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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Contributor
The Strikeforce show Saturday was a total mess. The fights were beyond boring, they were unwatchable. Gegard Mousasi looked like a chump. He had nothing for Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal. Mousasi was supposed to be a top Light Heavyweight, and I had him ranked as the #5 ranked Light Heavyweight myself, but no more.
With his crappy performance he's out of my top ten, I guarantee you that. There's no way in hell a guy like that can be a top fighter. I understand he might have had a bad night, but he seemed to be bored and like he didn't care. He was moving in slow motion. If he was at least trying I could respect that. If you're trying as hard as you can, but you just can't get it going, that's fine.
The crap Mousasi pulled was what you see from guys who just don't care. It cost him his belt. King Mo didn't look that impressive, either, but at least he was working. He gassed early, but he kept trying, he kept coming. He basically just laid on top, not doing much, but at least he was trying despite having no wind.
What the hell got into Shinya Aoki? I've seen dogs rubbing their ass across the floor before, but that's because they're scratching, or there's something else wrong with them. Aoki scooting around on the mat is an embarrassment not just for him, but all of MMA. That was pathetic, and certainly drops him out of the top ten.
I was one of the many who drank the Flavor-Aid on this guy, and bought the hype of him being the second-best Lightweight in the world. The only thing worse than me thinking that was Aoki's performance Saturday. I'm guessing he doesn't know who Thales Leites is? Shinya Aoki is the new watermark for boring-ass, pathetic attempts at fighting.
Gilbert Melendez tried, but he really should have found a way to make this guy pay. Don't stand over top of him when Aoki's on his back, make the ref stand him up. I've always hated when one guy stands over the other guy when he's on the ground. Either do something or don't, standing there feinting makes you look like an idiot.
Did Dan Henderson even train for his fight? What the hell was he doing? First off, he had Jake Shields reeling in the first round. He should have finished him off there. He needed to find a way to finish the ever-boring Shields. I'll give Shields credit for being good at what he does. However, I will not give him credit for being one of the best fighters in the world. He's too one-dimensional to be one of the best. I think I saw Henderson age about 10 years from the end of the first round, but before the second round started. I should have seen it coming, all the signs were there. Whenever a guy starts talking about being in the best shape of his life, that basically means he's done. Henderson will always a chance in his fights because of his power, but he's done as a legit fighter. He looked like hell in the later rounds, and turning 40 this August won't help.
Jake Shields is boring, but he's good. He's not great, but he's good. I'd say he's a top five Middleweight, but that's more due to a lack of quality fighters in that weight class. You can definitely see an improvement in his stand-up, but he's still rough. If he would actually for the finish instead of trying to coast to victory I could get behind him more. Shields fights not to lose, instead of trying to win.
The most exciting thing that happened all night was the brawl at the end. I'm surprised Jake Shields shoved Jason Miller. It's not like Miller was cussing Shields' mom out or anything. Shields owned it, though, as did Miller. The main thing the brawl showed was how big a punk Nick Diaz is. Actually, Nate Diaz and Gilbert Melendez get put in there, too. Yeah, they really showed how tough they are by beating on Miller as members of their own crew held him down.
Yeah, Miller shouldn't have been in there, but he wasn't hurting anybody. He was trying to get a rematch with Shields, whether or not he deserves one is another topic. Then Nick throws a sucker punch at Miller, and starts a brawl. Nick Diaz is a hell of a fighter, but that was a dick move. Then, to beat on a guy while your crew holds him down? That's a bitch move there. A lot of people won't like hearing that, but it's true.
Strikeforce: Nashville was a disaster. The good news is that it will be quickly forgotten. The bad news is that Strikeforce is going to have to reload and try again. More good news is that they still have Fedor Emelianenko, Bobby Lashley, Brett Rogers, Nick Diaz, Gilbert Melendez, and Cristiane Santos. I think Strikeforce can, and will, turns things around. The MMA newscycle is constantly moving, and all it will take is more talk about Anderson Silva to get them out of the bad spotlight for a while.
Speaking of Anderson Silva, last week I wrote a blog about him. It certainly stirred up a lot of discussion amongst people. These are some of the e-mails I received about the blog piece.
Clayton Moss- To solve the Anderson Silva problem permanantly move him to light heavy weight and give him every big name fighter there, Rashad Evans, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua etc... then give him big names at heavyweights like Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir then eventually title shots at both divisions.
Xengo- Maybe he's got a contract issue and he can't get the fights he wants so this is his way to stick it to Dana White.
Mike- I think the UFC should give Silva the chance to voluntarily relinquish his 185 pound title and get an immediate shot at the winner of Lyoto Machida vs.Mauricio "Shogun" Rua for the 205 crown. If he doesn't like that option & refuses the Machida fight and if it comes down to it then let him work his way up from the bottom of the light heavyweight ranks.
And although its a long shot, one could also assume that he's lost most of his drawing power. If Dana White really wants to send a message to his roster then cut him. Let him live out his boxing fantasy or go become irrelevant right next to Fedor Emelianenko in Strikeforce.
Marc Cardinal- It's a real tough spot for the UFC brass to figure out what to do with Anderson Silva. They know they have no choice but to keep promoting him since it's becoming even more apparent that he is the best pound for pound fighter out there. He is undeserving of other title fights in other divisions because of his antics but at the same time giving him those opportunities and assuming he takes either the light heavyweight and/or the welterweight belt allows the UFC to promote him even further as the undisputed pound for pound fighter out there. From a business stand point I think the UFC has to keep him at the very least on the co-main event cards. I don't think what happened at UFC 112 really hurt his drawing capability. Fans after all love to hate a fighter and want to see him fight even more, just in the hopes that he finally gets beaten up. I would like to see Silva in there with either Vitor Belfort, Lyoto Machida, Georges St. Pierre or B.J. Penn. It's too bad BJ lost the lightweight belt. He is too proud to move up right now to welterweight until he gets his lightweight belt back. BJ fighting silva at welterweight would have been a real show. Fans would never stand for any of Silva's antics with BJ in the cage with him and I think we might see BJ finally admit that someone has better striking then him and decide to take the fight to the ground. BJ would at least be able to hang in there with Silva while it stays on the feet.
There is not much you can do with Silva based on his drawing power and his stature as the best pound for pound fighter out there. I think the UFC really needs to look at some kind of modified pride yellow card rule. I think the only way to punish a fighter is in the pocket book. Putting Silva on the under card of a promotion as Dana White hinted at should not be taken seriously.
I enjoy reading your blogs.
Greg Sproles- At least Fedor Emelianenko is always moving forward looking to finish! He's not doing, 'just enough to win' as Georges St. Pierre & Anderson Silva are. If Silva is the best, then what's he afraid of? If he could knock out Fedor or Brock Lesnar, why so tentative against the much weaker Demian Maia? Why don't you offer to shine his shoes while you're at it!
If he's the best on the planet, why does he drop up to 30lbs to fight? Fedor doesn't drop any! HE JUST FIGHTS!!
your opinions are yours, but they smell like Nancy Pelosi and her butt crusted nasty self....
WAY OFF
Tim Harris- Either put Anderson Silva in the octagon w/ the Jon Jones vs. Thiago Silva winner or put him against Stephen Bonnar and Martin Kampmann at the same time.
I agree that Thiago would likely be destroyed by Anderson but I like the chances of an aggressive striker like Thiago better then defensive fighters of a similar caliber. Anderson seems to be the best defensive/counter striker in MMA while being the 2nd most creative in his striking to (IMO) Jon "Bones" Jones. But Thiago has that mean streak, you won't be able to clown in front of him, he will attack without hesitation. And that fear that opponents of The Spider have, is why he can do all that pompous bullshit. One thing with Thiago or Bones for me vs. Anderson is an insurance that the next fight will not be a replay of Saturday.
Wow, enough of the rant, thanks for the opportunity to express my thoughts to a knowledgable source, have a good one. And yeah, I think Silva could still manage to win all three rounds against those two, and it would be one hell of a spectacle. If they got him on his back at any point though it would be over. But from standup I'd still give Silva the edge.
Matt "The Adrenaline" Madrigal- I would just like to say....
That was one, if not the best, articles I read about the whole Anderson Silva debacle and I 100% agree with you...so Georges St. Pierre or anyone someone if you're reading this...please do society and mma a favor and BEAT HIS ASS!!! Because this Spider is caught in a web of his own disillusioned confidence.
Ben Davis- I read your articles and they are usually on target. I disagree that Anderson Silva would beat Fedor or Brock. The weight difference would be too much. However that's not my point. Here's what I would do with Silva if I was Dana.
1. Tell him to shut up and fight. People don't pay good money to watch him do his best Sugar Ray Leonard impression. We pay to watch him fight so do it.
2. Tell him to shut up and fight. It's not his decision who he fights. It's the UFCs. If he doesn't like it quit. Otherwise fight who is in front of you. If he wants to dance try out for dancing with the stars.
3. Tell him to shut up and fight. I refuse to pay anymore money to watch him do absolutely nothing. He's a fighter for Pete's sake. Do what he's paid to do. If he can't fight, put his ass on spike tv for free.
Until he starts acting like the fighter he is and can be, I ain't paying out $$$ to watch him.
PS. I'd love to see him get freaking crushed by Fedor or Brock though.
Food for thought.......Arlovski's striking was precise too, right before he got KTFO. Until Fedor loses I'll never bet against him. (I don't count the first Kosaka fight since it was a fluke anyways. We know what happened the second time).
Either way good job on the blog. Keep 'em coming.
Aztec- Let him fight Vitor Belfort, Nate Marquardt, even Chael Sonnen just because of his verbal bashing of Silva, and to see if he really can beat Silva.
Dont give him GSP, GSP hasn't put any fighters away in his own division for a few fights now, what makes you think he can put away Silva...you'll just be giving Silva GSP on a silver platter...ann that unprofessional idiot doesn't deserve that, he's gotten more stupid/cocky/uncivilized...especially with all these people kissing Silva's ass...I've seen him lose in Pride, I dont think he's as good as everyone thinks..my opinion.
Ryan Gennero- Great article man, keep 'em coming. I'm a huge Silva fan but I agree with you that he should get his act together. The points you made are exactly how I feel on this... Here's how I look at it-- Anderson is the man, and anybody is gonna have a hard time in the cage with him. It's obvious that Damian Maia's strategy was to beat Silva on the ground and once he realized he was unable to do that, he became hopeless and Silva got bored/tired. It clearly wasn't a good match up even on paper because we know from Silva's title defense against Thales Leites that he won't go to the ground if he doesn't have to and he has no problem dancing around for five rounds, making everyone go crazy during in the process.
When I was watching the fight and the 3rd round started I was just thinking "Shit Silva, do something now or a lot of people are gonna be extremely unhappy." We know what happened from there.
I have no idea what Silva was thinking, but knowing he had the opportunity (which he clearly did in the first 2 rounds) to knock his opponent out, it drives me crazy thinking why he wouldn't just do it and make everyone happy. I was shocked at how pissed Dana White was.
What do you think about Chael Sonnen's trash talk? I was shocked when he said that when he see's Silva in the back at a UFC event, Silva is intimidated by him and afraid to look him in the eye. This sounds like BS to me knowing that Anderson would and probably will wreck that MF.
By the way, you said exactly what I was thinking-- He should ABSOLUTELY fight the winner of Rampage vs Rashad next time he goes to 205. Either one would be a great match up, although I think Rampage could give him more trouble because of his better strength and wrestling ability. I don't think that would be the case though honestly. I think it would end on the feet as Silva is much quicker than Rampage and would probably baffle him pretty quick if they exchanged.
Who do you think would win Rampage vs Rashad?
Peace
Hat Man- So I read your post on what to do with Anderson Silva. I love watching Silva when he's actually trying and demolishing anybody in his way. But his actions lately are complete BS. I think that if middleweight isn't enough if a challenge, that maybe he should be forced to permanently move to 205. Or Dana should get the point across that he doesn't deserve a top opponent until his actions in the ring show us he's worthy of them.
For the record, I think Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will beat Rashad Evans.
Any comments or suggestions about this blog, e-mail me at hydenfrank@gmail.com
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