I like Izzy. Specially after he defended Joe Rogan recently. But let’s be honest. Izzy can never and will never surpass Anderson Silva as MW GOAT or overall GOAT
Izzy is just a very very good kick boxer. Anderson was a master of overall striking. All of it. Boxing. Kicking. Muay Thai. Everything. And on top of being the best overall striker in MMA history he was a black belt in BJJ. He did submit the Michael Jordan of BJJ after all
Anderson’s best wins -
Rich Franklin x2. Both were brutal finishes in which Anderson showcased incredible Muay Thai and overall striking
Dan Henderson. Silva submitted a PRIDE FC legend and did it stress free. Second round RNC. It was pure domination
Chael Sonnen x2. Anderson defeated a very high level wrestler twice. Meanwhile Izzy was out grappled by Jan Blachowicz
Vitor Belfort. I don’t think Izzy will ever beat a fighter with Vitor’s level of boxing
Nick Diaz. Anderson defeated one of the greatest boxers to ever fight in the UFC. He did test positive for steroids though afterwards sadly
On top of all that, Anderson moved up to 205 3 times. The DC fight doesn’t count he took that fight on 2 hours notice he just happened to be around and he was like oh shit yeah I’ll step in to save the card
In those 3 fights in which Anderson moved up in weight: first round TKO, first round KO, and first round TKO. That’s. Fucking. Impressive. We saw what happened to Izzy when he moved up to 205 just once lol
Anderson’s BJJ is the biggest difference of why Izzy can never surpass Anderson. Silva’s submissions over Travis Luter, Dan henderson, and chael sonnen are all a thing of legend
Anderson is my favorite of all time. I met him before he fought leben and it’s one of my favorite memories. He was kind of dogging me until his manager translated for me he was my favorite fighter. Anderson lit up after that and was so friendly. He didn’t think anyone in America would know who he was and was so happy to hear he already had fans. Watching him train before the leben fight is one of my favorite memories. He had two little guys with him and Ed Soares.
Anyways back from memory lane. Adesanya is just on a different level. Faster and sharper than Anderson ever was. I feel Anderson is a better entertainer but when it comes to standing technique Izzy has him beat just about everywhere. I think Anderson built the template for guys like Izzy and he’s carrying the torch forward with a new level of sharpness.
Man. This was a lifetime ago. I saw watched this fight live I knew Silva was going to win but I thought he’d win a decision 30-27 or even 26. I did not think he’d look like he came out of the Matrix and make this fight look like the biggest mismatch in combat sports history
The Anderson aura got to Izzy in that fight. Was a friendly fight and basically a sparring match. Again I am bigger Anderson fan than all of you combined but have to recognize reality. Hehe
Anderson may actually be the best boxer in UFC history (not including James toney) since he out boxed a professional boxer last year. I forget his name and no I’m not talking about Tito Ortiz lol
And let’s not pretend like Silva wasn’t a great kicker himself too
Grappling is the weakness of both of them, but Silva had a division full of grapplers to deal with and did. Imagine how many more highlights Silva would have had if he was blessed with this striker-heavy division that Israel has. Every fight would have looked like the Forrest Griffin one.
