So last night I'm watching the Anderson Silva fight thinking to myself something along the lines of, "Man, this Anderson Silva sure is good. What a display he's putting on. It's too bad his overhyped opponent keeps running away, flopping on his back, and not throwing any punches."
So I log onto the UG this morning expecting to read about everyones disgust at Thales Leites's horrible performance, and lo and betold, instead this place is flooded with with thread upon thread putting down Silva for not devouring this poor lamb that was fed to the slaughter, as if he should have rushed in like an MMA bar room brawl striker and risk getting KOed by an opponent who didn't come to fight in the first place.
Or is that exactly what you all wanted to happen?
Do the fans of this sport hold such low attantion spans that they get bored at the prospect of any fighter lasting more than 3 or 4 fights as champion, and as such find any reason to berate him? I can't find any other reason for all the hate towards Silva and not one peep against Thales Leites, when he was clearly the one not fighting. I know you all can't be that stupid.
And people wonder why this sport still isn't taken seriously.
Yeah... I thought Silva displayed amazing striking skills when he punched Thales in the foot a few times and then snuck in a few punches to the thigh from the stand up position. Thales didn't even see those shots coming=)
Cindy
CindyO - Yeah... I thought Silva displayed amazing striking skills when he punched Thales in the foot a few times and then snuck in a few punches to the thigh from the stand up position. Thales didn't even see those shots coming=)And Thales did what?
Cindy
^^^^you spelled attention wrong!
Nice post and I agree, the only difference is I had a feeling Anderson was going to get a bad rap here. Undeserved in my opinion, but will see who's next
^^^^^^ people wonder why this sport isn't taken seriously is because of fights like this one! they see someone dancing around and most of them say - "what the f*ck is this a dance contest or are they going to fight" if you want to see point sparring put in the karate kid dvd! which I will say has better fights then what we seen in this so called main event!
Anderson Silva is 9-0 in the UFC. With a record 5 title defenses. with wins vs. Franklin x2, Marquart, Henderson, Leites, Lutter, etc.
8 of 9 fights he finished.
Less then half of them made it too round 2.
He DESTROYS Leites in an EXTREMELY 1 sided decision, and he does it so EASILY that people are upset that he didnt finish the fight against an opponent who never engaged silva after the 2nd round.
Look at the post fight interviews. Silva = looks like he never fought. Leites = ice all over his body, and a swollen face with the early signs of a black eye.
Its amazing how people complain about silva. The fight was BORING. It was extremely boring. OK, we get that. It was a bad matchup. Its not like great fighters are ALWAYS exciting. Silva = counter puncher.
lo and betold?
loved the backward soccer style foot sweep kick thingy though.
someone get this guy a ball.
CindyO - Yeah... I thought Silva displayed amazing striking skills when he punched Thales in the foot a few times and then snuck in a few punches to the thigh from the stand up position. Thales didn't even see those shots coming=)
Cindy
lol
CindyO - Yeah... I thought Silva displayed amazing striking skills when he punched Thales in the foot a few times and then snuck in a few punches to the thigh from the stand up position. Thales didn't even see those shots coming=)
Cindy
Wow, see, this is the stupid shit that I'm talking about RIGHT HERE!!
Short attention spans, selective memory and fickle outlooks. Just like videogame fans, which is ironic considering that both hobbies and sports have their fans stemming from the geeks to begin with (including myself).
Yes, let's pigeonhole everything Anderson did down to a few foot and thigh punches. I'm sure this is what Thales felt from his POV just as well.
Please, GTFO and watch an episode of Flavor of Love or something, seriously. I know you're the semi-official UFC mouth-box here on these forums, but you can get so f'ing predictably retarded at times. I just couldn't keep my mouth shut in this single instance.
Selective memory? Did you somehow miss the Cote fight?
All that talk afterwards that Silva gave? What did it mean?
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
CindyO - Yeah... I thought Silva displayed amazing striking skills when he punched Thales in the foot a few times and then snuck in a few punches to the thigh from the stand up position. Thales didn't even see those shots coming=)What a foolish thing to say. Thales ran away the entire fight trying to avoid nearly every engagement. There was no opportunity to land anything significant when Silva threw those shots. It was obviously something he did either out of disgust, or as an attempt to lure his opponent into an actual fight.
Cindy
Did the UFC just throw Thales into this fight hoping to see him thoroughly demolished? If that's the case then they got exactly what they deserved. Here's something to ponder: Perhaps the current 9-0 UFC champion/one of the greatest P4P fighters in the world today (you know, one of those guys you make your living off of? The same guy who finished 7 of those 9 opponents?) isn't to blame for the lackluster main event. Maybe it was the crappy UFC matchmaking.
Next time match Silva up against a fighter who actually fights and I guarentee you he'll put on a great show.
Mighty Cthulhu - Selective memory? Did you somehow miss the Cote fight?
All that talk afterwards that Silva gave? What did it mean?
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
Yes, the Cote fight where he picked his holes to attack and Patrick remained tentative with not much to offer. Very similar to the Thales bout, you mean?
Maybe it's hard for some people to grasp, but running in like an imbecile and throwing punches does not make a great fighter. If what you're looking for are slug fests, then seek a Tough Man competition elsewhere.
Anderson feeds off of what you give him. If you give him nothing, then he'll poke you until you do. And if you still don't, then he'll embarrass you by breaking you down.
It's not THAT hard to figure out.
No, I get that Anderson -- since he has the title now -- would prefer not to engage and sit there wobbling about, slapping out light punches and kicks to rack up points. It's the best way for him to win. With his takedown defense, he's almost invincible if he plays that strategy. If somebody makes a big error, he'll take them out, but otherwise he's going to keep working the harmless pitter pat game.
But I think he'll find when it comes to contract negotiation time that just retaining your title by slappy defensive fighting, refusing to ever put yourself into the slightest risk, isn't as lucrative as he thinks it is. Even if it may be a great way to work the rules as hard as you can in your favor.
Worst part is that everybody knows this is Silva's game now, so nobody is ever going to wade in stupidly anymore and gift him a huge mistake to counterstrike. There's no strategic reason for them to do that against Silva's game; it's stupid. Instead, they'll just sit there, like Leites, walking through the pitter pat and hoping Silva gets lazy. Unwatchable, and does not resemble an actual fight, which is what MMA is supposed to be at some level.
Mighty Cthulhu - No, I get that Anderson -- since he has the title now -- would prefer not to engage and sit there wobbling about, slapping out light punches and kicks to rack up points. It's the best way for him to win. With his takedown defense, he's almost invincible if he plays that strategy. If somebody makes a big error, he'll take them out, but otherwise he's going to keep working the harmless pitter pat game.Wow, do your fingers stink after typing all that horseshit?
But I think he'll find when it comes to contract negotiation time that just retaining your title by slappy defensive fighting, refusing to ever put yourself into the slightest risk, isn't as lucrative as he thinks it is. Even if it may be a great way to work the rules as hard as you can in your favor.
Worst part is that everybody knows this is Silva's game now, so nobody is ever going to wade in stupidly anymore and gift him a huge mistake to counterstrike. There's no strategic reason for them to do that against Silva's game; it's stupid. Instead, they'll just sit there, like Leites, walking through the pitter pat and hoping Silva gets lazy. Unwatchable, and does not resemble an actual fight, which is what MMA is supposed to be at some level.
Whatever Works - Anderson Silva is 9-0 in the UFC. With a record 5 title defenses. with wins vs. Franklin x2, Marquart, Henderson, Leites, Lutter, etc.
8 of 9 fights he finished.
Less then half of them made it too round 2.
He DESTROYS Leites in an EXTREMELY 1 sided decision, and he does it so EASILY that people are upset that he didnt finish the fight against an opponent who never engaged silva after the 2nd round.
Look at the post fight interviews. Silva = looks like he never fought. Leites = ice all over his body, and a swollen face with the early signs of a black eye.
Its amazing how people complain about silva. The fight was BORING. It was extremely boring. OK, we get that. It was a bad matchup. Its not like great fighters are ALWAYS exciting. Silva = counter puncher.
Wow, this is well stated. Great post.
This completely underscores the absurdity of the fickle UFC "fans."
Enigmanic - CindyOwned!
Hardly.
What Anderson symbolises transcends cultural fads even as large as the UFC. The entertainment and the financial reward and the respect of thousands of fans and the P4P rankings and the naysayers are all by-products of his desire to be a true martial artist. He accepts challenges in the form of opponents thrown at him and figures the best combination to unlock them. He has done this in every single fight for the UFC, including last night. I guess there's a distinct difference between being a fan of legitimate sporting contests and being an MMA fan. I guess UFC really is catering to the pro wrestling crowd who got too old for it and moved on. Not that it surprises me in the slightest, all the signs pointed to that being UFC's core demographic. Its just a shame for those with an appreciation of the very best martial artists that they have to share them with the 'entertain me now' crowd who would be just as happy with a chiselled modern day Tank Abbott in the main event.
explodingboy -Enigmanic - CindyOwned!
Hardly.
What Anderson symbolises transcends cultural fads even as large as the UFC. The entertainment and the financial reward and the respect of thousands of fans and the P4P rankings and the naysayers are all by-products of his desire to be a true martial artist. He accepts challenges in the form of opponents thrown at him and figures the best combination to unlock them. He has done this in every single fight for the UFC, including last night. I guess there's a distinct difference between being a fan of legitimate sporting contests and being an MMA fan. I guess UFC really is catering to the pro wrestling crowd who got too old for it and moved on. Not that it surprises me in the slightest, all the signs pointed to that being UFC's core demographic. Its just a shame for those with an appreciation of the very best martial artists that they have to share them with the 'entertain me now' crowd who would be just as happy with a chiselled modern day Tank Abbott in the main event.
Extremely well said, explodingboy.
Though you confused me w/ the "difference between being a fan of a legitimate sporting contest and being an MMA fan" part. I have a general idea of what you mean, but it was possibly worded a bit off there.
Nice post though, either way. Very true on all accounts.