"It Hits All By Itself"

UFC 97, Anderson Silva, and the Transformation of a Mixed Martial Artist

The Fight

Being 10 days removed from the night of the championship fight between Anderson Silva and challenger Thales Leites, the sting of initial disappointment and a $45.00 pay-per-view charge has likely worn off, allowing for a more objective look at the middleweight fight. With expectations adjusted, Silva's performance in particular may be reassessed with a lessened sense of outrage, and cooler heads might prevail.

Anderson Silva delivered a very good fight.

It wasn't perfect. As in all things, balance is integral to the art of fighting. Finesse and style, which Silva demonstrated in abundance, require aggression and power, violence, in near equal measure. And while Silva may have left something of the latter to be desired, he nevertheless delivered an intriguing performance, ripe with promise and implication.

Defensively, Silva fought a perfect fight. That he absorbed no appreciable damage is remarkable, more so than people give him credit for, considering that he was fighting a widely recognized top-10 middleweight in Leites, and, second, that there are, from standing strikes to takedowns to submission attempts, a myriad number of ways to come under fire.

Offensively, Silva may have failed to deliver the visceral, high-impact attack of his previous fights. Maybe the most frustrating and puzzling was the lengthy feeling-out process of the first round. However, looking over his other fights, one can see that Silva has always started slow, preferring to feel what his opponents' patterns and intended plans of attack were before mounting an offense himself. That Leites, perhaps noting this pattern, stubbornly refused to stake a claim with any meaningful strikes or takedown attempts drew out the exploratory process longer than usual. We can expect Silva to refine this process in order to guard against such a stalemate, similar to the way he is refining his arsenal of strikes and grappling.

Despite the difficult feeling-out period, Silva displayed an innovative, effective array of striking and grappling. Silva's sidekicks to the knees are, I believe, unprecedented on the larger stages of mixed martial arts, and will in several years time likely turn up more and more often, like the foot stomps that are now relatively common. Silva's punching skills, meanwhile, were in excellent form--as much as one might bemoan his lack of forward aggression, one must certainly appreciate that Silva delivered a great deal of punishment upon Leites' face with maximum efficiency.

Silva exhibited supreme tactical ability that night, though it wasn't thrilling. It also isn't the final stage in Silva's progression as a martial artist. What we have seen is a fighter in the midst of an evolution. Like any artist, Silva's perception and approach to his life and work is changing, and so his tools and the manner in which he utilizes them to express himself necessarily change. For us as an audience, such a period of transition can be difficult to understand and unsatisfying to watch. The artist, as a result, risks losing fans and supporters. Yet such a risk is a necessary step towards growth and greatness.

The Critics

Anderson Silva's tactical but reserved performance yielded no shortage of vitriol from fans and journalists alike. While their disappointment is to an extent understandable based simply on the fact that they didn't get what they expected, most of the indignation and criticism is hugely misplaced and overextended, and is indicative of double standards and a collective short memory that plague MMA.

Sherdog.com's play-by-play from that evening, their editorials following the fight, and their forums are emblematic of these problems.

"What may me remembered as the worst title fight in UFC history mercifully ends."

While the staff writing Sherdog's play-by-play may have remained doubtful on how history would view Silva vs. Leites, they made their own opinions abundantly clear as they related the action round by round.

Much of that evening's column was devoted to relating the anger of the arena crowd, which wouldn't be such a problem if it weren't for the fact that this preoccupation seemed to prevent the staff from fully describing the in-cage action. In particular, Silva's superior generalship of the cage and his brutally efficient flurry in the fifth round were barely mentioned, if at all. These were perhaps nuanced but nevertheless important facets of the match, and deserved greater attention from writers who, by writing for a major MMA media outlet, purport to have some greater understanding of the subject.

And to imply that this fight could be the worst title fight in history is, of course, totally unreasonable. Sylvia vs. Arlovski 3, and Sylvia vs. Monson are two ready examples of title fights that were for any number of reasons worse than Silva vs. Leites.

"Sport vs. Spectacle"

Sherdog.com's Jake Rossen's aforementioned article was rife with misconceptions and exaggerations.

He begins by claiming that Silva's satisfaction at remaining unscathed is akin to an Olympic diver's satisfaction at not getting wet. "So you didn't get wet. You also didn't get in the water," quips Rossen. Of course, what this crippled metaphor fails to recognize is that a martial artist can absolutely, realistically win a fight while remaining elusive and unmarked--being hurt is a likelihood but it is nowhere near as inevitable as getting wet is to winning a diving contest.

Such a glib statement might not warrant such attention were it not for the fact that it essentially provides the foundation for the whole essay. Rossen goes on to suggest that Silva was overly timid, and that he didn't show up to win so much as he showed up not to lose. I suppose it's a matter of opinion, but one born from poor powers of perception. Rather than timid or gun shy Silva appeared totally comfortable, with an interest in experimentation (the mixed results of which have already been noted above). When compared with Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski in their stilted third title fight, a contest that exemplifies fighting-not-to-lose, the claim that Silva is similarly guilty becomes more ridiculous--both Sylvia and Arlovski were dumb struck at each other's punching power to the point of inaction, and were obviously tallying up judges' points in their minds with every jab landed.

But perhaps there's a simple rebuttal to the claims that Anderson Silva wasn't fighting that night. It was written all over Leites' bruised and bloody face.

"Anderson Silva is an asshole"

Such statements flared up on the Sherdog.com message boards in reaction to Silva's assault on Leites' knees during the fight. The kicks and punches were too brutal, fans claimed, as they too-severely threatened Leites' future career. Never mind the knee bar attempts that go unremarked, the tremendous damage that wrestling does to the knees, or the fact that those complaining probably have no medical credentials or physiological expertise to speak of--these complaints are indicative of a couple strange contradictions and double standards endemic to MMA fans.

Specifically, how can Anderson Silva be vilified for being too vicious in his attacks and at the same time reviled for passivity? And, if the attacks on Leites' knees made such an impression on the fans, why weren't they better noted by the journalists? There's a huge gap in logic here, the source of which is not easily identified, but whose solution lies in greater conscientiousness and knowledge, which must be fostered by industry commentators.

And speaking of contradictions, how is it that Anderson Silva's elusive quality is labeled passive and boring, while Silva's training partner Lyoto Machida is hailed as a tactical master for similar in-cage behavior? One would imagine that an informed audience might be more receptive to Silva's developing tactics especially because Machida is his training partner, but this fact seems to go unremarked, and Silva's strategy is mislabeled as an unwillingness to engage.

"...this will all be forgotten."

Wrapping up his aforementioned article, Rossen asserted that were Silva to deliver a sensational knockout in his next fight, his championship bouts with Leites and recent contender Patrick Cote would be forgotten. While this is probably true, it presents a rather disturbing fact: the short, selective memory of the MMA world.

Rossen complains of Silva's unconcerned attitude towards critics and poses the question "What is a sport if not played for the amusement of others?" What he ignores is the fact that Silva has delivered to the audience, in astounding and violent fashion, his first seven outings in the UFC, and in yet many other fights before his Stateside campaign. How is it, then, that Silva doesn't deserve greater benefit of the doubt, that he hasn't earned more credit with fans and, more importantly, professional, ostensibly knowledgeable critics? It's a sad state of affairs when the good that someone has done serves to only further discredit his current imperfect efforts. And while the masses might be excused as having always been fickle (hence Silva's lack of concern with the booing arena), those writing on the subject ought to be responsible for maintaining a greater sense of perspective.

There's one more great misstep represented by Jake Rossen's article. He views the question of MMA as a balance of sport and spectacle, when it's more a matter of sport and art. It's right there in the name. There is a deep well of spiritual and psychological content to a high-level mixed martial arts fight that often goes unnoticed by fans and writers. Silva is a true martial artist in that he wishes to remain effective while at the same time evolve his medium and his place within it. He has to balance the part of his life that he owes to the public (the sport) with the part of his life that he owes to himself as an individual (the art). And paying mind to his own needs as an individual is no small or selfish thing--if he never did this, Anderson Silva as we know him would not exist. After all, it's because of his own desires and personal drive that he persisted in mixed martial arts at all.

The Future

His fight with Leites done and gone, Anderson Silva is rumored to have four fights left until his self-imposed retirement. The most pressing question, then, is what four fighters could Silva realistically take on in order to make a lasting impression on mixed martial arts history?

Below are four (excellent) choices for fights that will ensure a legacy. Matchmaking is proposed with the assumption that Silva wins each of his bouts.

1. Forrest Griffin
This fight is already signed, and it's a good choice coming off the heels of Silva's last, relatively flat title defense. A move up in weight ought to motivate Silva and get his killer instinct up, though predictions that Griffin will brawl are greatly exaggerated--my understanding is that that particular Griffin ceased to exist following his knockout loss to Keith Jardine. Fireworks or not, though, as an established Top-10 light-heavyweight and former champion Griffin is a formidable opponent and would make an excellent mark on Silva's ledger.

2. Yushin Okami
Box-office poison, but a necessary fight at middleweight. While the UFC brass might like to ignore Okami as much as possible, his 7-1-0 mark makes him a burgeoning presence in the middleweight title picture. The fact that Okami is not just the only fighter to defeat Silva in the last year, but also the only one currently active or relevant in the middleweight division makes this fight a must.

3. Wanderlei Silva
Anderson Silva called his one-time training partner's decision to continue his career at middleweight "pretentious." Wanderlei called them fightin' words. A contest between these two former Chute Boxe members would serve as an explosive curative for the ever-imminent but likely reserved fight between A. Silva and Okami. The history that the two Silva's have with each other--Wanderlei was the light heavyweight standout at Chute Boxe, while Anderson recalls being brushed aside and black listed by the clannish muay thai camp--would add a terrific amount of drama to a kill-or-be-killed sort of fracas. This fight would be an exciting farewell to the middleweight division.

4. Shogun Rua
With the middleweight division effectively cleared out, a third climb to light heavyweight would provide the proper summit for Anderson Silva to finally plant his flag. Once again exacting his special brand of ultra-violence on the light heavyweight division, the rebuilt Shogun Rua is the right man to test Silva's mettle, once and for all. A former Chute Boxe standout, Rua's relentless aggression would cut an interesting contrast against Silva's emerging, tactical approach to MMA and, again, a shared history adds a great deal of drama and implication. The one-time heir apparent to Wanderlei Silva's PRIDE championship, Rua would not only make an exciting last opponent for Anderson Silva, but also a poignant one. With this fight Anderson is not just given a shot at adding one of the biggest names in MMA to his list of conquests. He's also given the chance to write the last word on his personal history in mixed martial arts, from a floundering castaway to a pound-for-pound terror; and he gets to do it all on the head and body of a Chute Boxe golden boy, someone who represents his first lasting grudges, early professional hardships, and the doubts and fears that Silva had to triumph over in order to earn himself a chapter in mixed martial arts history.