re: Anderson Silva took a dive???

Yea the punch before the KO hid the actual KO punch. I gotta find that article it broke it down pretty well. It was on drudge though and it's gone now.

I have watched every fight Anderson Silva has fought in UFC and he is and always has been a counter puncher. He approaches most fights the same way - first few minutes of the first round is a feel out round where he determines the pace and timing of his opponent. He then capitalizes mainly off of counters. He has fought many fights with his hands down including his embarrassment of Forrest Griffin. The taunting was a bit over the top compared to usual but nothing he hasn't done before.

I don't think he took a dive but I certainly don't think he took this fight seriously at all. Honestly I don't blame him, he hadn't faced a top tier opponent since Griffin (maybe Belfort) which wasn't even for the middleweight belt and it seemed to be a foregone conclusion that he would easily win his title defenses. He was cocky and got caught but I really don't think he cares all that much. Dude is 38 years old and won 16 bouts in a row, many in remarkable fashion.

quote:

---

Yeah, I'm an outsider as well but for some reason decided to watch last night's match (it was about the third UFC fight I've ever watched). I assume Silva is cocky in most of his fights but I agree that something just seemed off about that fight and the post-fight interview and now it really seems odd considering the linked interview.

---

You wanna know why Silva does all that crap during fights?

Because he is a counter-puncher.

Meaning, he is most effective when his opponent is pressing forward, and he will slip and counter their punches.

He needs his opponent to come to him.

So he does all of this show-boating and putting his hands down to try to get in his opponent's head and get him to press forward and come at him.

So what happened last night?

Silva was trying to do his Matrix shite again. Silva was expecting a 3-2-3 combo.. like he usually sees.

Weidman threw the 3-2, but then added a small backfist with his right hand before coming back with the left hook. That little backfist threw off Silva's timing. He was ready for the hook. But it wasn't.

The hook was coming next, and Silva wasn't ready for it.

That's why he got knocked out.

It had nothing to do with taking a dive, or trying to get knocked out.

Here is the gif:



This is what Silva was expecting:

3-2-3:

If he wanted to take he would have done it in round 1 when he got put in that ankle lock and got out. Not let a pro athlete punch him.in the jaw.

He mentioned in the interview he wants to figjt Roy Jones Jr. He better hope he gets Roy Jones and not the boxing ring. I think Roy would expose him.

quote:

---

PrimeTime Money

---

Good analysis.

Silva always starts by trying to find his range in a fight. His range and timing. He did this the first 30 seconds of round 1. Then Weidman shot in and took him down and spent 2 minutes on top of him and going for submissions.

It was then obvious to Silva his very good take down defense was not going to be enough against the likely the best MW wrestler in the UFC. He knew that was a possibility going in as well.

So, he began the baiting to make sure Weidman did not focus on the shoot and take him down anymore. He may not have gotten up the next time. Sonnen was able to hold him down with relative ease and Silva has never been that good at getting out from under a really good wrestler.

It worked and if you will notice he tried a couple of aggressive fast straight kicks going for a knockout while doing the baiting. That worked against Belfort, but he didn't connect with Weidman.

Obviously Weidman did connect.

Additionally, had Anderson not tried the baiting and had Weidman continued with the take down strategy, I feel relatively certain Weidman would have won the fight and Silva would have taken a worse and longer beating.

Silva did the best he could and employed the best strategy he could. He lost to a better fighter and that is that. The most knowledgeable MMA people expected him to lose as well. Did people think Dana was kidding when he said all the pros were picking Weidman to win?