Wrestling Forum banner

Final Battle: MMA Championship - Mikey Damage vs. bruteshot74 vs. SteveMania

528 views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  Mikey Damage 
#1 ·
Which Middleweight fighter has the best style to beat UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva?

Deadline to hand in your debate will be Sunday May 10th. Failure to show will result in an automatic disqualification. As previously mentioned, your debates are to be posted in this thread only.

You have the option to choose your own side of the topic so you may debate the same side without consequence.

Good luck.
 
#2 ·
Which Middleweight fighter has the best style to beat UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva?

Rousimar 'Toquinho' Palhares, and to a much lesser extent nowadays, Paulo Filho. In other words any BJJ ace with explosive takedowns.


As multi-faceted and skilled Anderson Silva is relative with everyone else that lives and breathes on this humble abode, he does have liabilities just like everyone (Fedor included) that would garner any prudent person to believe that, given the specific match-up, he can be defeated in an emphatic/speedy manner much like both Ryo Chonan and Daiju Takase can attest to. The main detriment in Silva's game lies in his defensive wrestling and sprawl, two things that are paramount for any fighter that has a decent shot at beating him because let's face it, the list of guys that can hang with Anderson on the feet, meaning just survive with him, are few and far between.

At one point that man appeared to be Dan Henderson, but choosing him as Silva's most stern match-up is downright silly. While Hendo can assuredly get Silva down, his biggest problem is maintaining a gameplan for the full duration of a fight. He'll often get right hand-happy, overcommit himself to that dynamite he calls a right hand and put his wrestling on the backburner in favor of the highlight reel KO. Against Silva that strategy leads to an imbroglio because not only does Silva have a hell of a chin (as witnessed in the Hendo fight after eating two massive overhand rights and simply taking one step back) but he wasn't fazed at all in their first encounter and it was Hendo that careened to the mat after their first big exchange. If you're in a gun fight against Silva, odds are firing away with your one Suzy Q for an answer won't be the destined formula for success.

It's hard for guys to get inside Silva's long right jab and teep, and when someone like Hendo is coming in with zero defense insofar as using his chin as a catalyst (even though his jaw is made of granite) to absorb all the punishment he'll take just to deliver that one right hand, it spells disaster.

With that said, the worst possible style match-up for Silva is the following: An elite BJJ player with powerful takedowns.

I can think of two guys that fit the bill, and one I believe certainly stacks up well on paper at least. Rousimar Palhares and Paulo Filho. Filho gets shit on for his performance against Sonnen and no one's familiar with Toquinho yet but both guys are the sort of fighter I see giving problems to Anderson. Not only is Toquinho strong as an ox, but he has incredibly powerful takedowns coupled with a very aggressive top game and good submission chops, particularly vicious heel hooks and leg locks, that would make Silva uncomfortable on the floor to say the least. Now before things get out of context, I don't believe Toquinho's current incarnation is the key to success against someone of Anderson's acumen, but if he continues to shore up his striking (a prerequisite against Silva) and improves his cardio which also appears to be a bit shoddy, I definitely believe he has the best chance of trumping the much malignant P4P regarded fighter.

Regarding Vitor, he doesn't have all the tools to beat Anderson. Sure he has good boxing and it's obviously improved during his tenure at Xtreme Couture but he's still too tentative for the most part and, improvements aside, he's seriously outgunned standing against Anderson. Also, he doesn't have the sort of top game to pass Silva's guard and give him a lot of problems if he takes him down. I could be very wrong, but I don't think so.

As for Lindland, I can't see him winning either. He can definitely take Anderson down if he gets within clinch range but he's got to set-up his clinches and shots with strikes or he'll never get in past Anderson's long right jab and teep. I just can't see him striking even marginally effectively with Anderson because he's not even as good as Hendo standing and Hendo had a hard time closing the distance with his strikes. He also doesn't have the chin to eat a whole lot of Anderson's leather either, and that's a major detriment because it's almost a guarantee that if you fight Silva, he's going to lay some shots on you.

The one advantage he does have on Hendo is that he's far more willing to turn a fight into a grinding wrestling match whereas Hendo will get right hand-happy, but I still don't think it matters much. I'd watch and it's still interesting but I think Anderson has to be a heavy, heavy favorite.

Now while Silva is a legit black belt under the Nogueiras' and great defensively, it's hard to see him staving off each and every sub attempt that an aggressive submission chaser like Toquinho will throw at him. Not only is Toquinho very tough to neutralize on top, but he can pass elite BJJ players guards like butter, and I wouldn't even place Silva in the latter. If Travis Lutter can pass Silva's guard (and at one point mount him) there's certainly dependable hope that Toquinho can cruise through a takedown and pass just as effectively. The one error, major at that, with Lutter was going for a sloppy armbar just enough to allow Silva to wade with defense in the quickness and turn the tables. Against Toquinho, Anderson will have to be weary of a few things, specifically Toquinho's crunching heel hooks.

Even more so because Silva's long limbs provide Toquinho with a greater window to license punishing submissions at his own expense. Add onto that, Ryo Chonan submitted Silva with a heel hook and while Anderson did go into that fight with a pre-existing injury, he had no answer. Mind you that was 4+ years and change ago, and Silva has clearly established overall improvement since then, but Toquinho's heel hooks present the sort of challenge I see giving Anderson problems if the fight were to ever hit the canvas.

I think given time, particularly for Toquinho to shore up his striking and improve his cardio, it's a very intriguing match-up and one I'd definitely be interested in watching. You'd have to make Silva the favorite for obvious reasons, but I'd give Toquinho as good of odds as anyone especially if he can get the fight down, which he should. Imagine if Lutter and Leites can comfortably take Silva down, how easily someone as explosive and powerful as Toquinho will succeed in that area. Silva's kryptonite match-up still remains to be seen, although considering he has laid eggs in the past and fallen deep into submission losses against much lesser competition, coupled with his less-than-stellar defensive wrestling, it isn't completely out of the norm to believe that someone with Toquinho's skill set can pull off the upset.
 
#3 ·
Depending on the list you’re looking at, Anderson Silva is either 1A, 1B, or 1C as far as the top pound for pound MMA fighters go. Anderson Silva has all the tools to go down as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. He’s an athletic, lanky, strong-chinned, technical weapon. And that’s just on his feet. He has a disposal of weapons, whether it’s his right-handed jab, his left-handed hook, or his left-legged head kick. He can come at so many levels, it’s almost unfair. And if you come at him strong, he will dispose of you quickly. Chris Leben learned that lesson, and just. Leben came out aggressive, and before he could unleash his devastating hook, Silva had already hit 2 times with his jab. It’s quickness like that, that makes Silva such a force on his feet. On the mat, Silva is the possessor of a black-belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu from the Nogueira family. So, if a fighter fancies a takedown, it won’t be any easier on the ground. If there is a weakness to Silva’s game, it is his grappling and wrestling. He can be moved around. His guard is tough to pass, but his rubber guard does allow for punches to enter. Silva isn’t exactly the most comfortable fighter on his back.

He is a beast on his feet, but beatable on the mat. Who can match with that style in the UFC?

Answer: Anderson Silva.

Wait. What?

There is no fighter in the UFC that could defeat Anderson Silva any more likely than Anderson Silva could defeat himself. The expression “taking himself out of the game” applies to Anderson Silva. When he is truly at his best, he’s near unbeatable. But when he makes his mental mistakes, he gives away a fight.

Anderson has 4 losses. The first loss came in his first professional fight in 2000 via decision. Nine years ago, which renders that fight useless in as far as scouting of Silva goes. Nine years is eternity in MMA. I can assure you that Anderson Silva is not the same fighter in 2009, that he was in 2000. Just too much development. His next loss came in 2004 via a submission. One of weaknesses of Silva, he sometimes finds himself in poor position. Case in point, as he let Daiju Takase sprawl into his half-guard. Finding himself on the back, Silva was at the mercy of Takase’s submission attempts. Eventually, Takase got side-mount, and sprawled into a triangle choke. While he can be so good, Anderson can be so average off his back. Almost an anomaly for a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace, as typically they’re very strong off their backs. And that’s about it as far as losses go for Anderson Silva that were out of his control. He was just out-fought in these two losses. However, his next losses, he did play a role in them.

Silva versus Ryo Chonan is of infamous fame. In a very close fight, in the final round of the fight, while standing, Ryo Chonan lunged at the right leg of Silva and locked in a kneebar. Just to make this clear. Silva and Chonan were standing on their feet striking, then Chonan jumps at the leg, pulling down Silva‘s weight against him, and then putting Silva into a painful submission. It was called a “flying kneebar”. Anytime you hear the word “flying” followed by a submission move…the losing fighter did something wrong. Flying submissions are incredible rare. You just don’t see very often, if at all. In fact, since that flying kneebar, I cannot think of another flying submission pulled off successfully. At least not in the UFC. While likely ahead(this is debatable, however) on the judges’ score card, Silva kept his leg exposed to Chonan, and Chonan took complete advantage. A top fighter should have not been caught like Silva was. It was a mistake, and it lies on Silva’s shoulders. Silva’s next fight, he was DQ’d for using an illegal kick. Another mistake on Silva’s part as he was clearly dominating the fight and heading toward a victory. A top fighter should know the rules of the fight. He did, or did not. That’s moot, though, as he was given the loss. So, of the 4 losses…2 were rightful losses. 2 were losses that shouldn’t have occurred. Silva shouldn’t have found himself caught via a desperation submission attempt, nor should he have broken a rule.

The percentages tell us, you have a 7% chance of beating Silva using your MMA skills. They also tell us you have a 7% chance of seeing Silva defeat himself via a mistake or illegal fighting tactics.

When the percentages are even are like, how we can say who will be the next to defeat Silva? On any given night, Silva could make that one mistake that costs him a fight. 7% percent chance it happens on his next fight. Or a 7% chance that his opponent out works him, and defeats him rightfully. All I know is, it's just as likely Anderson Silva defeats himself before his opponent can. With that, it doesn't matter whether they're a striker, a wrestler, or a submission expert. It's all about catching Silva on a bad night. A rare occurrence, but an occurrence nonetheless.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top