Neither Anderson “The Spider” Silva nor Georges “Rush” St-Pierre, whoever of the two is MMA‘s equivalent of Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr., won’t resort to any infamous legal-but-cheap shots at an opponent.
Our MMA greats have too much class and ethics to stoop down for a victory that has “crass” written all over it.
Last Saturday night, the fight world witnessed two kinds of KOs in two different arenas: one that left an indefinite and murky impression on its fans (Mayweather’s vs. Victor Ortiz), and one that was definitely clean and drew nothing but admiration for its executioner (Jake Ellenberger’s vs. Jake Shields).
St-Pierre won’t commit that sin, being the consummate fighter and gentleman. He is also a labor activist; he fights to ensure that judges will always have a job to do in his every fight to justify their hiring. (I’m not saying that they always do a good job, it’s just that they “have a job to do.”)
Silva may exude that supreme confidence inside and outside of the Octagon. He comports himself as if he is way above all other fighters when in fact he really is.
Still, he has consistently shown respect not only for the rules of the fight game, but also to the sensibilities of the fans.
He may have been disqualified in his first match versus Yushin Okami for an illegal up-kick, but that was—and is—the only “blemish” in his otherwise esteemed reputation and record as a clean fighter.
He didn’t inflict that blow with malice; he was simply ignorant of that rule against that particular strike on that particular night. (As redemption, he finally disposed of Okami in his last title defense in an impeccable and “un-Mayweather-like” fashion.)
In contrast, it is Mayweather who has an acute spider-sense, ironically, of what is legal and when to exploit it in every opportunity—ethics be damned.
But the most significant difference is this: Mayweather needed a jab-straight combination to finish off Ortiz; Silva could’ve done the job with just one jab.
Here is my article Mayweather vs. Ortiz: Boxing Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry Twice.
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