Afrothought Salutes: Anderson Silva

Anderson “The Spider” Silva

Yep, I had to do it. If this dude’s not bad, then you just don’t even know the meaning of the word. This weekend, Anderson Silva fought top Light Heavyweight Contender Forrest Griffin in the UFC. Now say what you want about Forrest, but the guy can fight. He may not be Top 10 (in my opinion he’s not), he may be drastically overrated, but he’s above the halfway point of the division. For those who don’t understand or are aware of what exactly happened Saturday Night, let me set it up.

Anderson Silva is currently the reigning UFC Middleweight Champion (185 lbs). He’s basically demolished everyone in his path for the last several years and has only be truly defeated three times before. His highlight reel is one of the most jaw dropping in MMA. What makes this more fascinating is that the people he humiliates are top of the line contenders and is somehow able to make them look like they don’t belong in the cage/ring with him. Furthermore, the guy has a career striking accuracy is much higher than anyone’s in the sport.

Over the course of his career, Silva’s average striking accuracy per-fight is an even 70%. To give some context, the average fighter’s accuracy is around 35%, and Silva’s opponents’ accuracy in their fights against him is 24%. That means Silva is twice as accurate as your standard fighter and nearly three times as accurate as the people fighting against him. His footwork and technique are such that not only does he connect, he also makes his opponents miss. – Yahoo! Sports

You know you’re a bad moFo when you knock someone out while you’re backpedaling with your WEAK hand. You know you’re a badass when you can stand 1 foot from your opponent with your hands at your side and not only not get touched, but somehow manage to dodge everything that is thrown at you. Seriously, I’m not even gonna talk too much about this cuz words don’t do it. Just watch the video.

Fail: UFC Judges

It’s been quiet around here for the past few weeks. But just when you start to have faith in people’s judgment, someone fucks it up. This past weekend, I went to go watch UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin, a fight that I knew would be an extremely interesting matchup. Although, with the media portraying this thing like David vs. Goliath, I had my initial worries. Read more

The Monster vs. The Warrior

Tommorow, Forrest Griffin and Rampage Jackson, two of the most exciting mixed martial arts wrestlers will square off in the octagon to capture the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. For me, the matchup itself is something that a true fan could only hope for. Griffin’s got the heart of a champion and the conditioning of a racehorse. The kid’s won matches on will power alone, while Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is well…a monster. When I say Monster, I’m not talking about the big guy who’s all muscle and no brain. I mean, for a wrestler, this guy sure is pretty well-rounded. Jackson’s ground game is lacking but history’s shown that anytime this dudes on the ground, you’re getting your ass slammed. In my opinion, if Griffin’s gonna actually beat Rampage, he’s gonna need to rely on his speed, well really his legs to outkick this guy and if the fights taken to the ground he’s gonna need to end it quick if he ain’t tryina get powerbombed.

Either way, this fight has gotten me so krunk, I had to write about it a day early. One one hand you got Rampage, a man who fights like a juggernaut and looks like a lunatic. But Forrest is a cat that looks almost too comfortable bloodied, almost like he likes and is unphased by it. I got my money on Rampage, but Griffin has a very good chance of shutting this one down if he can stretch the fight out a little.

As Jackson said it, “There’s gonna be more fireworks on July 5th than on the fourth”. Be sure to watch UFC 86. Yeh.