Nobody can touch the spider Anderson Silva today but what about other great MWTs from yesterday ? IMO the only guy good enough to beat Silva without a massive size difference would be Kazushi Sakaraba in his prime, this guy was special & he only ever lost to larger men who were really Lt-HWTs. I think Sak wins this 1 by armbar, what do you guys think ?
I think it would be A.Silva by KO, but if Sakuraba gets in and takes him down he can pull a submission definitely(kinda like Luther with gas i guess).
I think Silva would take it prime for prime and with ease to be honest. Sakuraba was pretty much a one trick pony. His only stand-up was some eccentric kicks and cartwheels. I think Silva would be able to hold his own should the fight go to the ground. I see it finishing with a Wandy-esque KO.
Sakuraba would be able to stand long enough to get in close & his wrestling is way too good for Anderson, once on the ground, Silva`s BJJ skills would keep it competitive but eventually Sak would get the submission, he submitted or at least applyed a sub to every Gracie he ever met & Anderson aint in their class as far as submission grappling goes. If Sak decides that he likes his chances on his feet then eventually the spider will catch him good but Sak at his best was a great athlete with a very smart fighting brain & would take this 1 down, there`s nothing Anderson can do to stop the takedown as Sak`s wrestling is by FAR superior & his submission ability is 10/10. Dont forget that Sak beat up far larger men than the spider, he has submitted some of the best guys out there, I dont see Silva being any different, he has never fought a man as unique as Sakuraba. Dont let todays version of Sakuraba sit in your mind, who is a complete shell of the once best mma fighter on earth. Sakuraba by submission.
You honestly believe Sakuraba could stand with a striker of Anderson Silvas caliber. His track record with world class strikers is not good. Wandy, Cro Cop, Vovchanchyn all destroyed him. Silva is easlily at the level of these guys. And do you think Sakuraba could keep Silva down for long? Silva gets up, bye-bye Saku. Your right that Silva hasn't faced someone as unique as Sakuraba, but Sakuraba has fought guys with as good a stand-up as Silva and its been ugly. Very Ugly.
You're right - but one thing to consider is that Wanderlai, Crocop and Vovchanchyn had a size advantage on Sakuraba. That said - I am inclined to agree with you - Sak always has trouble with strikers. He does best in grappling encounters. On that basis - I have to go with Anderson Silva in this one.
No, I dont think Sak could have a stand up fight with spider, I think he could hold his own long enough to get the takedown, those other guys were MUCH bigger than Sakuraba & only Wand destroyed him. It was different in the rematch when Sak took Wand down, it was an even fight until Sak broke his shoulder, he had the huge cro-cop down before the fight was stopped because Sak`s eye socket was smashed yet he was still fighting.He also had Vovchanchen grounded when earlier in the night had just fought for 90 mins vs royce Gracie, sak & Igor were having an even fight & he shouldnt even have been in the ring after that war, in fact Sak was winning before the corner stopped the fight thru exhaustion, not damage, Sak was a pure warrior with an amazing head for fighting.Spider is a beautiful striker but he still has to land cleanly more than once vs Sak & thats why I pick Sak because I see sak getting that great single leg takedown much more frequent than I see Anderson getting in several KO blows, the strength advantage is also with Sakuraba, he`d badly tire silva out on the ground. I would make Sak the fav for this 1 if your talking primes.
Well said, totally agree. people forget a prime Saka was as much of a warrior as you will ever see. If he stayed fighting guys his own wieght, people would talk about him as potentially the best p4p guy ever.
:good Which is why I regard he & Fedor as just that. Cant choose until Fedor starts to slide then I can study their whole careers & compare. Sakuraba was thee man at age 29/30 - he would never have lost to a 185 lb fighter, in fact he only ever lost to 205 lb men while PAST his best.... Im not sure about recently, it hurts to watch him still fight as he is 0 to what he once was. I dont go out of my way, in fact far from it to watch his fights now.
