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By: Jason Bent, MMATorch Columnist Our main event of UFC 97 is for the UFC Middleweight Championship of the world, and yet it is being perceived as if it were nothing more than an exhibition bout or a clinic at the gym. This is because the current UFC Middleweight Champion is arguably the world’s greatest pound for pound fighter, and no one can really see the challenger stepping way up and toppling him in what would be a huge upset. Champion Anderson Silva is not a perfect fighter, and I mean this because no one is, but he has yet to face anyone in the UFC capable of exposing any of his flaws and as such he has looked nothing but perfect in his UFC career. Thales Leites has only lost one bout in his entire career and is as devastating on the ground as the Champion is on his feet, but he is not being given much of a chance to win this fight from anyone at all. Anderson Silva has looked so good for so long that you would be hard-pressed to find anyone willing to pick anyone to upset him, and it is not that Leites is viewed as some sort of pushover but rather that the Champ looks unstoppable. This is really a great match-up, but the truth is that any fight with Anderson Silva feels like some sort of mismatch at this point in his career. Leites is an underdog in this fight but if anyone has the chance to show us that Silva is indeed human, it just may be the man he is set to face in the main event of UFC 97.
Anderson Silva has yet to go the distance in any of his UFC fights, and he has also yet to taste defeat in any of them as well. Silva firmly established his seemingly superhuman abilities in decimating Rich Franklin for the Championship and then putting a worse beating on him the second time they met. Franklin showed marked improvement from their first meeting, but it was Silva who showed the world that his title win was by no means a fluke and that if he and "Ace" were to meet ten times that it would mean ten victories for "The Spider." Silva is 8-0 in the UFC with 2 wins coming by way of submission and the other 6 by way of KO, TKO or stoppage.
Royce Gracie was the first man to ever dominate opposition in the UFC, but he was also shown to have some chinks in his armor as proven by his draw against Ken Shamrock in their "Super Fight." Gracie did have one official loss on his UFC, record but this was due to throwing the towel in before a bout could begin and as such he was undefeated in all bouts in which he actually competed. Gracie of course made a foolish decision to come back at UFC 60, and in exchange for cash was willing to embarrass himself against Matt Hughes in what was a farce of a match-up. Before his bout with Hughes it was believed that Royce Gracie was indeed one of the greatest UFC fighters ever, and he was awarded with entrance into the UFC Hall of Fame based on his early dominance.
Royce Gracie’s early dominance of the UFC pales in comparison to the dominance of Anderson Silva in the UFC. Without a doubt it has been Silva who has faced the tougher competition and was still able to annihilate them while making these modern day warriors look as inept as the schleps who used to make up the fight cards of the early UFC events. Anderson Silva has never fought an opponent of the Art Jimmerson variety since he has been in the UFC, and he took out Chris Leben and James Irvin in a combined total of 1:50, which is still twenty-one seconds less than what it took Gracie to dispose of the one-gloved footnote of UFC 1. Royce Gracie may have built this house, but it is Anderson Silva who holds the deed and sleeps in the master bedroom of it.
Thales Leites is a world-class competitor, but he is really receiving a title shot on the merits of Silva’s complete dominance and not because he has proven himself to be the second best middleweight. Leites does however deserve a chance, and is as worthy of an opponent as any to have faced the amazing Silva. However it must be said that Leites’ only significant win is over Nate Marquardt, and this was controversial in that Marquardt was docked two points during their bout. Leites won by split decision, but had Marquardt not been penalized it would have gone the other way. The only other time Leites has faced an upper-tier opponent was when he went up against Martin Kampmann at ‘The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale,’ and he lost a unanimous decision on that night.
It would be a disservice to Leites to only point out these two fights while not taking a glance at the other fights which make up the body of what has been an excellent start to a career. Some of the notable names that Leites has beaten include the likes of Jason Guida, Pete Sell and Drew McFedries, but it is without argument that the win over Marquardt stands as his biggest to date. The only loss on his record is the decision loss to Kampmann, and while it again is a testament to his ability to only have one loss, it is a huge question mark when you realize this loss represented one of his only tests against better opposition. The win over Marquardt is a win, though, and one over a very talented opponent. At any rate Leites is a top flight guy, but in challenging Silva he is really just the next contestant and is not perceived as a very credible threat. Leites hasn’t necessarily earned this title shot, but Silva has beaten damn near everyone else so he gets his shot at UFC 97 and he does have a chance to pull off what would be a great upset.
Bent’s Prediction: Anderson Silva by way of 1st Round TKO
Anderson Silva knows how to finish an opponent, and he also knows how to come back against an opponent who has been able to control him on the ground, which is exactly what happened against Dan Henderson at UFC 82. Dan Henderson was winning that fight in my estimation, but at the very least was able to show that Silva can show some signs of being human while there. However it was the way in which Silva was able to rebound and summarily nullify everything good that Henderson had done in one fell swoop by choking him out in the 2nd round which shows that, while still human, Anderson Silva is at least inhuman when it comes to making the comeback where others would have not been able to.
Thales Leites has a chance in this bout because he is even better on the ground than a Dan Henderson, and in some respect it may seem that a guy like Leites may just be the man to pull off this upset. Leites has the ability to take Silva down, and the submission skills necessary to take advantage of him while there, but what is going to prove difficult for him is getting Silva down without finding himself knocked out along the way. Leites does not have much of a punch at all, and while he has shown to have some chin it will still prove difficult for him to wade in and not find himself knocked silly by Silva’s offense along the way to a takedown. This will prove to especially problematic if Leites finds himself trapped in the clinch of Silva and this is more than likely while being the way I see this one ending up.
I look for Leites to show that he is game, but I look for Silva to be at his very best and step his game up a notch as he has much to prove following his atypical non-dominance of Patrick Cote. I feel that Silva will be especially sharp as will his knees and elbows, and both will cut up Leites from the clinch and secure a victory for the champion, Anderson Silva.
Anderson Silva will be beaten before he retires from the UFC, and I feel secure in making this statement as it is just so unlikely for any man in any combat sport to ever retire undefeated. While Silva has been defeated before, it has been as if this is an impossible task asked of those he has dispatched of during the course of his successful UFC run. Impossible for now, but I just cannot see him making it through the remainder of his career undefeated since both he and the UFC should want the mega fights and the paydays which can come of them. This need for making the most of Silva while he is an active fighter, and his own need for competitive fights, will put him up against someone who shall get the better of him on one Saturday evening in the future.
The future is not this Saturday at UFC 97, and the man to beat him is not named Thales Leites. I have a world of respect for Leites and his abilities, but if anyone is tailor-made for Silva to look devastating against while also sporting a respectable record worthy of a title shot and main event slot it is Thales Leites. Anderson Silva will win, and quickly remind everyone of just how dominant he can be when he opts to go for the kill rather than playing with his food as he did against Patrick Cote.
Dana White expressed some outrage after Silva’s nonchalant performance against Patrick Cote, and he repeatedly told the press that this lack of killer instinct confused him and was against Silva’s norm. Well, Mr. White asked for it and Thales Leites is going to get it on Saturday April 18, 2009.
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