Why do critics exaggerate Anderson Silva’s decline?

[PlayswellwithLawnDarts]

He stopped KOing mofos in spectacular fashion a while ago. Plus one of his legs did this Gumby
Thing...

 

[Dead Kennedy]

While he will undoubtedly slow, his strong points will still be his strong points, and his weakness’ will still be his weakness’. So it is what it is...

 

[kflo]

Honestly the secret to beating AS is size and being better than Forrest Griffin. All the fighters who AS beat, shorter guys who AS could joke around with and keep at arms length. All the fighters AS lost too, guys with similar dimensions that AS actually had to throw with and couldn't clown around without getting KTFO. AS's game was pretty technical dude wasn't all that reliant on raw athleticism, I find it hard to blame AS's decline entirely on his age, think if he went into LHW and faced better fighters than he did have lost to most of the top guys. Also think Bisping might have shocked the world if he got to fight AS in his prime too, don't think that outcome was due to him being washed up, I mean both of them were pretty up there in years when that went down.

But yeah based on the established formula for beating AS, Israel should finish him, look at his height and reach dudes got HW dimensions. He doesn't know MT and that's something AS always will have on him, but neither did Bisping. Israel's also younger than Bisping.

This is pretty much a hater post. You don’t think Silva relies on speed and reflexes at all??? Just retarded.

Dude was a mw and you’re dismissing him because you don’t think he would have been as successful at lhw???

It’s an annoying way to try to tear someone down who was dominant.

 

[Franklin U.]

When you hear other fan bases speak on Silva, they always say things like he hasn’t won a fight in over 5 years, which is just completely false. He beat KO artist Derek Brunson two years ago. The same Brunson who has KO’d Machida and Hall. Yet he never hurt Silva.

You would think Anderson has been getting KO’d and finished left and right since losing his belt. In reality, he has one KO loss to chris and a fluke leg break.

He also nullified 240lb DC’s top game, and hurt him with a liver kick on 2 days notice.

I can guarantee you Silva won’t get slept with a left hook in under a minute vs Izzy, that’s all I’m saying.

Listen , I'm not a believer in Israel yet but don't make such guarantees with fighters that do have father time clipping at their heels.... and you make alot of good points but still. I indirectly blame Anderson for Gegard not being here ( bit of a sore spot for me but has nothing to do with topic at hand)

 

[ferrisjso]

This is pretty much a hater post. You don’t think Silva relies on speed and reflexes at all??? Just retarded.

Dude was a mw and you’re dismissing him because you don’t think he would have been as successful at lhw???

It’s an annoying way to try to tear someone down who was dominant.

I mean he was 6 foot 2 with a long wingspan. Also LHW and MW are largely interchangable divisions and I'm talking about big MW's who beat him, doesn't really matter tbh yesterday's LHW division is about the same dimensions as today's MW division. Don't think he would be successful at LHW because at MW the larger LHW sized guys were the ones who beat him. Doesn't matter though cause guys larger than AS fight at MW and he's about to fight one.

Wish your logic was applied to Jones though even though Jones actually has beaten the dominant HW champ twice and AS beat the fifth or sixth best LHW of the era. AS by his own words didn't think he was better than Machida, and he's kind of like Chuck his opponents tended to fit a certain mold and he started losing once they stopped fitting it. But hey at least he stayed and fought these bigger people unlike GSP who the moment he couldn't keep dominating the division on points was out of there and throwing around PED accusations.

 

[kflo]

I mean he was 6 foot 2 with a long wingspan. Also LHW and MW are largely interchangable divisions and I'm talking about big MW's who beat him, doesn't really matter tbh yesterday's LHW division is about the same dimensions as today's MW division. Don't think he would be successful at LHW because at MW the larger LHW sized guys were the ones who beat him. Doesn't matter though cause guys larger than AS fight at MW and he's about to fight one.

Wish your logic was applied to Jones though even though Jones actually has beaten the dominant HW champ twice and AS beat the fifth or sixth best LHW of the era. AS by his own words didn't think he was better than Machida, and he's kind of like Chuck his opponents tended to fit a certain mold and he started losing once they stopped fitting it. But hey at least he stayed and fought these bigger people unlike GSP who the moment he couldn't keep dominating the division on points was out of there and throwing around PED accusations.

The larger lhw sized guys? You mean Weidman. Just weidman. Towards the end of his career.

He’s respectful of his teammate machida. He’s always like that. Like dc with Cain. Don’t mean shit.

 

[WHITE ANDERSON]

bc he on steroids

 

[Iroh]

Brunson ahould have won that fight. Judges screwed up.

 

[tenniswhiz]

When you hear other fan bases speak on Silva, they always say things like he hasn’t won a fight in over 5 years, which is just completely false. He beat KO artist Derek Brunson two years ago. The same Brunson who has KO’d Machida and Hall. Yet he never hurt Silva.

You would think Anderson has been getting KO’d and finished left and right since losing his belt. In reality, he has one KO loss to chris and a fluke leg break.

He also nullified 240lb DC’s top game, and hurt him with a liver kick on 2 days notice.

I can guarantee you Silva won’t get slept with a left hook in under a minute vs Izzy, that’s all I’m saying.

He lost to Bisping.
Compared to what he used to be, that’s a major decline.

 

[ferrisjso]

The larger lhw sized guys? You mean Weidman. Just weidman. Towards the end of his career.

He’s respectful of his teammate machida. He’s always like that. Like dc with Cain. Don’t mean shit.

Bisping? Israel(hasn't lost yet but I kind of expect it)?

I mean I agree with the statement. It makes logical sense. Being friends doesn't mean you have to kiss each others ass all the time.

 

[AP_RESURRECTION]

I'm a big fan of his. The two things that have been horrible for him have been 1) the PED issues (granted some were resolved but still, very tainting) and 2) losing to Bisping. The latter was really painful to see, including getting dropped by Bisping. I understand Bisping is a champ and has won a lot of big fights, but he is generally a step below elite/championship level. Losing to him is Those events have made things rough on him. If he had just lost to Weidman, I think that is reasonable. It's not like he's lost to lower tier fighters, but losing to BIsping and the PED things have really hurt him.

He also doesn't have the type of personality that anyone liked on an internet forum type setting. He is a bit passive aggressive at times, and other times not so passive. Many see him as fake humble because of this, and he was always hated. So when people already feel that way about you, you're not getting any second chances from them. Instead, people enjoy your downfall and are extra harsh. THe other GOATs have much more amenable/likable personalities. I think among knowledgeable fans who are objective, he is widely considered one of the GOATs for sure. Top 3-4.

 

[Congo66]

When you hear other fan bases speak on Silva, they always say things like he hasn’t won a fight in over 5 years, which is just completely false. He beat KO artist Derek Brunson two years ago. The same Brunson who has KO’d Machida and Hall. Yet he never hurt Silva.

So Brunson is the test on how good you are is he?
How did he do against Whittaker the fight before Anderson or against Adesanya or against Jacare? Oh yeah he didn't make it out of the first round.

The Brunson 3 round win on points where he lost the first on 1 judges score card and the 2nd on anothers is a demonstration of his decline and not something to use to claim he hasn't.

Most of the media scores gave it to Brunson too.

 

[kflo]

Bisping? Israel(hasn't lost yet but I kind of expect it)?

I mean I agree with the statement. It makes logical sense. Being friends doesn't mean you have to kiss each others ass all the time.

Bisping is a average size mw and that was clearly not in his prime Anderson. The idea that prime Silva loses to Bisping has little credibility.

And again dc never waivers on Cain and says he would beat him. It would be douchey if he did.

 

[mmacasualviewer]

Hard to believe this whole thing started with the Maia fight. <45>

Maia also helped Rockhold before the Weidman fight.

 

[ferrisjso]

Bisping is a average size mw and that was clearly not in his prime Anderson. The idea that prime Silva loses to Bisping has little credibility.

And again dc never waivers on Cain and says he would beat him. It would be douchey if he did.

Bisping was unbeaten at LHW, inside and outside of the UFC until he lost a close decision to Rashad and went down to MW. He's about the same size as most top LHW's before this generation. Little bigger than Chael.

 

[IrritatedTomcat]

When you hear other fan bases speak on Silva, they always say things like he hasn’t won a fight in over 5 years, which is just completely false. He beat KO artist Derek Brunson two years ago. The same Brunson who has KO’d Machida and Hall. Yet he never hurt Silva.

You would think Anderson has been getting KO’d and finished left and right since losing his belt. In reality, he has one KO loss to chris and a fluke leg break.

He also nullified 240lb DC’s top game, and hurt him with a liver kick on 2 days notice.

I can guarantee you Silva won’t get slept with a left hook in under a minute vs Izzy, that’s all I’m saying.

PEDs.

 

[cevo]

You need to rewatch that fight, no way in hell he won against Brunson. His last legitimate win is Stephan Bonnar in 2012.

 

[Levi_]

You know what? Fuck Anderson and all the rest of the unapologetic cheaters.

 

[Shaddows]

I think DC could have murdered him on the ground where they spent most of the fight, if he went 100%. He didn't go "easy" necessarily, but he went easier on him than he goes with Cain in sparring anyway.

Again, I disagree.

He played safe.
When you play safe, you do less damage, but you don't get reversed.
And let us not forget that SIlva is a BB in BJJ for many many years.
DC is a brown belt.

 

[ConditFan]

Anderson had DC on lockdown most of the time on the ground. That's a very defensive position where it's difficult to do much damage from the top without the risk of getting swept