I have Fedor over Anderson. I have been unfairly accused of being an Anderson hater in the past for pointing out some harsh truths about Anderson's record of opponents he has beaten during his run, so let me state it one more time.
The reason i was accused of being an Anderson hater is because i simply felt he was never the greatest, and was sometimes overhyped as such. Those same Fedor detractors talking about how he never fought anyone, never point out the fact that Anderson did not exactly beat any elite fighters during his run. No disrespect to Travis Lutter, James Irvin, Cote, Leites, and Bonnar but they are not exactly world beaters. Sonnen, Okami, and Maia had no striking abilities to pose any threat to Silva on the feet, but Sonnen dismantled Silva for 4.5 rounds in the first fight. He owned Silva in the first round of the second fight, before trying that stupid spinning backfist that led to his eventual demise. Ever since the beating Sonnen laid on Silva in the first fight- no great champ has ever been dominated like that in a five round fight, i questioned Anderson's GOAT status. I felt Marquardt and even guys like Griffin were opponents tailor made for Anderson stylistically and were good but not great fighters.
Anderson is a great fighter, but i simply felt he was not the greatest. Jon Jones (beating 5 former LHW champs in a row) and even GSP i felt fought tougher competition during their runs as champs.
Those Fedor detractors need to remember as well- at 5 feet 11.5 inches tall, a reach of 74 inches, and at a chubby 230 pounds, he was a LHW (potentially a frame of a MW according to guys like Joe Rogan and others if he lost twenty pounds and cut from 210 to make 185 pounds) fighting and dominating guys who were 3-4 inches taller, had much longer reaches, and were 30-40 pounds heavier on fight night as well. Bigfoot was damn near 290 pounds on fight night against Fedor (60 pounds heavier), had an 8 inch reach advantage and almost 5 inches in height. Silva at 185, never had no reach/height disadvantage and by no means was a small MW when facing his opponents.
Fedor routinely gave up size and strength to bigger and stronger men during his run and it is so convenient to forget that. Anderson is a great fighter, the best MW of all time, and was a great champion, but i never felt he was the greatest so that is where the tension occurred between the Silva fans and myself.
Anderson's camp also for several months since August 2012 were denying Chris his shot at the title even after Dana proclaimed him the Number One contender. Great champions do not have their camps request Cung Le, Nick Diaz, Bisping or Rockhold ahead of the Number One contender Weidman, which Ed Soares and Jorge Guimaraes did for several months. Dana finally made the Weidman match, after Bisping lost, and thankfully so for Weidman's sake. Weidman was a bad matchup for Anderson, and we seen why now two times why Silva's camp was so hesistant to face him in the first place and requested guys like Cung Le of all people (LOL). Sorry for the long rant.
This is what i meant with Silva's camp turning down Weidman on two different occasions. The first time in August 2012 was Silva's manager saying as such.
http://www.cagepotato.com/anderson-...ially-turns-down-fight-against-chris-weidman/
AH: Has the UFC asked you or Anderson to fight Chris Weidman next?
JG: Yeah, they mentioned it, but we don’t think it makes sense.
AH: So you’ve turned it down?
JG: Yeah, true.
This is Ed Soares, back in January saying guys like Cung Le make more sense than Weidman (LOL).
http://www.mmamania.com/2013/1/26/3...-has-nothing-to-gain-from-chris-weidman-fight
