Anderson Silva...what's the deal?

It seems everyone in the MMA world is terrified of Anderson Silva. And even ESPN newscasters call him one of the most dominating if not THE MOST dominating figure in MMA right now. I have seen him fight and know he's good, so I'm not arguing that at all. But what makes him so good?

I went on a wild Youtube adventure and watched a lot of his MMA fights as well as some Muay Thai fights. I was trying to catch a glimpse of what made him stand out against all others. But I really didn't see anything specific other than being a calm fighter with excellent timing and precision. But is that it?

What are your impressions of him as a fighter and why he is so successful?

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"I see no virtue where I smell no sweat"
"Arm yourself because no one else here will save you" - Chris Cornell

“	Mixed martial arts record Wins 21 By knockout 12 By submission 4 Losses 4	”

Pretty impressive record, has to be said.

he's got some solid skills which he uses wisely

but even then.......

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all hail Martyr Fakka

Because his stand up is top notch MT and his ground game is very very good. It's not that common to be that good (not the best, but extremely good) in both sides of the game.

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But what makes his ground and stand up so good? What skill does he demonstrate that no other fighter has?

__________________
"You must eat bitter before you can taste sweet"- Iron & Silk
"I see no virtue where I smell no sweat"
"Arm yourself because no one else here will save you" - Chris Cornell

I haven't seen too many of his fights, but that first one against Rich Franklin was BRUTAL! The sort of damage done to Franklin sticks in the psyche of the average fan or people like me, with slightly above average knowledge, but far from really being able to know the technical skills of all involved.

So the general thought is "Silva- oh the guy that re-aaranged Franklin's face! DANG!!!!"

Then, the average reporter glams on to that and VOILA the image of Anderson Silva- the dominating fighter is born and the experienced MMA people are left scratching their heads.

Have any of his other fights had that sort of dominating and brutal looking effect? Or did I just catch his only one like that?

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Do a YouTube search...the videos I found were him pretty much "playing" and kicking butt. The exception being the flying heel hook Chief posted.

__________________
"You must eat bitter before you can taste sweet"- Iron & Silk
"I see no virtue where I smell no sweat"
"Arm yourself because no one else here will save you" - Chris Cornell

I don't have a whole lot of input, but one exceptional aspect of his stand-up is his Thai clinch (well, duh). But seriously, you see so many other fighters try to clinch but they just sort of grab the back of the neck and hang on.
Silva does it correctly and truly controls his opponent. Hands on the crown of the head, elbows locked, and every time Rich pushed into him, he used his own momentum to slam him into the cage and/or throw him off balance while he continued to knee the crap out of him. It was beautiful. (Well, not beautiful - I certainly didn't want to see poor Rich Franklin get his nose flattened like that.)

Come to think of it, I think my BJJ instructor actually wrote an article on this very subject. I'll have to see if I can find it when I get home.

That would be very interesting Miss K, I would definitely appreciate it if you post something like that. =)

__________________
"You must eat bitter before you can taste sweet"- Iron & Silk
"I see no virtue where I smell no sweat"
"Arm yourself because no one else here will save you" - Chris Cornell

He is extremely accurate (and powerful) with his strikes and avoids taking shots. That's what makes him such a tough opponent.

On the ground, he is a very slick BJJ practitioner, so if you take him down, he has the ability to submit you there or stand back up and beat you up on the feet some more.

All in all, he is such a well-rounded fighter that can hurt you from any position, no obvious weaknesses to take advantage of.

I guess that's what makes many of today's best fighters. Those who were dominating, but one dimensional, fighters in the past are being beaten by those who train the all-round fight game. I think in future this trend will just increase, which is great.

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I don't think he is as strong of a grappler as everything thinks. In his fight with Travis Lutter for the belt, Lutter came in extremely dehydrated and weak from trying to make weight (which he didn't). in the fight it was clear that Lutter was struggling but dominated Silva on the mat for a good part of the first round and IMO if he had been full stength probably would have beaten Silva. he looks very uncomfortable in a lot of ground skirmishes. But his striking is undeniable

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My very first impression of Anderson Silva was in a fight vs. someone...I really forget to be honest. But I was impressed because of the way Silva was striking from the other guy's guard. To me it seemed like he didn't really switch fighting styles when on the ground, but rather just adapted what he normally does to a different environment.

I can't recall the Lutter fight, but I do remember the fight with him and Jeremy Horn. Silva seemed VERY confident on the ground with a guy who really only had a ground arsenal.

__________________
"You must eat bitter before you can taste sweet"- Iron & Silk
"I see no virtue where I smell no sweat"
"Arm yourself because no one else here will save you" - Chris Cornell