Anderson Silva is a different kind of fighter. You hear it all the time, but occasionally it helps to be reminded.
But even great fighters have weaknesses. We all knew what it was. His weakness is a powerful and relentless wrestler who does not allow Silva to intimidate or captivate him with his pressure and movements in the cage. We all thought this was the style to beat Silva.
And then Silva destroyed Chael Sonnen.
Sonnen did well to secure a takedown in the opening seconds of the fight, but he would not succeed again. In the next round, he would attempt three different takedowns and all would fail.
After Sonnen was unable to bring the fight to his world, he was forced to fight on Silva’s terms. And not even Sonnen could avoid falling into Silva’s trap.
As best as I can describe it, Silva tripped Sonnen using his fight swagger and finished him with a lunging knee to the chest followed by powerful precision strikes.
And there went the last challenger. There’s actually, legitimately, no one left.
Mark Munoz’s ground-and-pound? Chris Weidman’s submission grappling? Silva has proven himself apt at avoiding damage and submissions in the last several years, and just tonight he has proven that neither fighter would be able to take him down.
Vitor Belfort? Silva would down him with a punch thrown from his waist and finish him on the ground. Michael Bisping? He’d be unable to connect with jabs and straights and would be countered and knocked senseless when he attempted to connect with something more forceful.
Perhaps Rashad Evans will drop down to middleweight and present some new problems for Silva. Or perhaps the gods of MMA will convince Silva or Georges St-Pierre to move up in weight and create one of the superfights that fans have been dying to see.
But as it stands right now, there is no one left in the middleweight division who can challenge Silva.
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