...I am of course referring to a "hands down" style of fighting, which Anderson Silva now practises. Silva dropped his hands when he was fighting Forrest Griffin, and Griffin being as slow as an oil tanker, couldn't put a glove on him. Silva now seems to think he is The Matrix, and can have stand-up wars with his hands by his sides, which resulted in him getting tagged time and again by an inferior striker, Chael Sonnen. I really, really wish guys would stop doing this. It's so ****ing pointless. Yes, on the occasion you get away with it then you look good, like prime Roy Jones, but is it really worth the risk? I don't think so, not at all. I mean, this approach has become so common in boxing that even guys with no reflexes or agility like Carl Froch regularly practice it, and it's beyond infuriating, it's just so ****ing dumb, because for every shot a guy like Froch slips, he eats another three. Anderson may be able to get away with this trick most of the time, but he didn't get away with it against Sonnen, and ultimately it is pretty stupid. If you have boxing skills, you should use them to the fullest, and that includes defensively. Having a great defence is every bit as skilled as having a great offence, perhaps even more so, so I hope to see more MMA fighters trying to use their guards like Winky Wright or Arthur Abraham (to hope that non-boxers could emulate the amazing defence of a Pernell Whitaker or a James Toney is unrealistic), where they can come forward but maintain a tight stand-up defence, rather than prancing around with their hands at hip level eating unnecessary punches. :good
I hear what you are saying, but I think it's more complicated. every boxing match or MMA fight whenever the fighters hands are low the commentators always criticise the fighter without fail for their bad habit of holding the hands low. But I'm certain that there is a purpose to it. That Frioch or Silva would not be as successful if they fought any other way. This is the benefit of a low front arm. Holding your hands up high tires out your shoulders which takes the edge off your speed. Your hands are in a constant line of sight of your opponent as he is usually looking at your head. You don't need your arms to be up when you are out of range. A low lead am is a much looser and faster. you can throw a jab hook or uppercut from roughly the same style point. where is a high front am can only really throw a jab without taking a two movement action. On the other side of the coin. Your hand is a long way away if you need to block a punch. and dropping your arm after punching his suicidal. I'm just saying there are reasons why fighters fight with a low gard as I'm sure you probably know.
In MMA it makes much more sense than boxing; it makes getting underhooks on a sprawl easier, this is why Chuck did it.
chucks case is an example of a bad habit he wanted to get guys to trade with him because he was confident in his chin and power. he knew that in a exchange he would have the advantage. Anderson silva puts his hands low as a taunt, as a counter puncher to get his opponent to engage (he seems to do it all the time now) but you can see in his early fights his hands were up.
I've seen him drop his hands as early as his first pro fight but I agree it mostly apears to be showboating. This content is protected Can't argue with results though.
It really depends. I have no problem with a guy dropping his hands if he is fighting in no guard. This means he is using foot movement, head movement, hip movement, shoulder rolls etc to defend. In this case, hands low can pose advantages.
He better stop playing around, although he can look great at times like this he also will be tagged more and more as the with bad technique. Anderson silva is currently my favorite mma fighter and has been for years (love his muay thai and bjj style. chute boxe ftw!) but if his next fight is against vitor he better be at his best and keep them hands up!
I love it, but for every time it works there is a time it doesn't work, like on Saturday when he was outstruck by Chael ****ing Sonnen! I just think it's an unnecessary risk. If a guy possesses boxing skills he should use them, and not risk defeat just to look cool.
