Anderson Silva Don’t Owe You Nothin’
Basketball superstar LeBron James never suited up this weekend. New York pitcher CC Sabathia didn’t allow anyone from the Tampa Bay Rays to get a hit until the eighth inning Saturday. That same night, UFC’s long-running middleweight champ Anderson Silva (pictured above-right) stood motionless and defensive long enough for the crowd to grow restless and turn ugly.
By Sunday, most MMA outlets were awash in outrage over Silva’s behavior, none moreso than UFC president Dana White, who called the main event a “disgrace,” “an embarrassment” adding too that he was “disgusted.”
But let’s pull back the gossamer curtain of immediacy and examine why many feel this way. And because I’ve never been good with keeping secrets, I should warn you that I’m planning on defending Silva in these next 1,000 words.
The 26-4 Brazilian has had a recent history of not giving the fans the type of fight that they paid for – namely, one that quickly moves to the ground and stays there. Instead, Silva’s style is to dominate from his feet – which is what happened for the most part Saturday. Silva showboated (to put it kindly) and taunted (to put it less kindly) his opponent Demian Maia early in the battle. Hands on his hips, standing without using much defense; take a look at the photo up top. It looked exactly like that, only without the threat of Riverdance breaking out. Kid stuff. Disrespectful stuff. Stuff that, frankly, made the fight boring.
And this has been the case for Silva’s last few bouts. He’s that good. He’ll tease ya. Then he’ll bleed ya. And then he’ll calmly leave the ring amid a bluster of witnesses furious that he didn’t sweat more, try harder, move quicker.
That’s “the reason” for the animosity toward Silva, but is it The Reason? No. The reason to be upset is that no one recently has forced Silva to sweat more, try harder, move quicker. Watching Silva fight in the last 24 months is like watching a Corvette idle down a driveway. Don’t blame the Corvette, blame the driver, or the neighborhood, or the laws that dictate a Corvette can’t drive 90 mph in a school zone. In short: give Silva someone to fight.
Would anyone have suddenly felt they got their money’s worth out of a 90 second fight in which Silva kicked Maia in the throat three times and called it a day? Not only would you not have gotten your money’s worth, but you wouldn’t have had anything to talk about on Monday.
In a sport still in the spring of its development, the fans remain the dictators of what “good MMA” is. Silva really is one of the three best pound-for-pound fighters in the entire sport, but he’s boring. And he’s cocky about his boringness. And he refuses to acknowledge his cockiness and / or his boringness.
But White didn’t fail to acknowledge it:
“Believe me, I’ll answer the questions of what a disgrace the main event was,” said White at the post-fight presser. “To end it the way that we did was an embarrassment for me, the UFC, the Fertittas and the UAE. If you’re that talented, be Mike Tyson. Go in there and finish. I’m so blown away and disgusted and saddened.”
…He forgot to mention greedy. Because this is where White’s anger stems from – future revenue. See, the Cleveland Cavaliers don’t have to worry about sitting LeBron James for three consecutive games, as they have this past week, because those tickets are already sold. And as long as people believe they’ll get to see James when they purchase the tickets, that’s all any of the money men care about. It’s why the D.C. Nationals waited until after the pre-season ticket sale to announce that No. 1 draft pick Stephen Strasbug would start the season in the minor leagues.
MMA doesn’t work that way. You’re only as good as your last fight and because fans equate “fast movement” to “excitement,” Silva is a dud as a fighter. At least UFC heavyweight Brock Lesnar, who painted himself with the same devil-may-care brush as Silva, has the decency to rely heavily on the ground game. He’s a real a knee-to-your-neck kinda fella. He’s the villain everyone wants to see. Silva? Skip ‘im.
I get it. I get why fans want the ground ‘n’ pound game. I get why promoters pop blood vessels at guys like Silva who stand around and pick their spots to strike. Promoting a strategic fighter is like promoting … well, like promoting a pitcher’s duel in baseball. Good luck.
But step back for a moment. Why blame Silva? This is his style. He’s a man who makes a living by winning as many fights as possible. Should Sabathia have grooved one down the middle in the seventh inning after his Yankees had the lead safely in hand on Saturday, just to spice things up a little? No. He’s paid millions of dollars to pitch as close to perfect baseball as he can. What about all the rest LeBron is getting? Shouldn’t he play insignificant games now and risk being injured, if for no other reason than for the sake of the fans who paid to see him? Nope.
And what about this blog article? It’s been nearly 700 words since you last saw a picture or anything visual. Should I just throw in something colorful to break up the monotony of all these words, even if it has nothing to do with Anderson Silva or mixed martial arts?
There. A kangaroo punching a photographer in the face. How was that? You gettin’ your money’s worth now?
Sports are about competition. At least professional sports. The beer league softball games I play in are mostly about the beer. You play to win the game. And in a larger sense, you play to continue winning the games. A tired or hurt LeBron James risks far more damage to the Cavs (and the NBA) down the line than leaving him in street clothes toward the end of the regular season; just as Anderson Silva adopting a ground game or even exerting himself more than is necessary is more harmful to his career (and I believe the UFC) than carrying on as he is.
MMA fans should demand only one thing from the fighters – that their intent it always to ensure victory.
Silva, more than most fighters, has a firm grip on exactly what to do to ensure victory and exactly how to do it. He even said immediately after the fight that he wanted to win, he won legitimately and he’s unconcerned about the rest of it – the way it should be.
“The way I feel,” Silva said, “my mission was completed, I came in and dominated the fight, I did what I had to do, That’s how I feel.”
White may be upset that Silva’s not an exciting fighter, but if he can’t spin this guy into a marketable villain for a future Georges St. Pierre fight than Dana White is not long for his position. And if he’s mad that one of his best fighters is boring, well then, match him with a fighter that doesn’t bore him.
Simple, no?
Until then, quit with the tears and vinegar about the classless Silva. He’s different. He’s interesting because he’s boring (I just blew your mind) and he’s good for the UFC.
Just wait until this sport supplies fans with only one type of fighter, playing the same note over and over, fight after fight.
You’ll drop it faster than Anderson Silva would have dropped Demian Maia if he weren’t so bored.
_________________________
Top photo courtesy of Yahoo! Sports via Tracy Lee
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