doing so what its not so impressive as the last one.
He isn’t he best p4p. Best p4p right now fights at 135.
Fedor is and has been the best p4p fighter for the last decade at least.
I think we’re just to used to Sliva KO’ing fools. So, he doesn’t KO that last two people he’s been in against. Now I’m not saying there isn’t more he could have done, but Leites was obviously afraid to stand and trade, and Silva looked like he was being careful not to run into a “lucky punch” from Leites.
Against Cote’ he clowned around to much. I’m not really sure he’s interested in fighting the last two guys he’s been matched up against. If Bisping gets past Hendersen, I think a Silva-Bisping (The Spider -vs- The Count) match up would be the perfect match up to bring back the superly exciting version of Silva back. This could turn out to be an instant classical stand up war!
there is a tradition in boxing (a martial art btw) in which the challenger “challenges” for the belt. out of respect for the champion, the challenger’s only interest should be in taking the belt – in other words they should come loaded for bear. they don’t just show up – they fight for the belt and benefit of the doubt goes to the champion if it’s a draw. the champion owns the belt; the challenger must take it – and decisively too.
so i understand fans want a slugfest and all of these TUF fans who know absolutely nothing about anything and wouldn’t survive a jog around the block think it’s their right to sit and boo world class athletes (in the case of Anderson Silva – once in a lifetime superstars on the order of Ali), but it’s not the champion’s job to make a spectacle of it if the challenger shows up w. no gameplan and no apparent interest in “taking the belt.”
the fact is that neither Cote nor Leites showed any interest beyond “survival” is an affront to the champion (Anderson said in an interview that Cote didn’t come prepared). fine, Leites is a ground fighter – TAKE IT TO THE GROUND. he attempted what, one maybe two takedowns and then started falling on his back – basically begging Anderson to provide a handicap for the poor guy who clearly wasn’t going to get the TD and didn’t like his prospects for getting KO’d by knees. **** Him. Anderson doesn’t owe him a BJJ match. he didn’t fight to take the belt. he should never get a title shot again. Cote either.
when Anderson fought for Franklin’s belt, he took that muther****er – and there wasn’t anyone left on the planet who could pretend any different. he took that ****. Henderson also came to take the belt – and went down trying. When Rich returned in the roll of contender, he brought the fight, even though it cost him another brutal pounding. he took the fight to Anderson. that’s why Franklin and Henderson are champions. that’s why Leites and Cote will never be champions.
and that’s why Anderson looked disappointed and proceeded to humiliate Leites for 5 rounds. yeah, he coulda risked getting caught in order to dive in and give the fans what they wanted – but it’s not his job to bring the fight. it’s his job to show up and defend the belt, and that’s what he did.
Well put…….
Sure that is well put but it is in no way is a reason why the words “Anderson Silva” and “Pound for pound best” should ever be uttered in a sentence again.