Nice :good Nog was giving him the business a couple times in there Nogs probably one of the better boxers in mma. Interesting that the size difference wasn't that apparent..Silva is huge for 185.
Silva could use a functional guard but neither looks too bad in there. Not the most fundamentally sound, but you can tell they're natural fighters with athletic ability.
True. Spider is a bit round armed and his defence is more reliant on his evasive speed than his guard.
Silva strikes me as a Muhammad Ali where he is messing about/practising in sparring and where it looks tough, he's developing the intensity, durability and odd skill here and there needed for the big stage.
Silva landing at will, defending at will handing targets, controlling the pace when he wanted too. Took the absolute ****. Still he'd get ko'd doing that **** vs a legit boxer.
Spider's reflexes and hand speed have always been superior to most. But he is a fighting package that requires a minimum of mua thai rules to be truly dominant, and for that reason boxing isn't really his bag.
I am reminded of a comic in what I think was Ring Magazine, 20 or so years ago. There was a drawing of a white guy with skinny arms and legs, and a big gut, dancing around the ring. It said something to the effect that here is so and so. He has idolized and copied the fighting style of Sugar Ray Leonard for his professional career. All 15 seconds of it. It was a little competitive, but Nogueira was schooling him in that clip. I see how it was so easy for Sonnen to drop him in their first fight. Silva has no respect for what range he is in. He takes punches he shouldn't take. Silva relies too much on his speed, and not enough on technique. When I say technique, I mean basic defending and countering fundamentals. His offensive form is just fine, punch mechanics and the like. Because of his speed, he is still one of the best strikers in mma. Don't think that I'm disputing that. He still arguably the best fighter in all of mma. I just want to say he is another guy that is at the top based a lot on his athleticism. This is not a nock on him, but rather stating that not just anyone can emulate him. I think Fedor is still the best fighter to ever compete in mma, but not everyone can successfully adopt his style. You may be able to use certain aspects of Silva's, or Fedor's, game; but there is also a lot that has to do with their physical gifts. There is a reason why I pay more attention to bjj than a lot of other styles. You can watch someone like Royce Gracie, and do a lot of what he did to improve your own game. You may never become as good as Royce, but you can be better by using the techniques you saw him use. That is a universal rule. Everyone can learn how to fight this way. I loved watching Randy Couture as he got older. Not everyone can be a near Olympic caliber wrestler, but there are a lot of things everyone can apply to their game by watching what he did. This is why I'm glad we have some knowledgeable Muay Thai posters he now. Instead of trying to improve their boxing, I think mma fighters need to pay a lot more attention to Muay Thai. Boxing has evolved into it's current state because only a small fraction of what is permitted in Muay Thai is permitted in boxing. MMA is different. You can do practically every thing in MMA that you can in Muay Thai. I almost wish Rorion Gracie would go to Thailand, do something similar to the first few UFC's over there, and see if he could get a lot of Thai Boxers to turn into BJJ practitioners. Not even the best guys, as they would still be making more money doing what they're doing. At least at their local level. Just the fundamentally sound fighters. I wonder what an influx of this type of fighter would do for mma.
The true measure of Spider's talent is his results in the octagon, but you make some reasonable points :good
