By Robert Rousseau
May 19, 2008:
Is Anderson "The Spider" Silva unbeatable? There are no fighters that deserve that moniker. He is human. However, you've got to admit that Silva has been looking pretty close to unbeatable since coming to the UFC. After all, we may very well be talking about the greatest striker in MMA history here-a man with unbelievable reach and a talent for utilizing his knees in the clinch that we have never seen before. Heck, when the man throws punches you almost believe that he's got a stone in his hand from the way his adversaries tend to react.
What's more, Silva possesses some underrated and rather lethal submissions from the guard, in part due to the sheer length of his legs and arms.
So the UFC has a tough job ahead of them in finding a worthy opponent for the man from Brazil. Of course, that's because they haven't spoken to anyone from Submit To MMA yet.
Three fights that could be interesting for Anderson Silva
Anderson Silva vs. Georges St. Pierre: Admittedly, this is the most probable to occur in the UFC. St. Pierre may be the most explosive pound for pound athlete that mixed martial arts has ever seen. Along with this, he has some of the best takedowns, takedown defense, and ground control skills ever in the welterweight division. Further, he's inhumanly strong, has strong technical striking skills, and hits like a truck.
Still, he's a welterweight. In other words, he's used to fighting people a weight class lighter in the pants than Silva. And as good as St. Pierre is on his feet we're not even talking about the same class of stand up fighter.
Thus, who won this fight would rest on the following-could Georges St. Pierre consistently take Anderson Silva down? If he could, then he would have a chance to ground and pound his way to a victory (possibly even a stoppage).
If not, then St. Pierre would likely find himself asleep on the canvas.
Anderson Silva vs. Chuck Liddell: Here's the bottom line-this fight isn't going to the ground as neither fighter would want it that way. So the question is, can Chuck Liddell, with his superior bulk and power on his feet, negate Silva's absurdly devastating technical stand up skills? Which wins, power or technique (don't get us wrong, Liddell has excellent technique, but he isn't as adept as Silva in that regard)?
There's only one way to find out.
Anderson Silva vs. Cung Le: Every time someone tries to clinch up with Cung Le, he uses those judo and wrestling skills to throw him. By the same token, Le has never gone up against someone with Silva's skills in the clinch. Though Silva has the clear advantage in terms of reach, Le possesses marvelous and rather unorthodox kicks and punches.
In other words, technique on technique here with little chance of a ground war. Who's the better kickboxer? For that matter, which is the better kickboxing style - San Shou or Muay Thai.
Wouldn't we all love to find out?
Right now, however, given Cung Le's affiliation with Strikeforce this fight is the least likely of all to happen.
But you never do know, now do you?
Fighter Biographies from Submit To MMA
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