Chael Sonnen lost to former middleweight king Anderson “The Spider” Silva twice in his UFC career, getting finished in emphatic fashion both times.
That doesn’t stop Mr. Sonnen from downplaying Silva’s magnificence, though.
In a recent episode of his podcast, You’re Welcome, Sonnen spoke with UFC lightweight Nate Diaz, whose brother, Nick, faces Silva on Jan. 31 at UFC 183.
The topic turned to that fight, and Sonnen said Silva is “not as good as they say he is” (transcription courtesy of MMAmania.com‘s Adam Guillen Jr.):
And Anderson Silva is very good, this is not meant to be a knock on Anderson Silva. He is not as good as they say he is. That’s also a true statement. And when guys go out there and fight him, they will come away with that opinion. Everybody calls me before they fight Anderson Silva. And I tell them, ‘Look, the guy is a good fighter, all that nice stuff. He’s not near as good as they say he is. He’s not as good as they will tell you he is. And if you go out there and waste half of the fight before you realize that, like Demian Maia did, you will not be able to beat him in a decision.’
To draw a football analogy, if MMA bouts were decided by “time of possession,” Sonnen would have a point. He spent approximately a half-hour inside the UFC Octagon with Silva, and he won for about 29 of those minutes.
Unfortunately for him, Silva’s submission game and knockout power are real tools, and The Spider used them to great effect in each of the bouts, turning the tables and ending the affair after being dominated by Sonnen early.
Sonnen‘s wrestle-first style definitely gave Silva fits, but in the end, in downplaying Silva’s greatness, Sonnen is also downplaying his own success in those fights. If Silva is not that great and you lost to him twice, what does that make you? Not that…average?
That debate aside, Sonnen also mentioned another big name in the sport, former welterweight titleholder and UFC legend Georges St-Pierre, during his conversation with Diaz.
When the topic turned to GSP, Sonnen was much more complimentary, going as far as to say that GSP is a more polished and better athlete than Silva.
“I’ve fought Anderson Silva before, and I’ve worked out with Georges St-Pierre, and I had a tougher time with St-Pierre,” Sonnen said. “That was my experience. I know it’s style and a lot of things come into it, but I thought St-Pierre was far superior of an athlete and a fighter.”
There we have it. If the fantasy matchup between Silva and St-Pierre ever happens, we know who the American Gangster will put money on.
To me, Sonnen is half-correct. St-Pierre is a better “athlete” than Silva. The Canadian superstar’s Olympic-style workout routines and obsessive work ethic are well documented. There are few mixed martial artists who take fitness to the level St-Pierre has throughout his career.
I’m sure St-Pierre can do more push-ups than Silva, and he can probably run a 100-meter dash quicker than Silva.
But when it comes to fighting, Silva had an aura of perfection that has scarcely been seen throughout MMA history. He was borderline inhuman during his run as UFC champion, and he finished fights in fantastic fashion.
St-Pierre, on the other hand, was calculated and robotic, going about his fights much in the way he approached his workout routine: scientific and effective if not all that appealing.
Because of that, when it comes to the better “fighter” in the purest sense of the word, I have to say that ole Chael is off on that one.
Silva is better, and considering the fact that The Spider sprayed his web all over Sonnen‘s brain in each of their fights, I can’t necessarily blame him for jumbling that fact.
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