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.

Afrothought Salutes: Gina Carano

This past weekend, I lay back and watched Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and to my surprise I see that one of the main events on the night’s card are women! Somehow I missed when women started competing in MMA and was expecting to see a “match” that was absent of intensity (women’s boxing) and as anti-climactic as the WNBA. Read more