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How good was Anderson Silva when Chris Weidman beat him?
- Thread starter TheItalianStallion
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Yes. Some people say Silva ALWAYS fought that way as a strategy, but Silva did not ALWAYS clown and when he did it was never to that degree and usually not that early before he had established any meaningful offense.
He was definitely frustrated and couldn't keep his focus against The Chris. Weidman was well prepared.
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Those guys also peaked earlier than Anderson did though. They all were dominated in their early and mid twenties. At age 32 Anderson was just getting warmed up on his championship run.
Those guys were UFC/WEC champions at younger ages.
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I mean i don't know if the UFC's Anderson Silva at let's say 31-36 years was so much better than the one who has fought in other orgs before, but it's possible.
It's certainly true that the other guys at the very least seem to have peaked earlier, especially Jones and Aldo... GSP was probably at his best around the age of 28-29, same for Jones (who popped around that time though, lol).
Aldo was most likely at his very peak as well at that age and when he got starched by McGregor...
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This is a bit of revisionist history, IMO. While Silva was doing some damage with the leg kicks, Weidman was outstriking him with the hands, and had a very, very slight reach advantage over Silva. Between using that advantage through an extremely disciplined approach and mixing in the wrestling, he was controlling the fight, very easily won the first round and roughed up Silva a bit on the ground, which Silva has traditionally not liked (vs Henderson, Sonnen).
Did Weidman have the gas to last five, or even a couple more? Not sure, but Silva "showboating" or "clowning" was to try and get Weidman to discard that discipline that served him so well, and Weidman wasn't biting on it. So he kept trying to draw Weidman in and got caught doing so.
He wasn't showing off, he was frustrated by Weidman's success and was trying to change that dynamic.
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He was still very good, but it was obvious his speed, reflexes n chin weren’t the same as before.
Clowning didn’t help as well
Clowning didn’t help as well
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Weidman did great in the first half of the first round and won the round. But Weidman was no doubt breathing heavy at the end of the first and start of the second round. Silva was chewing that lead leg up. At this point in his career Weidman didn't know how to check kicks.
Weidman has since talked about how he did a horrible job checking those kicks and having a bit of an adrenaline dump after that first takedown. Silva looked fresh as a daisy.
Weidman also shots for two more takedowns after that initial takedown that weren't close. He did land a few jabs that landed but nothing heavy.
It's hard to say what would have happened cause the fight ended so early in the fight. We weren't even halfway through the 2nd when it ended. But I definitely saw Weidman slowing down and Silva still fresh landing heavy leg kicks.
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He looked considerably slower in the Bonnar fighter. Looked like he had a hard time avoiding Bonner's slow telegraphed punches.
Might have been slowing down even in the Okami fight but it was just Okami so hard to judge there.
He was definitely still in his prime against Belfort though.
Might have been slowing down even in the Okami fight but it was just Okami so hard to judge there.
He was definitely still in his prime against Belfort though.
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at the time i hadnt realized yet that he had become a B fighter due to age and taking shots
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He was the best MW in the world, Weidman had no chance, was going to be Silva's easiest title defense of his UFC tenure, Silva would retire with the belt, possibly win the LHW belt and even the HW belt...
Then he lost and the narrative changed.
Then he lost and the narrative changed.
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He looked considerably slower in the Bonnar fighter. Looked like he had a hard time avoid Bonner's slow telegraphed punches.
Might have been slowing down even in the Okami fight but it was just Okami so hard to judge there.
He was definitely still in his prime against Belfort though.
Damn those gifs are insane. Especially the second one where he avoids the punch on the ground.
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everyone was lucky and overrated in hindsight. At least here on Sherdog.
And as someone who routinely bitched about his competition, the fact is, Anderson, was MUCH better than even his next closest competition during those years (Hendo, Franklin etc).
At the time he lost to Chris, he was one of the best on the planet, even if he was starting to fall off a bit
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the win over Vitor is one of the best of his career. It was remarkable to say the least.
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I'm always torn between the Vitor and Forrest wins when I have to pick my favourite Anderson win. Obviously the Vitor win meant more because it's against a better opponent. But that outclassing of Forrest might be the best display of skill in MMA ever. From the top of my mind only Conor vs. Alvarez comes close.
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Sonnen had better takedowns and cardio.
30% Kamaru > All
