Would Prime Anderson Silva get owned by Sean Strickland?

[avenue94]

I dont think you realize how much does that affect the decision making of the opponent. Because it was real, it wasnt a myth or a smoke. You just need to look at the plethora of different techniques Silva hurted/KOed people with from ev. Its just unparalelled. As real as it gets, no myths.

I think you're confused on the fact that I said Silva had a huge foundation of talent and ability that was accentuated by the mythos around him. Again, watch his last few fights where people thought he was still the Silva of old when the reality was he was chinny enough to get dropped by Bisping and outstruck over 5.

The fact he still had competitive decisions with Israel, Bisping or Chavez JR despite a dramatic loss in phisical ability at a geriatric age and terrible mileage including a broken leg is a testament of his solid fundamentals.

His fundamentals were not great. Hence a horrid athlete and meant and potatoes striker like Bisping outstruck him. Most of his competitiveness with Izzy was down to Izzy thinking he was facing the Silva of a decade earlier. Again, I have Silva as one of the ten greatest fighters I've ever seen in the sport. He was incredible, but he had glaring shortcomings as a fighter, just like any other great fighter.

 

[dog y]

The guy who missed weight against Wonderboy I guess.

Pereira. Yeah, he's super exciting and I was really looking forward to that fight. What a wasted opportunity.

 

[TankAbbott4Eva]

Not in a million years Anderson had a much more complete game. Anderson could counterstrike Anderson could and would blitz Anderson could fight on the ground and Anderson could fight in the clinch.

I can not in any way see Prime Anderson losing to Sean and I like Sean.

I'd be backing prime Silva by KO against basically any MW in history, but I never saw Strickland doing that to Izzy so I have no fucking idea ha ha

 

[NewLockGuy]

Pereira. Yeah, he's super exciting and I was really looking forward to that fight. What a wasted opportunity.

Yeah the clash of styles would have been wild.

 

[Pitier of Fools]

The Anderson that fought against Maia/Lutter would lose.
The Anderson that fought against Vitor/Forrest/Hendo would win.
Really depends on which Anderson would show up. Strickland was built by God to make counter strikers uncomfortable. Worst Anderson vs best Izzy is much closer than people want to admit.

Anderson wouldn't have landed only 14% of his strikes or not been able to "find his jab." I just don't see any way that Strickland wins that fight.

 

[Koro_11]

Given Bisping more or less pressured a fading Silva to a decision loss, it's possible given that Strickland is more durable than Bisping. I'd still favor Silva winning an ugly decision though. It's hard to analyze Silva fights given so much of his abilities inside the cage are based on the mythos and reputation of his highlight real knockouts.

Fading? I think that's an understatement.

When Anderson fought Bisping he was 4 years removed from his last win, and coming back from one of the most horrific injuries we've ever seen in MMA.

Weidman beat a fading Silva... by the time Bisping got to him he was long faded, and still arguably won that fight.

Prime Anderson Matrixes Bisping, Strickland and Izzy in the same night.

 

[jx820]

It's hard to imagine, but it was hard to imagine Izzy losing to Strickland too.

During his heyday no one had picked Chael Sonnen to give Anderson the beating of a lifetime for 24 and a half minutes either, but MMA is funny that way.

As much as that fight didn't leave a lot of unanswered questions about who was the better fighter, I still question whether Izzy was having an off night at the same time Strickland was having the fight of his life.

 

[Private Whatley]

Oh man, if Zaleski styled on Strickland I can't imagine what Silva would have done to him.

oh man, if Ryo Chonan styled on Anderson, imagine what Strickland would do to him!

 

[avenue94]

But Prime Silva has no losses. Prime Izzy has 3.

Anyway, prime Silva flatlines Bisping and Sean easily, and either Weidman would have had his kryptonite or, more likely, a 3 yr younger Silva beats Weidman as well. This, we will never know.

He almost certainly drops rounds to either given Silva was always a poor round winnner and didn't really have a consistent round winning approach. I think he knocks out Bisping in a couple rounds though, and possibly Sean.

 

[avenue94]

Fading? I think that's an understatement.

When Anderson fought Bisping he was 4 years removed from his last win, and coming back from one of the most horrific injuries we've ever seen in MMA.

Weidman beat a fading Silva... by the time Bisping got to him he was long faded, and still arguably won that fight.

Prime Anderson Matrixes Bisping, Strickland and Izzy in the same night.

Past-prime, not completely shot. He never really technically declined, it was mostly just a lack of durability and speed. Hence my above comment about him dropping rounds to a fighter like Weidman or Bisping regardless of era.

 

[GoshiShun17]

Strickland beat Izzy with the same basic recipe Weidman used to beat 38 year old Anderson.

Sound fundamentals
Forward pressure
Meticulous attention to range and defensive responsibility.
Refusal to get drawn into bait or head games
Awareness to stay balanced and not overextend.

Anderson would have had better tools to implement a "Plan B" but he may have also shared a similar stubbornness and ego that may have rendered him hesitant to do so.

Anderson struggled later in his career when the blueprint got out to be patient and avoid mistakes. He would likely have needed to adjust by utilizing one of the following:

A) drop the counter striking and "lead the dance." Anderson, especially younger Anderson had a godlike chin and he was capable of walking thru the fire, and took shots from much heavier hitters than Sean.

B) Force the clinch. Not sure how easy this would be but Anderson was lethal in the clinch and Izzy has not shown similar aptitude there.

C) Take it to the ground. IF, Anderson could get the fight to the ground he was one of the best finishers on the ground of all time. Absolutely lethal in top position, but also capable of finishing off his back if needed. Very very good in scrambles, with good enough sweeps to possibly pull guard and still get the better of the ground if all else failed.

Anderson could have overcome, but I think the people saying it would be easy are being a bit dismissive of Sean's skills and how much that particular gameplan and fighting style causes problems for counter strikers.

It seems very few people can be impartial on the subject here. Well said.

 

[Private Whatley]

Not in a million years Anderson had a much more complete game. Anderson could counterstrike Anderson could and would blitz Anderson could fight on the ground and Anderson could fight in the clinch.

I can not in any way see Prime Anderson losing to Sean and I like Sean.

Anderson submitted some real turd fights when he came up against opponents who wouldn’t attack him first, and we’re talking inferior strikers like Leites and Maia. First round aside, his fight with Nick was also a bit of a stinker and Nick is nowhere near as good defensively as Strickland is.

 

[avenue94]

It seems very few people can be impartial on the subject here. Well said.

I think one of the larger reasons people tend to elevate (his defense) and ignore certain parts of the game (amazing ground and pound for finishes) is because people tend to overrate counterstriking in mma and not realize that leading and pressure fighting is harder than countering. And for all of his greatness, Silva would partly lay on the counter because he couldn't really lead comfortably a lot of the time.

 

[Koro_11]

Past-prime, not completely shot. He never really technically declined, it was mostly just a lack of durability and speed. Hence my above comment about him dropping rounds to a fighter like Weidman or Bisping regardless of era.

Ok, but I think there was quite a difference between the Anderson that fought Weidman and the Anderson that fought Bisping.

I'm sure a lot happens to you both physically and mentally after an injury like his... so I don't know if I'd say he was "completely shot" at that point, but definitely Bisping got a very washed up version of Silva that really isn't comparable to Izzy who was the reigning champ when Strickland upset him.

 

[tasticles]

No. Easy dub for Anderson along with the rest of the current division

TS should be getting dubs for needing to ask this.

 

[TheMadHatter]

The Anderson that fought against Maia/Lutter would lose.
The Anderson that fought against Vitor/Forrest/Hendo would win.
Really depends on which Anderson would show up. Strickland was built by God to make counter strikers uncomfortable. Worst Anderson vs best Izzy is much closer than people want to admit.

The Anderson that fought against Maia/Lutter would lose.
The Anderson that fought against Vitor/Forrest/Hendo would win.
Really depends on which Anderson would show up. Strickland was built by God to make counter strikers uncomfortable. Worst Anderson vs best Izzy is much closer than people want to admit.

Do you mean Leites instead of Lutter? lutter got triangled and tapped to elbow strikes. Leites and Maia also were looking to takedown Silva so I think the stylistic matchup would be much different from how Sean would fight Silva.

 

[pankrat]

I think you're confused on the fact that I said Silva had a huge foundation of talent and ability that was accentuated by the mythos around him. Again, watch his last few fights where people thought he was still the Silva of old when the reality was he was chinny enough to get dropped by Bisping and outstruck over 5.

His fundamentals were not great. Hence a horrid athlete and meant and potatoes striker like Bisping outstruck him. Most of his competitiveness with Izzy was down to Izzy thinking he was facing the Silva of a decade earlier. Again, I have Silva as one of the ten greatest fighters I've ever seen in the sport. He was incredible, but he had glaring shortcomings as a fighter, just like any other great fighter.

At the end of the day you need to build your points around a dramatically weaker and slowed down version of Silva in his 40s.

Lets see Israel in his 40s and judge his abilites upon that.

At the tail end of his career still fought him with extreme cautioun because they knew there was no myth about his abilities so better not trust too much on age and mileage slowing him down.

 

[Domitian]

For Sean it would look more like the Pereira fight rather than the Adesanya fight.

 

[avenue94]

Ok, but I think there was quite a difference between the Anderson that fought Weidman and the Anderson that fought Bisping.

I'm sure a lot happens to you both physically and mentally after an injury like his... so I don't know if I'd say he was "completely shot" at that point, but definitely Bisping got a very washed up version of Silva that really isn't comparable to Izzy who was the reigning champ when Strickland upset him.

I don't think Silva was really gunshy or kickshy when he came back, at least due to the injury. That's a credit to his mental durability. I think he probably was in worse shape (less roadwork) and a step slower and a lot less durably (partly due to worse reflexes and confidence). I don't think he really regressed as a striker or overall tactician and strategist.

Silva would have always struggled with good pressure and combination punching built around a jab. The only difference is whether or not he would have found his hail mary or not.

 

[mudrubble]

He almost certainly drops rounds to either given Silva was always a poor round winnner and didn't really have a consistent round winning approach. I think he knocks out Bisping in a couple rounds though, and possibly Sean.

Yeah, like an artist, he was painting a picture, not notching out rounds. He came to prove he was better by winning decisively. In his prime, other than a couple notable exceptions, he was putting a stamp on his finishes. I believe neither Bisping, Sean, Izzy, nor Poatan make it out alive. But these are only mental or imaginative exercises. We can never know.