Anderson Silva is the greatest MMA fighter in the history of the sport. Let’s get that out of the way to begin with.
If you are a Silva hater and I still have your attention, then I appreciate you continuing with an open mind. I am in no way somebody who writes a ton of material on Silva. In fact, I was pulling for Chael Sonnen to beat him at UFC 148.
Sooner or later, credit needs to be given where credit is due. “The Spider” should have the respect of every MMA fan by now. If the way he performs inside the Octagon doesn’t attract the admiration of an MMA fan, then I don’t know what else you want from a fighter.
Want to watch somebody who delivers devastating punches? How about a fighter with a beautiful ground game? Don’t like watching a fight go to a decision?
Then there is no reason to not like watching Silva fight.
The Middleweight Champion displays all of the exciting attributes one looks for in a fighter.
When we talk about the “greatest,” we are talking about the facts. We are not talking about potential (Jon Jones), and we aren’t talking about the theoretical run they would have had in the UFC (Fedor Emelianenko).
If you disagree and don’t think Silva is the greatest of all time (I refuse to use the acronym GOAT), then I challenge you to bring to my attention a fighter who has had a better career than this:
- 15-0 UFC Record
- 10 Consecutive UFC Title Defenses (nearly six years)
- Wins against Rick Franklin (2x), Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin, Demian Mai, Chael Sonnen (2x), Vitor Belfort, Yushin Okami
What I’m really doing is stating the obvious. There’s nothing new here, and chances are you’ve heard this all before. It’s time to look towards the future.
Who is going to beat Silva?
It seems like every six months there is an emerging star in the middleweight division that people say will be the next person to beat Silva.
Just think how much has changed since Silva became the champion six years ago—not only changes within MMA, but the world in general. Six years is a long time.
Now imagine over those six years how many contenders were supposed to be the next best thing in the middleweight division. As soon as Silva beat each of those contenders, both MMA fans and the media began to scour the fight rankings to see who Silva should fight next.
Today’s emerging star, who many believe can beat Silva, is Chris Weidman. In fact, our very own Matt Saccaro wrote an interesting piece on how Silva is merely keeping the belt warm for Weidman. Saccaro does a great job of not only saying Weidman will win, but also outlining the reasons why. I recommend you give it a read.
But it seems as if we’ve seen this movie before. People are jumping aboard the Weidman hype train, but how can we possibly say a man with five UFC fights (5-0) is going to beat Silva? Check back with me after Weidman’s fight against Alan Belcher in September.
Do fans simply want to see the king get dethroned? I believe so. I also believe that is what makes a long-reigning champion such a big pay-per-view draw.
Aside from Weidman, the other opponent creating some buzz is Rashad Evans and his potential move down to the middleweight division to challenge Silva for the belt.
When fans take a look at the top contenders, it actually looks pretty solid. It appears Silva is going to face the winner of Weidman and Belcher. When he gets through that, he will most likely either face Rashad Evans (if Evans moves down) or the winner of Michael Bisping and Brian Stann.
While the competition within the division appears to be getting better, I think there is only one opponent that will beat Silva.
His name? Father Time.
Sure, it may be an anti-climactic answer to the question of who can beat Silva, but it is something that will hold true.
Unlike many of our all-time favorite fighters, I don’t expect Silva to keep fighting until his skills diminish. He has such a great career within the UFC offices lying ahead of him. So, it would be understandable if he makes a couple more successful title defenses before calling it a Hall of Fame career.
There will be no Silva vs. Jon Jones mega-fight. How about Silva vs. GSP? That was more intriguing a few years ago when Silva was a little younger and before GSP blew out his knee.
It is entirely possible that Silva can get hit on the button and drop to the canvas in the same surprising way Chuck Liddell did in his UFC fight against Rampage Jackson (I’ll never forget my disbelief when I saw Chuck go down).
We never know when a fighter will lose his iron chin. Silva obviously isn’t too concerned about it because he encourages (and thrives of off) his opponents to nail him in the head.
Silva’s legacy is going to end in a way we’d expect it to end for a true champion—but unlike what we are accustomed to seeing.
He’s poised to end on his terms while holding the belt. His final fight will be against time, and that’s a fight none of us will ever win.
Joe Chacon is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a Staff Writer for Operation Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeChacon.
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