If it wasn’t already obvious, Anderson Silva has cemented his status as the best fighter in mixed martial arts history.
Silva’s dismantling of Yushin Okami at UFC 134 came as a surprise to exactly no one, except for possibly Chael Sonnen. Even Okami himself seemed to know it was the beginning of the end as Silva lowered his hands and ever so slightly stuck out his chin, imploring Okami to take his best shot.
A slipped punch and lightning-fast counter-jab later, Okami was on his back, doing practically nothing to stop the punches raining down on him with laser-like precision.
Rewind six months to UFC 126. After trading several blows in the opening of the first round, Silva stood in the center of the cage, just barely within range of Vitor Belfort. With nary a warning, Silva whipped his rear leg forward and shot his foot expertly into Belfort’s jaw, dropping him like a rag doll. The two punches that preceded the stoppage were all but a formality.
Even as Sonnen relentlessly took the champion down and beat him up for 23 minutes at UFC 117, I found myself thinking, “I don’t believe it, he can’t possibly lose.”
Well, we all know how that went.
Time and time again—14 times, to be exact—Anderson Silva has demonstrated his dominance in the UFC Octagon. Now, more than ever, there can be no doubt. He is unstoppable.
And that seems to be a problem for some.
As I took to the Internet to express my awe in 140 characters or less, I saw a rather surprising tweet:
I don’t think I’m going to pay for another Anderson Silva card again. It’s just too predictable. No doubt he’s the best…and that’s the problem. Why should hard working Americans pay $60 to watch him beat up yet another wannabee?
I have honestly never thought of it like that before. Sure, you hear “predictable” being thrown around for a guy like Jon Fitch, Dominick Cruz, or even Georges St-Pierre. But what was predictable about what I had just witnessed? About a devastating front kick? About a miracle triangle choke?
The result is what’s predictable. The case that this particular individual made is that if the outcome of the fight is so reasonably certain, why bother paying to see it when you can catch a highlight online? Isn’t it a better use of money to buy a card full of closely contested, unpredictable fights?
Through 50 or so tweets back and forth, I tried to explain that people are willing to pay to see Silva fight simply because he is the best, because, for all we know, there may never be another fighter like him. And, even though you can watch Silva’s fights assuming his pending victory, it’s endlessly entertaining to watch him get there.
Like it or not, nothing can beat witnessing the seemingly impossible.
Much like Harry Potter fans go to theaters in droves to watch a story unfold as they knew it would, true MMA fans will continue to pay to see Anderson Silva show us what we already know.
He is the best. He will win. And, if you blink, you might just miss it.
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