I'm a counter puncher as well, although not nearly as good as Silva, obviously. I want to offer a different take on the Silva/Weidman fight.
1. As a counter puncher, your opponent has to throw hands in order for you to slip and counter. That much is obvious. The problem for Silva is that he has such a dominant, fear inducing aura that guys get too hesitant to attack so he has nothing to counter. I think thats why he taunts and people. He needs them to get annoyed/pissed enough to come after him. A good example of that would be Rich Franklin and another good one would be Forrest. Personally, how I do this is by coming forward aggressively and making my opponent throw hands while moving backward. AS likes to use his footwork and low hands to lull a guy in and then reach out with his long arms and catch them.
2. AS def felt how good Weidman was on the ground. NOBODY expected Weidman to actually chase subs on him. I'm sure most (like me) felt he would get into halfguard and pound away like Chael did and be happy to stay there. I think AS was a little shaken by Weidman having the confidence to go from a very Dominant position and spin for the knee bar. I dont care who you are, you have to be very confident to give up a position like that in an MMA fight to look for the knee bar.
3. Weidman was equally frustrated by Silva's taunting and him slipping his punches. I think Silva was overcompensating for the fact that he was a bit nervous of Weidman's ground game and thats why he was over the top with the taunting at the end of the first Rd trying to get Weidman to get too aggressive so he could counter him.
4. I think the key thing to the KO was the backfist Weidman threw after the missed overhand right. I dont think Silva was expecting it and it threw off his timing. I think he was expecting the typical 3-2-3 and was waiting to slip the last hook but Weidman threw the backfist and popped him, while throwing the backfist he closed the distance enough that when he threw the left hook again, Silva wasnt as far away as he thought he was and he got caught.
I'd like to hear some opinions on these points. Not saying I'm 100% correct, this is just what I think after applying my own understanding of striking.
Dead President - #4 great point
Most guys I know, and the way I teach it, is to use the back fist as a gap filler between the right hand and the left. If you throw a jab and want to follow it with the straight right, the backfist keeps your opponent from having enough time to slip the 2 by making them either absorb the backfist or slip it without enough time to safely dodge the 2 coming right behind it. Thats how I use it and I get a lot of good results. The best thing is its not too commonly used, especially in mma so with all the GIF's of Silva slipping punches, the combo's he's ducking are very basic, especially the Forrest combo's. Slipping is just like throwing punches, you develop habits. You get used to slipping a 1-2-3 because you see it so often. When somebody throws an abnormal punch, it can throw off your rhythm and you get caught.
I just wonder if his chin will end up like chucks chin. Barely touch it and good night
I agree with most of what you said, I feel like what you missed though was Anderson felt like he had to destroy Weidmans confidence because he himself was not confident with what happened in the first round and as a defense mechanism wanted Weidman to feel the way he actually felt so he could feel like he was winning the mental game. He probably felt if he could have dodged a few more of those punches that he would have broke on the inside and would be filled with self doubt and make himself an easy target
I think it was definately the follow up back fist. Weidman even said it post fight. He planned to keep coming forward slowly and ur right, i think anderson was only expecting 3 punches. But weidman was game and kept pressing
Almost exactly what I wrote in the thread I created - the backfist didn't land with any power but it changed up the rhythm of the combo so the left hand landed clean. It looked really strange but was effective in confusing Silva's timing.
Wolfman will show up here shortly and explain why ur wrong, say he's taught this exact thing and post one of his videos.
That little half-assed backfist was the missing variable on how to defeat Silva. Unpredictability.
If you look at home much distance Weidman closed while throwing that backfist, you'll see that if his didnt throw it, Silva would have successfully slipped the hook that KO'd him. Then its possible we'd all be sitting here talking about how Weidman wasnt ready and Silva is unbeatable.
I disagree with what you wrote about the ground game, though: a lot of people predicted Weidman would go for the sub aggressively (it's been touted as Silva's weakness for years), and on the contrary, I thought Anderson defended well and showed it wasn't going to be easy to submit him. Silva stuffing Weidman's takedowns in the 2nd made me think the tide was turning - I don't think anyone expected a standing KO from Weidman.
mestregruber - Almost exactly what I wrote in the thread I created - the backfist didn't land with any power but it changed up the rhythm of the combo so the left hand landed clean. It looked really strange but was effective in confusing Silva's timing.
Not trying to steal thunder or claim to be the only one who thinks this, there was just WAY too many threads to search them all and make sure I wasnt rehashing what someone else already said.
We were just discussing in the boxing thread some of the work in Anderson's 'Boxing for MMA' DVD sparring session @ Wildcard.
Nobody was a fan of the way the guy he sparred with, although he didn't put the stamp on Anderson by any means, was able to place Anderson where he wanted him and freeze him a couple times with set up punches/angles for the big one that he wanted.
I'm no expert but it looked like the backhanded flipjab there thrown by Weidman before the final left hook, froze him off. Anderson had taken his angle and was on his way out the other side, but his attention was with the jab and the final left was totally blind.
I'm not sure but I think I just agreed while saying it in a considerably less intellegent fashion.
I said the same thing earlier. Counter punchers require a punch to be thrown at them.
If Mayweather fought a 100% counter puncher there would be no fight. These guys force there opponents to come at them!
mestregruber - I disagree with what you wrote about the ground game, though: a lot of people predicted Weidman would go for the sub aggressively (it's been touted as Silva's weakness for years), and on the contrary, I thought Anderson defended well and showed it wasn't going to be easy to submit him. Silva stuffing Weidman's takedowns in the 2nd made me think the tide was turning - I don't think anyone expected a standing KO from Weidman.
I disagree with the first part and agree with the last part. I dont see how AS has a weakness for sub defense when he hasnt been sub'd since Chonan. He submitted one of the best BJJ guys in Lutter and was inscathed vs Leites and Maia. Sub'd Hendo. AS def defended well as the knee was very deep when he first hit it.
Imagine if Anderson had list by heal hook AGAIN!!!!! Lol