Although people like to discredit Anderson Silva as a Pride fighter and say he's made his name in the UFC (which is true), what exactly does that say about him doing poorly in Pride when he only had 5 fights there?
Getting submitted by Daiju Takase (has more losses than wins, a can)
Not being able to put Chonan away and eventually getting submitted by him whereas Dan Henderson made quick work of Ryo and Baroni did as well.
Honestly, I'd say that has to be taken into consideration. You guys are right. He didn't make his name in Pride. He did mediocre at best in Pride. By UFC rules, he would've lost to Otsuka too.
I'll admit that he's most definitely improved a lot since then and switching camps has helped him a great deal, but to totally discredit Dan and think he'll easily get KO'd where nobody's KO'd him before, is just plain fucking retarded.
Dan Henderson has a great chance in beating Anderson Silva and has fought tougher competition throughout his career.
Whether Anderson is a "Pride fighter" or not is semantics. Fact is, he fought five fights in Pride, and struggled against fighters who were not quite the best in the division. With all due respect.
On the other hand, he has gone undefeated against some of the best fighters in the UFC, and dominates his division as champion.
It's the exact same argument UFC fanatics make about Shogun and Cro-Cop losing in the UFC, except it goes the other way.
Leben - Beating Leben proves nothing as far as cracking the top 10 in the world Middleweight rankings.
Rich Franklin - #1 UFC Middleweight. Proved a lot by beating him, but this guy also was KO'd by Machida.
Travis Lutter - Again, he struggled in some parts against him. Not something that proves anything.
Nate Marquardt - A quality win and made looked great in victory. Almeida also beat him by submission a while ago.
Franklin again - Beat a guy who he was expected to beat again and proved that he has his number.
I'm not degrading Anderson Silva, and I'm not saying that he doesn't deserve the current #1 ranking. He's in there fighting the top guys right now, but his invulnerability that is perceived by many uneducated fans is ridiculous. Let's wait until after he fights Dan Henderson. If he beats Dan Henderson, it's all deserved.
OK noobs listen up; Anderson Silva (first fought in Mecca V.T. btw) burst on the international MMA scene in 2001 when he upset Mach Sakurai in Shooto (whatever their equivalent to 170 lbs).
Hendo was a UFC champ prior to winning the Rings KoK (and both of those were prior to fighting for Pride).
This fight, Hendo v Spider, has ZERO to do with organizations and everything to do with the two participants and where their games are at right now, in 2008.
C'mon kids, educate yourselves about the sport you profess to be fans of for fuck sake.