Heavy Handed 10.25.07: Is It Possible to Underappreciate Anderson Silva?
Posted by Joe Newman on 10.25.2007
With his demolition of former UFC champ Rich Franklin, Anderson Silva has complete control of the middleweight division. But is the thin competition in the division keeping the Brazilian from reaching his full potential? A great fighter needs a great rival and, so far, none have materialized.
Anderson Silva may have conquered the UFC middleweight division but there's still a sense that he's somehow lacking as a champion.
Just look at the fan poll taken during the UFC 77 pay-per-view broadcast that showed a majority of fans thought Rich Franklin was going to beat Silva.
Listen to some of the pundits remark after the fight that they aren't ready to anoint Silva one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Many think Dan Henderson would own Silva if Henderson were to move down from the light heavyweight division.
He's got weaknesses, they say, whether it's his takedown defense or how he wouldn't match up well with someone who could get inside and do some dirty boxing with him.
Silva is certainly not unbeatable but I think a lot of people are slow to realize that we're witnessing something pretty incredible here – the birth of a star who when all is said and done will end up being ranked among the best fighters ever to step into the cage or ring.
I know that sounds like a lot of hyperbole but I think Silva has the skills and the demeanor to take his game to an even higher level. We haven't seen the best we're going to see from this fighter from Curitiba, Brazil.
Silva is so smooth, he's in another class than most fighters. He's light on his feet and moves extremely well from side to side. He reminds me of boxing champ Sugar Ray Leonard, whose quickness and footwork were unmatched among his contemporaries.
The thing about Silva is not only are his hands and kicks lightning quick but he moves from kick to punch so fluidly. He approaches fights like a chess match: His punches set up his kicks and his kicks set up his punches. He's always thinking one or two moves ahead.
He's also one of the more creative fighters you'll see. Against Tony Fryklund in Cage Rage 16, Silva threw a back right elbow that just seemed to come out of nowhere. If you've seen another fighter besides Silva throw that one, then you're truly a hardcore mixed martial arts fan.
Like the announcer says after seeing that blow, "You see that in movies not in a real fight."
So why is Silva still somewhat underappreciated?
There are a few things holding him back right now that I think both he and the UFC should address.
First, of course, is the fact he can't speak English fluently. This is a big disadvantage fighting in an organization based in the United States. While through his interpreter we can tell that Silva is a humble, level-headed guy, it's not the same as if we could understand the words coming out of his mouth.
While he does his talking in the Octagon, he is not promoted nearly as much as he could be if he were fluent in English. Think about it, we've seen him fight five times in the UFC and we don't really know that much about him.
There haven't been any TV features profiling him on Spike. He's not a regular on the various internet radio shows. He's still relatively unknown in the U.S., despite the fact he has proven himself one of the best fighters in the UFC.
He probably won't reach a true level of stardom in the U.S. until he improves his English. Or, at the least, he will get there much faster when he can start letting more of his personality shine through to his English-speaking audience.
He's working on it, though. You could tell he had practiced a few phrases when he grabbed the microphone from Joe Rogan at the end of his post-fight interview in the Octagon.
The bigger issue for Silva, however, is the lack of competition in the middleweight division. The hollowness of the weight class is almost deafening now that Franklin has been beat down twice by Silva.
There is absolutely no one in the UFC middleweight division who can touch Silva right now. Unfortunately for Silva, the lack of competition opens the door to the doubters.
Silva has done all anyone can ask of him in running through the UFC's middleweight division. In each of his UFC fights he has shown off different pieces of his arsenal.
Against Chris Leben, most people remember the knee that knocked Leben out but it was Silva's left high kicks that set up his lightning quick combos, which allowed Silva to end the fight with the knee.
In the first Franklin fight, it was Silva's Muy Thai skills on display. Then he submitted Travis Lutter, the submission specialist, and stopped the heavy handed Nate Marquardt after he first reversed the supposedly better wrestler.
The second Franklin fight looked a lot like the first. I wasn't inside Franklin's head, so I have no way of knowing what was going through his mind, but the look on his face was one of a fighter trying to survive rather than win.
But for Silva to be a truly great champion, he's going to need someone who can take him the distance. And as counter-intuitive as it might sound, he might even need to lose again before he can achieve greatness.
It's out of defeat that true champions are born. Great fighters need to be put to the test and, so far, no one has really tested Silva. Muhammed Ali was arguably the greatest boxer ever but he lost title fights to Joe Frazier and Ken Norton before coming back and beating both of his rivals.
How fighters handle adversity is what determines their place in history.
Silva needs a Frazier. Just like the Batman needed the Joker. Just like Randy Couture needed Chuck Liddell.
Liddell beat Couture into retirement and it was only after Couture came back and beat Tim Sylvia and Gabriel Gonzaga that he truly cemented his legend.
That's where the UFC needs to step it up and find someone who can truly challenge Silva. Franklin, for all his skill and heart, is not that guy.
Yushin Okami is not that guy. Robbie Lawler, though I'd love to see him come to the UFC, is not that guy, at least at this point in his career.
Dan Henderson and Matt Lindland? Those would be great match ups. Henderson could be that guy if he wanted to be. But he has shown no desire to move down in weight. He and Lindland are also at an age – 37 – where fighters tend to see their skills start to diminish, not that we've seen any evidence of that with either those guys.
I don't think there's a free agent out there that the UFC could bring in who would be a better match up than someone already under contract -- Georges St. Pierre.
I get a little giddy just thinking about GSP moving up to middleweight and going to war with Silva.
St-Pierre has the athletic ability and quickness to give Anderson a taste of his own medicine in a standup battle. St.-Pierre is also one of the most well-rounded fighters in MMA and could control the fight on the ground, where Silva still hasn't been tested. Lutter looked like he could have finished his fight against Silva via ground and pound but he allowed Silva to escape when he should have taken an arm and gone for the submission.
The question is not if but when St.-Pierre makes the move to 185 pounds. For sure, he's going to fight the winner of the Matt Hughes – Matt Serra welterweight title fight.
If St.-Pierre beats Hughes or Serra and recaptures the welterweight title, then how many times will he defend the title before moving up in weight?
My fear is that there are enough quality fighters in the welterweight division to keep St.-Pierre busy for a few years. Jon Fitch, Karo Parisyan and B.J. Penn are all possible future opponents.
In an interview earlier this year with MMAnews.com, St.-Pierre said: "I will move to Middleweight when it's going to be time if I beat up most of my contender I will do it and I will go for the title, just if - for example if the title is not one of my training partner or a friend because otherwise I would never fight a friend. And if I beat the guy at Middleweight I want to go up and try to earn the Light Heavyweight title. That's what I want to do. That's my plan. I want to make my mark in this sport and that's my goal."
It's a collision course that may take a year or two to happen but one that won't happen soon enough for me.
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