Silva got in trouble for - literally - hiding behind the referee in his fight with Demian Maia.
Backing up to the cage out of distance from a complete jobber like Bonnar didn't put him in danger. You are day dreaming if you think all of his taunting was skillful or dangerous.
I'm an Anderson Silva fan but he was a marketing sensation that benefited from favorable match making. When he had to fight guys he didn't match-up with, things went terribly.
Diaz did the right thing and just immediately called bullshit on the "he's in the matrix" thing. Once that's out the door you are just fighting a guy with above average Muay Thai.
Sonnen did the same thing and had exactly zero problems kick boxing with him and dropped him with a 1-2.
The guys who bought into the matrix story fell into quicksand.
Nick is an average sized welterweight, coming off a long layoff , fighting for the first time in his career at middleweight, and casually went 5 rounds unscathed with Anderson - who was on steroids.