By Steve Cofield
Anderson Silva got the first wave of questions regarding a lack of aggression in his last two fights. There's many more to come before UFC 101 and if another clunker unfolds in Philadelphia, rest assured the city of Brotherly Love can quickly turn into a hellhole if the fans are displeased. Another fight like the one against Thales Leites in Montreal where the challenger refused to engage and Silva chose not to take him out, will result in plenty of booing from America's nastiest fans. Silva said when he hears the boos it just means the fans don't understand fighting (1:52 mark):
"A lot of times when people aren't as educated in the sport it's hard for them to understand," Silva said through his translator Ed Soares. "I feel I went in there and did my job. If people are booing, it's from a lack of understanding of the sport. I went out and executed a good gameplan."
Those fans included UFC president Dana White who said he was embarrassed by the performance and wanted to leave. Silva's gameplan looked very similar in his last two fights against Leites and at UFC 90 against Patrick Cote. Even when it was clear the opponent didn't want to fight, Silva chose to stay away from any risks.
"Sometimes when you're standing outside the Octagon it's a lot different than when you're inside the Octagon. I went in there to do my job and I have a strategy. Yeah, I'm there for the fans but I'm in the one who's putting my body and my life in danger everytime I step into the Octagon."
Maybe it's a contractual issue. Silva could've signed a deal based heavily on winning where he get a huge undisclosed win bonus or bonus on the back end of the pay-per-view that could potentially push his per-fight salary into the seven figure range. If he loses maybe the deal is renegotiated back down to the simple base of $200,000. If that were the case is he doing something wrong by fighting just to win? How would fans react if they thought a fighter wouldn't take any chances or try to finish his opponent because he feared his salary would be cut 80-percent in the case of a loss?
Soares also commented on the heavy criticism Silva has received the last two times out:
"I'm a little bit bummed out about it. The guy goes out there and puts on a show and it's like the other guy doesn't show up to fight. If you're a challenger you gotta want to go in there and take the belt. It's not [Silva's] olbigation to fight the other guy's fight."
Is the goal to simple get by with wins a la Floyd Mayweather or earn more money and dominate like Fedor Emelianenko? Ultimately the fans decide what style they're willing to pay big money for at home and at the arena. The fans in both Chicago and Montreal were displeased and there was plenty of outrage amongst MMA fans but is that enough to turn people off from buying another Silva pay-per-view for $45?
When you put on a performance like the one you did against Leites. All the world's most knowledgeable hardcore MMA fans who know everything there is to know about MMA are going to boo you. Because that performance SUCKED BALLS.
Sincerely. One of the world's most knowledgeable hardcore MMA fans who knows everything there is to know about MMA.
When you put on a performance like the one you did against Leites. All the world's most knowledgeable hardcore MMA fans who know everything there is to know about MMA are going to boo you. Because that performance SUCKED BALLS.
Sincerely. One of the world's most knowledgeable hardcore MMA fans who knows everything there is to know about MMA.
I didn't boo shit.
I take every fight as it comes and appreciate it for what it is. There's simply no reason to boo unless a fighter literally runs away from a fight. But even before we point fingers at Starnes, I don't think there's a reason to not respect him anymore as a fighter. It was a bad night.
Bottom line, MMA and its fighters should be respected at (99.9% of) all times.
I think there's plenty on the UG (not you) who could learn this shit, too...
i'm a huge fan and i put no blame on silva. did leites really feel that he was going to win the fight with that strategy halfway through? silva's only way of finishing that fight would have been if he jumped into leites guard. why would or should he risk doing that?
the fight would have looked like silva/franklin 3 if leites didn't decide to admit defeat in the second round
When you put on a performance like the one you did against Leites. All the world's most knowledgeable hardcore MMA fans who know everything there is to know about MMA are going to boo you. Because that performance SUCKED BALLS.
Sincerely.
One of the world's most knowledgeable hardcore MMA fans who knows everything there is to know about MMA.
I didn't boo shit.
I take every fight as it comes and appreciate it for what it is. There's simply no reason to boo unless a fighter literally runs away from a fight. But even before we point fingers at Starnes, I don't think there's a reason to not respect him anymore as a fighter. It was a bad night.
Bottom line, MMA and its fighters should be respected at (99.9% of) all times.
I think there's plenty on the UG (not you) who could learn this shit, too...
Exactly.
As they say, styles make fights-- and not every style will end up putting on a great show when they clash. Especially when one person's method is to take a passive route the way Cote and Leites did to avoid being hit. For which they should when you think about it.
Regardless of how great they are, not every fighter puts on a great performance everytime. It depends on the opponent just as well. This isn't a one-man show, people.
It seemed Leities was afraid of Silva's stand up so he wanted to fight on the ground and Anderson was afraid of Leities' ground game so he wanted to fight standing up.
It became this stalemate of nothing happening.
I dont fault the fans who paid hundreds of dollars to see a fight. If they dont engage they are going to get mad. I fault both fighters for not engaging and dissapointing fans.
Dana White was pissed off after the fight too and said he was embarrased by the performance of silva/leites and wanted to leave the building... and this is the guy who was promoting the fight!
The fans knew exactly what was happening. One guy only wanted to fight standing and the other only wanted to fight on the ground. Its not the crowd's fault 2 guys wont engage.
2) Most people have unrealistic entertainment expectations of MMA. They dont expect the same amount of constant and instant gratification when watching other sports