Does Sonnen getting the better of Silva on the feet make you think AS is in decline?

Sonnen didn't get the better of Silva on the feet. Whenever Silva pressed standing Sonnen was quickly in trouble and (rightly) went for the takedown. Silva clearly hurt Sonnen at the start of the fourth for instance.

 

Sonnen only did well in the stand up in the first round. Silva was't expecting it, and got caught with a clean shot. Ever instance of stand up from round two on, Silva was very much in control. He even hurt Sonnen a couple of times.

 

Depends on how badly Silva was hurt. If he had a cracked rib, which I believe was what was reported, then Silva did an amazing job. If on the other hand he got hurt in the fight, then the question is when did it happen and how bad was he hurt.

 

Yes.

 

Silva would also struggle to stand against Sonnen because of the threat Chael possed with his takedowns. Silva struggled to impose himself against Dan Henderson early on for much the same reason.

And of course all fighter's decline but let's remember that the fight before Sonnen Silva spent three rounds doing crazy jedi mind**** standup that was light years beyond what anybody else has even tried in the Octagon. And before that he murdered Griffin. I don't see any real evidence that he's slipping.

 

Maybe.

But I like to contribute Sonnen's success against Silva on his feet to Silva expecting more of a grappling approach from Chael. I think he underestimated his standup and paid for it. I think Anderson Silva is still on top of his game.

 

I agree, AS was worried about TD's and wasn't expecting Sonnen to have some decent standup. I was surprised as well Anderson doesn't get caught very often but Sonnen got through a few times.

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt1GcBeYUmY[/ame]

funny **** i felt it kinda belonged here.

 

Yes, but the injury may well have played a part as well. Just an all-around terrible performance, really. Something was off about him, that's for sure.

 

The big factor was I'd say Chael mixing up his standup with his wrestling, Silva's weakness in the latter effected his standup as he has problems transitioning between the two area.

Go back to say the Silva/Chonan fight and I think you see the same thing, Chonan was able to have the sucess he did with leg kicks because of the fear of the takedown. The same was true in matches like Maia and Leties, Anderson IMHO has alot of trouble controling the distance to defend takedowns AND landing big shot sat the same time.

 

Very uncharacteristic performance by Anderson so i would put a huge part of it down to the injury

 

I believe people make far too much of Silva vs Sonnen.

Silva won most of the punching exchanges save for the first round.

Silva was injured (cracked rib) Sonnen was busted taking a foreign substance immediately after the fight.

Silva won the fight.

You can out-strike a superior striker in spots if you can take them out of their element. Sonnen did not keep the fight standing, he pressed forward (in many cases getting clocked clean with punches) and got within range to take silva down. I think the Silva/Sonnen fight is similar to Couture vs Liddell I in many ways in that the better striker was controlled with aggression and constant pressure.

Unlike Silva however Liddell was not able to come from behind to get the victory. In the rematch it was a different situation all together.... Anderson Silva will never get his chance to prove himself in a rematch. So many will point to this fight to undermine Anderson Silva's abilities.

In Silva's next fight we will find out much more if Anderson is slippin or not.

Have patience....:rasta