Author: Levi Nile

UFC: How Many Fights Does Anderson Silva Have Left in Him?

As the reigning UFC middleweight champion and current pound-for-pound kingpin, Anderson Silva enjoys the enviable position as top dog in the sport of MMA, hands down.Every other fighter who can claim to be a contemporary simply hasn’t accomplishe…

As the reigning UFC middleweight champion and current pound-for-pound kingpin, Anderson Silva enjoys the enviable position as top dog in the sport of MMA, hands down.

Every other fighter who can claim to be a contemporary simply hasn’t accomplished as much as Silva, and although they may seem to be headed for the same lofty heights, many are the slips and stumbles between now and then.

For his fans, news that Silva signed a 10-fight deal with the UFC brings anticipation and expectation; they don’t wonder if he’s going to be defeated, they only see an extension of his greatness and their enjoyment of such.

To be fair, they don’t have many reasons to expect anything else.

Even though Silva is on the dark side of his 30s, he’s still shown that he can hang with the best of them on his worst day and blow them out of the water on his best.

And yet for all of his ability and success, for fans who have followed the fight game for any length of time, the fact that everyone must yield to time and age looms above Silva just like it does everyone else.

Accepting the facts as they stand doesn’t diminish Silva’s greatness, just like it didn’t that of fighters like Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Roberto Duran and countless other legends.

It is simply acknowledging the inevitability of age, and no one can argue that we all get old, even Anderson Silva.

Come April of this year, Silva will turn 38 years of age, and while everyone fully expects him to keep his razor’s edge as if it was a sword that never grows dull, the simple truth is that it’s astonishing that he’s managed to remain undefeated in the UFC for as long as he has.

And it’s not going to last forever; it probably won’t even last the duration of his new contract.

Given Silva’s current activity rate, which is about two fights per year, the fulfillment of his contract will find him at the age of 43, and he will be a lucky man if it finds him still wearing the middleweight belt.

Over the course of his 10-fight deal, he’s probably going to be facing men like Chris Weidman, Hector Lombard and possibly Georges St-Pierre and Jon Jones; all of them younger and very familiar with Silva and his greatness.

Odds are that Silva is going to start losing a step over that period of time, his reflexes slowing and his timing lagging bit by bit, and even though he is still well above the pack, those cracks in the armor are going to translate into some rough patches against the premier fighters of today.

Against men like Weidman, St-Pierre and Jones, who have an excellent takedown game to complement their youth and athleticism, the “foxing around the edges” that time brings to us all can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

And on a long enough timeline, everyone loses.

Silva has been fighting in the UFC since 2006; his new deal will carry him into the year 2018 if he only fights twice a year.

That’s 12 full years of hard training and fighting some of the very best fighters in the world—a long time for anyone to remain viable, let alone undefeated in a game built for young lions.

Silva knows this better than anyone, and he does indeed know it to be factual; every fighter in the combative sport begins to look at the clock sooner or later, and if they are smart, they retire on top.

And given that Silva is one of the smartest fighters in the sport, it is perfectly believable he will retire before his contract is up.

While there has been much talk about “Superfights” in MMA, Silva really doesn’t have to fight them if his age begins to show overnight. If his next bout is Chris Weidman, and the latter manages to score takedowns like Chael Sonnen did, he could give Silva a pretty thorough beating.

If Silva were to emerge from such a fight with the belt still around his waist, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he announced his retirement and took his shiny belt and unblemished UFC record with him into retirement.

Silva has been an absolute pleasure to watch, and I for one would like to see him make that ride into the sunset sooner rather than later.

Better that than to see him used up and beaten down for the sake of his successor and all of the false talk that will be hurled his way by his detractors.

Silva has always been a man who never claimed he was the best, but that he could do exceptional things toward the end of motivating others, and in that he has fully succeeded.  

As greatness is usually a product of great ambition, it is no surprise that Silva signed to fight 10 times rather than four or five.

It just seems that this time we may see the night that his reach finally exceeds his grasp.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC on Fox 7: Is Dan Hardy in over His Head Against Matt Brown?

If main events (or co-main events) for MMA cards were decided by the potential of an all-out war, Dan Hardy vs. Matt Brown would have to be carefully considered for such high honors. Both men love to bang, and each possesses one-punch KO power. If ther…

If main events (or co-main events) for MMA cards were decided by the potential of an all-out war, Dan Hardy vs. Matt Brown would have to be carefully considered for such high honors.

Both men love to bang, and each possesses one-punch KO power. If there were ever a clash of styles that favored a Fight of the Night prediction, it would be found in Hardy vs. Brown.

Both men are enjoying a resurgence in their careers. Hardy has rebounded from a four-fight losing streak by posting back-to-back wins over Duane Ludwig and Amir Sadollah, while Brown is riding a four-fight winning streak after a period of time that saw him drop three in a row, all by submission.

Neither man is known for taking the fight to the mat, and that leaves us salivating at the possibility of a serious slugfest.

But some feel that Hardy is in over his head against Brown.

Hardy, while being very gritty and tough as they come, has been starched before, courtesy of a counter-left by Carlos Condit that dropped Hardy flat on his back.

Not only has Brown proved to have the kind of power that can blow a man off his feet, he has never been knocked out in 27 professional bouts.

While these considerations no doubt factor into this fight, they are not enough to discount a fighter like Hardy.

Both men seem equal in terms of skill when throwing their hands, but Hardy possesses the edge in kicking and footwork, which could end up meaning quite a bit in this fight.

Brown is a stalking fighter who is happy to eat three punches in order to land one. He is completely confident in his chin and hands.

But he still posts too frequently on his lead leg, and he doesn’t so much glide around the cage as he does walk. Yes, he can be light on his feet when he wants to be, but when the punches start to fly, he plants his feet and fires with bad intentions.

Should Hardy want, he can find a home for some damaging leg kicks when Brown settles in and begins to throw.

When it comes to defense, Hardy also has an advantage, although it isn’t as pronounced as one might think.

Avoiding punches isn’t always an easy thing, but Hardy is better at it than Brown, which could help the “Outlaw” land some brutal counters—especially his left hook.

This is one of those fights where the man who gets off first and attacks on all levels is apt to control the distance, and that is the high ground in a battle like this.

Still, Brown is a true brawler who won’t hesitate to charge in if he’s getting picked apart on the outside. Hardy needs to be ready to use the Thai clinch and work heavy knees to the body, and if he can pull Brown’s head down, all the better.

In a fight like this, it truly is better to give than to receive, and the man who finds his range early and lands more often is going to win.

So, is Hardy in over his head?

Only time will tell, but on paper this is a winnable fight for him, especially considering he has been training at the Tristar gym, where they know how to put together a winning strategy.

We could even see some takedowns by Hardy, should the moment present itself.

But he better be able to handle the pressure Brown can put on a fighter when things get ugly. 

If not, the “Outlaw” could learn the same painful lesson as others: Engaging Brown in a toe-to-toe brawl, with no pretense of defense or strategy, can get you knocked out.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 158: Keys to Victory for Nick Diaz over Georges St-Pierre

When Nick Diaz steps into the cage to face UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, he’s going to be facing the greatest fighter in the history of the welterweight division. If that wasn’t enough, he’s going to be facing a fighter…

When Nick Diaz steps into the cage to face UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, he’s going to be facing the greatest fighter in the history of the welterweight division.

If that wasn’t enough, he’s going to be facing a fighter who is the best where Diaz is the weakest—takedowns vs. takedown defense—and if that wasn’t enough, there’s more problems ahead.

St-Pierre is much stronger, more explosive, faster, seasoned and arguably the more well-rounded fighter between the two of them.

Still, all is not lost for the brawler from the 209—he still has some areas of advantage over the champ, but he can’t rest on the notion that those alone will carry him to victory.

Diaz needs to be imposing his will as much as possible. In a title bout against a man like GSP, if you are not giving him things to think about (and ideally worry about) then you are inviting him to be bold—a bold St-Pierre is nearly impossible to overcome in 25 minutes, no matter how tough you are.

The things Diaz normally does—throw punches in bunches, sprawl and brawl—he will be doing off hand in this fight; it just is part of his style and he will need to do them all night long if he wants to have any kind of success.

It’s the questions about the other areas of the fight that Diaz needs to be able to address, because it is certain that the champ and his camp have poured over countless hours of Diaz footage looking for weaknesses.

While these areas are not new to anyone in the fight game, they are nonetheless available to anyone who wants to use them, and in the biggest fight of his life, Diaz should use anything he can.

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Greg Jackson and the 5 Most Unfairly Criticized Figures in MMA

During the early days of the sport, criticism within the MMA community, be it aimed at judges, fighters, promoters or fans, was a very rare thing. I’m not talking about fans criticizing fighters because they didn’t like them; that has alway…

During the early days of the sport, criticism within the MMA community, be it aimed at judges, fighters, promoters or fans, was a very rare thing.

I’m not talking about fans criticizing fighters because they didn’t like them; that has always happened and always will.

I am talking about the kind of criticism that is overly harsh and unfair, that usually proceeds from false assumption—due to slights imagined or reasons manufactured—all toward the end of shifting blame or remaking a situation that substantiates ill opinion for the sake of ill opinion.

It doesn’t take much for a figure in the sport to go from criticized to hated in the blink of an eye, which is the worst byproduct of undue and biased criticism.

Sometimes making an unpopular decision, standing on the wrong side of the fence, or worse, being successful is all that is needed for harsh words to become the only way your detractors can bring you down.

Not all criticism is unfounded, but in the cases of the five individuals you will see on this slideshow, much of it is.  That’s what makes it so unfair.

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Robbie Lawler: The Improbable Spoiler from the Murderers’ Row at Welterweight

It doesn’t seem like all that long ago that Robbie Lawler was fighting for the first time in the UFC as a name to watch from the Miletich camp, blasting opponents off their feet. Lawler was the new kid on the block, a training part…

It doesn’t seem like all that long ago that Robbie Lawler was fighting for the first time in the UFC as a name to watch from the Miletich camp, blasting opponents off their feet. 

Lawler was the new kid on the block, a training partner to welterweight champion Matt Hughes, and it seemed logical that he would be the man to take the handoff from Hughes as the next great champion.

On Feb. 23 of this year, at UFC 157, Lawler will be stepping back into the Octagon for the first time since 2004, now an “old man” in the game, set against Josh Koscheck.

Talk about a rough “welcome home.”

Still, Koscheck isn’t going to bring anything into the cage that Lawler hasn’t seen before; as dynamic as the sport and its fighters have become, a takedown is still a takedown and an overhand right is still an overhand right.

Given the names in the division—Koscheck, Jon Fitch, Johny Hendricks, Martin Kampmann, Rory MacDonald, Carlos Condit—it’s hard to imagine Lawler standing out, really.

But upon careful reconsideration, he does begin to stand out, if for no other reason that he’s a contradiction in so many terms: a youthful veteran, an established newcomer, a quiet fighter.

And he’s better now than he was the first go-round in the UFC.

Lawler has a serious test in front of him with Koscheck, but win or lose, odds are he’s going to get his feet back under him and find his equilibrium within the division, and when he does, he could rise up the ranks for a shot at Georges St. Pierre’s title.

None of this is to say that Lawler isn’t a beatable fighter, but at 30 years old, he’s still got a lot he brings to the party, including some serious physical power and explosiveness.

Anytime someone looks at the welterweight division they see it in parts as the murderers’ row it is, with GSP playing the part of capable warden, putting down any uprisings with a kind of no-risk mechanical efficiency that belies the depth of the division.

Lawler matches up well with nearly all of the top welterweights and he possesses the kind of power that could knock any of them out cold.

And having fought many of the past years as a legitimate middleweight, Lawler is going to be a very big, powerful man in the ring at 170.

On paper, Lawler is an improbable threat to the title; most of his losses seem to stem from being outworked on the mat and he’s been submitted five times.

But most of the men who submitted him—Jake Shields, Jason Miller, Ronaldo Souza—are among some of the best submission artists in the game; a threat he won’t be facing against GSP.

All of this conjecture is really based around central notion, being that a highly motivated and excited Lawler is capable of beating anyone in the division on any given night—especially if they are foolish enough to stand and trade with him, like Melvin Manhoef was.

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Lawler look like he was honestly enthused to be fighting, but sometimes coming home can bring back the memories of better days and rekindle the joy of riding hard and fighting harder.

If there is any place for aspirations, it’s the UFC, and for Lawler, stepping down into the welterweight division, sans all the fanfare he was afforded as a younger man in the Octagon, could be the perfect formula for an awakening.

After all, he’s in a prime position; no one is expecting much out of him and most, while acknowledging his presence, have him somewhere out of the corner of their eye, standing by the gate.

Given that this is a sport where nothing is given, Lawler has a real chance to take it all by force; much as it’s the punch you don’t see coming that knocks you out, it’s also the threat you don’t see honestly that runs you over.

But he’s going to have to be more than he has been in recent years and exactly what he was once upon a time, before he became disenchanted with life and reckless in the cage.

He’s going to need to be ruthless.  

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

10 MMA Fighters Who Could Transition to Boxing…Maybe

The fight game is an odd thing. Only in the world of combative sport could a fighter like Kimbo Slice—a rank amateur in nearly all areas—take a losing effort in a Youtube video and turn that into a career in professional MMA, spin that into…

The fight game is an odd thing.

Only in the world of combative sport could a fighter like Kimbo Slice—a rank amateur in nearly all areas—take a losing effort in a Youtube video and turn that into a career in professional MMA, spin that into a failed bid on The Ultimate Fighter and upon exodus from the UFC become a professional boxer who is gaining more attention day-by-day.

Talk about making the most of what you’ve got.

Slice isn’t the only MMA fighter to ever try his hand in the boxing ring: Jens Pulver made the transition for a period of time, even if it was really only in the spirit of exploration, and he didn’t do too bad.

No matter how we, as fans, feel about fighters from one sport crossing over, it is going to start to happen more and more.

Teddy Atlas, the color commentator for one of Pulver’s fights, had this to say about the sport of MMA:

There’s nothing that makes up for that experience of being in the amateurs than being a fighter. But, ultimate fighting comes pretty close. Getting in that ring, dealing with that pressure, dealing with that fear…Confronting those two things, being able to, being forced to be disciplined under those kinds of conditions…Wrestling, also—real wrestling: high school wrestling, college wrestling—that helps a lot. First of all, you’ve got to be very disciplined. Second of all, you’ve got to be smart. Wrestlers just don’t go in there and grab somebody, throw them to the ground. You’ve gotta know movement, gotta use your range, you have to face one-on-one competition. Not a bad way to get ready for boxing.

Atlas ended by saying that MMA and boxing are “close second cousins.”

And he couldn’t be more correct.

As MMA continues to grow, some of its best fighters have looked to the sport of boxing and made it openly known that they think they could step into the squared circle and topple those kings.

Junior dos Santos said that he felt he could defeat the Klitschko brothers in a boxing bout, while other MMA fighters of note, such as Nick Diaz, were looking at boxing matches against men such as Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy.

Diaz, no stranger to the sport of boxing, has acted as a sparring partner for Andre Ward in the past. But the difference between sparring and a real fight is as vast as the Grand Canyon.

But it does beg the question: “Who could make the transition to boxing with any kind of success?”

Here’s a list of ten MMA fighters who could do it…maybe.   

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