Would a younger anderson have beat Chris?

ChuteBoxYouUp -
kingkoopa - No one came close to having the chin silva had when he was young, plus his speed, accuracy, and hunger to b #1 was 2nd to none.

Prime Silva beats this Weidman... that being said weidman can still improve since his career is so young.

I'd like to see how he does against Jacare and trt vitor (wishful thinking Phone Post 3.0

Chris already beat PRIME Silva in the first fight

Dont forget It was Chris who ended Silva's long winning streak via KTFO.

But yeah, you can pick any version of Silva you want. He would never come close to beating Chris because of one thing, the wrestling

You are honestly going to argue that Silva was the best he ever was a year ago? Seriously?

Who knows how prime Silva would have done. That fight is a toss up. Phone Post 3.0

VinegarStrokes -
KnockoutThoughts -
Arlovskis Chin -
KnockoutThoughts -
Arlovskis Chin - I don't understand the argument here?

Was Anderson out of his prime when Weidman knocked him out?

Weidman is a stylistic nightmare for any version of Anderson.

Would Chris have ran through those 16 like Anderson? Maybe, maybe not. But styles make fights and Weidman gives Anderson fits. Phone Post 3.0
Silva clearly didn't want it anymore. His body language and even his words stated he didn't want the spotlight anymore. It seemed more like he was doing it more out of gratitude for Dana and the UFC than for himself. Silva wasn't chasing glory anymore. Silva at the point when he fought Weidman was like the old man who is terrific at his job, but he doesn't have to try hard anymore. You get bored when your job is no longer challenging you. Now he is closer to retirement than ever being a standout stud chasing respect and recognition again. Weidman on the other hand is the new young guy on the job who wants so desperately to be the best employee. He has an amazing workrate and he is determined to prove himself despite all the naysayers. That's fire. That's motivation. That's what Silva lacks now. That's what Silva had in his prime. He realized at some point towards the end he was too great for his competition and he settled. Him settling allowed a young hungry dog to steal his plate. Weidman is amazing. Silva was one of a kind. How quickly people forget. Phone Post 3.0
I have to disagree. I don't think people have forgot how good he was. I think that's why they think Weidman beats any version off him. Anderson looked absolutely sublime in his most recent fights before Weidman.

He was taking guys out like they were children. He annihilated a 7 year ufc vet in Bonnar, had a much better performance in Chael 2 and took out Vitor who has looked like a monster.

He was in his prime when he fought Weidman imo. Phone Post 3.0
Maybe skill wise,but heartwise no way. His heart wasn't in the sport anymore imo. Respect your opinion though. Phone Post 3.0
So his heart wasn't in it after he got ktfo? He didn't want revenge on the only guy to KO him and the guy who took his title? Oh wait this is where you say Weidman didn't win but it was an injury in the rematch.

Don't make excuses. Just accept that Weidman is a bad style matchup for Silva. Phone Post 3.0
Do you remember Silva ' s comments after the first fight? He didn't want an instant rematch. He wanted time off. Zuffa pushed for the rematch hard. Phone Post 3.0

Styles make fights sums it all up. Silva is a one of a kind fighter that did magical things in that cage. And I will miss that giddy feeling I got before he fought.

And to the guy that said his Vitor win was luck....then Weidmans first win over Silva was luck according to your rationale.

Weidman is a beast. And I think he's gonna do big things in the UFC. Phone Post 3.0

Silva via KO Phone Post 3.0

TexDeuce - He's Brazilian Phone Post 3.0

i wasn't aware "black" was a nationality

ChuteBoxYouUp - 1. Fedor is the GOAT (followed closely by Gsp)

2. Youre right about Chris being too well rounded. Chris beats any version of Anderson

3. Beat the piss out of the best Machida we had seen in a long time is more accurate statement

4. And yeah, the fight was amazing. What heart and guts by both. Both deserve nothing but love.

Also hope that Chris finally put all the doubt to rest. Chris proved he can dig deep when things arent going his way and pull it out.

Chris showed everything tonight; unreal skill, composure, heart, chin, ability to over come adversity and just win - the will to win

And props to Machida. He gave it everything he got and came close in the 4th

Great fight. Great night for MMA

We may just be witnessing history with Weidman
This. Vu Phone Post 3.0

It'd be a great fight. I'd love to se Weidman fight the 08-09 Anderson. Speed is the first thing to go. And u saw that w/ Anderson. I think people forget how long he's been around.
Also Anderson has fought people of high caliber. The problem was he was so great, he made them look a level below. Phone Post 3.0

charms434 - It'd be a great fight. I'd love to se Weidman fight the 08-09 Anderson. Speed is the first thing to go. And u saw that w/ Anderson. I think people forget how long he's been around.
Also Anderson has fought people of high caliber. The problem was he was so great, he made them look a level below. Phone Post 3.0
This.
Andy was thought unstoppable a few years back. He did crazy things to good fighters. He also beat 3 or 4 guys who are proven cheaters and did it in comical fashion!
I just think athletes get better as time moves on.
Take any great athletes/teams from the past and with very few exceptions they'd get owned by newer younger guys/teams in the present.
What Silva did can never be diminished. He fought all comers in 185 and a few at 205. He entertained us! And he brought it 99% of the time.
He is, IMO, the GOAT....and I will miss his fights tremendously. Phone Post 3.0

Anderson had the best run we've ever seen in the sport. He's top 3 all time and he might not be finished knocking top guys out, but Weidman might be the guy to beat Bones or Cain Phone Post 3.0

Bobby Lupo - Anderson had the best run we've ever seen in the sport. He's top 3 all time and he might not be finished knocking top guys out, but Weidman might be the guy to beat Bones or Cain Phone Post 3.0
C'mon man...beat Cain?....let's not get carried away here. Phone Post 3.0

I believe current weidman has the tools the stop anderson at any point in his prime but would not

anderson was visibly gassed after the 3rd round in his fight against demian maia where he was clowning the whole time

a strong tenacious wrestler like chris would definitely take him into deep water a la Chael.

However, Chris has the advantage of seeing so much footage of anderson and studying him intensely over the years.

I beleive if both men fought each other without seeing each other compete in the past, they would be pretty even odds, but Anderson would win due to his surprise and dynamism.

iamarealamerican - I believe current weidman has the tools the stop anderson at any point in his prime but would not

anderson was visibly gassed after the 3rd round in his fight against demian maia where he was clowning the whole time

a strong tenacious wrestler like chris would definitely take him into deep water a la Chael.

However, Chris has the advantage of seeing so much footage of anderson and studying him intensely over the years.

I beleive if both men fought each other without seeing each other compete in the past, they would be pretty even odds, but Anderson would win due to his surprise and dynamism.
Anderson was fighting outside in the desert in that Maia fight. Chris would probably have gassed harder than Anderson since he doesn't have the best cardio at 185... Phone Post 3.0

Sennin -
ChuteBoxYouUp - 1. Fedor is the GOAT (followed closely by Gsp)

2. Youre right about Chris being too well rounded. Chris beats any version of Anderson

3. Beat the piss out of the best Machida we had seen in a long time is more accurate statement

4. And yeah, the fight was amazing. What heart and guts by both. Both deserve nothing but love.

Also hope that Chris finally put all the doubt to rest. Chris proved he can dig deep when things arent going his way and pull it out.

Chris showed everything tonight; unreal skill, composure, heart, chin, ability to over come adversity and just win - the will to win

And props to Machida. He gave it everything he got and came close in the 4th

Great fight. Great night for MMA

We may just be witnessing history with Weidman
Agree completely with this post. Voted up. Phone Post 3.0
I'd argue the 205 Champion "Machida Era" was better than the current Machida. Anyone with sense would agree. These guys age and the young dudes are just getting better. Someone younger will come along and handle Chris someday. To say he beats any version of Anderson if just ignorant too. The UFC King of all time loses in his prime? Lol

You even trane? Phone Post 3.0

klabo -
Sennin -
ChuteBoxYouUp - 1. Fedor is the GOAT (followed closely by Gsp)

2. Youre right about Chris being too well rounded. Chris beats any version of Anderson

3. Beat the piss out of the best Machida we had seen in a long time is more accurate statement

4. And yeah, the fight was amazing. What heart and guts by both. Both deserve nothing but love.

Also hope that Chris finally put all the doubt to rest. Chris proved he can dig deep when things arent going his way and pull it out.

Chris showed everything tonight; unreal skill, composure, heart, chin, ability to over come adversity and just win - the will to win

And props to Machida. He gave it everything he got and came close in the 4th

Great fight. Great night for MMA

We may just be witnessing history with Weidman
Agree completely with this post. Voted up. Phone Post 3.0
I'd argue the 205 Champion "Machida Era" was better than the current Machida. Anyone with sense would agree. These guys age and the young dudes are just getting better. Someone younger will come along and handle Chris someday. To say he beats any version of Anderson if just ignorant too. The UFC King of all time loses in his prime? Lol

You even trane? Phone Post 3.0
We'll he certainly wasn't hungry or quicker. Maybe stronger and bigger but then he fought bigger and stronger guys also. I don't think theirs many people who don't think machida hasn't looked his best at 185. Leading up to the fight that's all people were talking about. Now that Chris beat him were hearing the opposite? Phone Post 3.0

Man these threads with crazy Weidman fans are just nuts.

He's defended the belt only once without a freak injury, and a lot of people saw that he probably lost 2 rounds to Machida... and I'm pretty sure someone just compared him to GSP a few posts ago...

What the fuck are you all smoking?

These guys are old for athletes, and really old for MMA. BJ Penn is the same age and Frankie barely broke a sweat dismantling him in every possible sense.

If that's what Weidman did on Saturday then maybe we'd have a reason to have this conversation. But that just isn't the case. He's got miles to go before cleaning out the division. Something GSP and Anderson might have done twice over.

"Man these threads with crazy Weidman fans are just nuts.

He's defended the belt only once without a freak injury, and a lot of people saw that he probably lost 2 rounds to Machida... and I'm pretty sure someone just compared him to GSP a few posts ago... "

Most people had Weidman winning 4 rounds, that is how most people scored the fight. If you can't see the comparisons to GSP you are blind, they have very similar strengths, the only difference is Weidman seems more aggressive, and will take more chances.

Bisping decisioned my SN - 
klabo -
Sennin -
ChuteBoxYouUp - 1. Fedor is the GOAT (followed closely by Gsp)

2. Youre right about Chris being too well rounded. Chris beats any version of Anderson

3. Beat the piss out of the best Machida we had seen in a long time is more accurate statement

4. And yeah, the fight was amazing. What heart and guts by both. Both deserve nothing but love.

Also hope that Chris finally put all the doubt to rest. Chris proved he can dig deep when things arent going his way and pull it out.

Chris showed everything tonight; unreal skill, composure, heart, chin, ability to over come adversity and just win - the will to win

And props to Machida. He gave it everything he got and came close in the 4th

Great fight. Great night for MMA

We may just be witnessing history with Weidman
Agree completely with this post. Voted up. Phone Post 3.0
I'd argue the 205 Champion "Machida Era" was better than the current Machida. Anyone with sense would agree. These guys age and the young dudes are just getting better. Someone younger will come along and handle Chris someday. To say he beats any version of Anderson if just ignorant too. The UFC King of all time loses in his prime? Lol

You even trane? Phone Post 3.0
We'll he certainly wasn't hungry or quicker. Maybe stronger and bigger but then he fought bigger and stronger guys also. I don't think theirs many people who don't think machida hasn't looked his best at 185. Leading up to the fight that's all people were talking about. Now that Chris beat him were hearing the opposite? Phone Post 3.0

Isn't that not a triple negative, no?

I think I know what you are saying though, and honestly who cares what people say to hype a guy before a fight?

Machida's 36? and there's 10 hours of fight footage of him out there. Weidman's game plan worked incredibly well in the first 3 rounds, and he fell off after that.

Now we're talking "Would get beat the GOAT in his prime?" Come on, people.

Kinkle - "Man these threads with crazy Weidman fans are just nuts.

He's defended the belt only once without a freak injury, and a lot of people saw that he probably lost 2 rounds to Machida... and I'm pretty sure someone just compared him to GSP a few posts ago... "

Most people had Weidman winning 4 rounds, that is how most people scored the fight. If you can't see the comparisons to GSP you are blind, they have very similar strengths, the only difference is Weidman seems more aggressive, and will take more chances.

Let's call round 5 a toss-up then. He didn't own the shit out of it and Machida scored a single takedown at the end to steal it or anything. There were plenty of reasons to give Machida the round but people liked the top control Wediman had more than the flurries from Machida. Fine. This wasn't a 5-0 shutout like GSP or Anderson posted throughout their careers, which is what's being implied in this thread.

And... ya, Weidman is like GSP... but BETTER because he "takes more chances". Those tired old criticisms of GSP hold no weight for me. Maybe by Chris' 9th title defense (if he gets there) we can make a better assessment of his overall aggression.

What are there actual comparisons? They fight nothing alike, IMO.

Weidman reminds me of a young GSP, pre-Serra KO. Aggressively looking to finish the fight, and always dictating where the action takes place. How the fuck do you confuse people saying Weidman is a similar fighter to GSP to Weidman having a similar legacy as GSP???? Use some common sense lol.

There was nothing close about Weidman/Machida, Weidman dominated that fight. Who has Anderson won in a "5-0 shutout" that even came close to as good as Machida?? Nobody.

Kinkle - Weidman reminds me of a young GSP, pre-Serra KO. Aggressively looking to finish the fight, and always dictating where the action takes place. How the fuck do you confuse people saying Weidman is a similar fighter to GSP to Weidman having a similar legacy as GSP???? Use some common sense lol.

There was nothing close about Weidman/Machida, Weidman dominated that fight. Who has Anderson won in a "5-0 shutout" that even came close to as good as Machida?? Nobody.

You never made the "Pre-Serra" distinction at all until right now so calm your loling. You can't correct yourself and then laugh at the world for not "getting" it right the first time.

And no, Anderson was mostly blowing apart his opponents within 2 rounds.

Weidman/Machida wasn't the blow out you want it to be so harp all you want about it being so... and that it somehow equals pre-Serra GSP performances. He had his moments of domination and clearly won the fight, but people are getting ridiculous.