Strickland vs prime Anderson Silva

[orca]

strickland is a fighter that loves to move forward
silva is a counterstriker
this is what kind of strikers silva loves to beat up

 

[avenue94]

He still easily beat Maia. It wasn't even close. If Strickland gets aggressive, he gets countered by young/fast Anderson. It'd look the same as the Perreira fight.

Could Anderson be lulled into a stinker and get outpointed? In theory, sure. But nobody did that to him in his prime and he fought better guys than Strickland.

Yes, and Maia is a far worse pressure fighter than Strickland. Anderson didn't get lulled into stinkers, he willingly chose them because he was uncomfortable fighting on the front foot and initiating, particularly as he aged out. That's not a knock, some fighters are just more comfortable countering or leading. Silva also never fought someone like Strickland in his prime.

I would say it depends a bit on which era of Silva were talking about, as his UFC run went on and "The Matrix" hype built he became more and more of a counter fighter but earlier Silva as say vs Franklin was much more aggressive.

He was also facing relatively bad competition on that point. Granted, before Strickland's hot streak I would say Strickland wasn't far off from those fighters, but the fact is he got a legit win over Izzy. Which is my way of saying, I don't actually know if Silva would have been aggressive against Strickland. I suspect he might have been annoyed by the length of Strickland's ranged weapons and sort of tight defense and just waited for a huge counter.

Stickland would probably land a good deal on him but I suspect the earlier Silva would probably out chin and overwhelm him.

I agree, which is why I said Silva would win most of the time. But you can't look at the Bisping or Maia fights and think, hey, Silva always shows up and fights perfectly and is a lock against a tough volume fighter who pressures very well and keeps a good guard.

It'd look the same as the Perreira fight.

Silva could most definitely finish Strickland, but he has a hell of a chin as demosntrated by Poatan not even putting him out cold on the cleanest of clean shots.

 

[avenue94]

Sean doesn't even roll much or move his head; he would get pinned right on the chin from a strait and go down.

Sean is about as a good of a defensive fighter, if not slightly better than Silva. Very similar defenses that rely on reads, reflexes and being clever, rather than layers and systems of defense.

Lol no one has Silva's kicks today.
Sean wouldn't know what defend.

Poatan and Izzy are far more effective kickers than Silva was. Flash is cool, but both of those two are far more effective at using kicks and defending them.

 

[cade187]

I don't disagree. But he was the same style fighter. In his prime, he backed up to the fence and had sketchy cage craft that relied on his reflexes for defense, as opposed to something systemic or coherent that would age well. It's why Aldo is streets ahead as a defensive fighter and aged so much better.

To put it in concrete terms, if Bisping fought Silva prime for prime, Bisping gets knocked out after a couple rounds where he wins by simply landing more jabs and glancing shots while Silva goofs off on the fence. Put it this way, prime Silva had a horrid fight with Maia. What's stopping him from doing the same against Strickland?

You know Aldo is 37 right now, correct? Aldo was 29 when he lost to McGregor, and is 6-7 since then.

Anderson was 31 when he won the title against Rich Franklin.

 

[avenue94]

You know Aldo is 37 right now, correct? Aldo was 29 when he lost to McGregor, and is 6-7 since then.

Anderson was 31 when he won the title against Rich Franklin.

I do, I'm weighing in that Aldo fought much tougher competition and in divisions with much tougher aging curves. Not to mention Silva began his career at 22 and Aldo began his at 18.

You can compare Aldo's second fight against Holloway with Silva's against Bisping to get an idea of what I mean about Aldo having a more complete defensive style that ages better.

Silva never faced someone as good as most of Aldo's late career losses.

 

[Gamer007]

Sean is about as a good of a defensive fighter, if not slightly better than Silva. Very similar defenses that rely on reads, reflexes and being clever, rather than layers and systems of defense.

Poatan and Izzy are far more effective kickers than Silva was. Flash is cool, but both of those two are far more effective at using kicks and defending them.

Better than Silva? insane brother

Silva ended his UFC career with a 60% striking defense percentage, fighting over a decade past his prime. In his actual prime he was a 70-75% defensive fighter.

Sean at his absolute peak rn is at a 62%, without the fighting till he's 45 part lmao.

Sean is a badass with very good defense, but nobody is Anderson silva.

Silva never faced someone as good as most of Aldo's late career losses.

That isn't true at all, Aldo has arguably never fought someone at the level of Adesanya, hell DC too. Anderson was fighting legitimate top 20 all time fighters in his FORTIES. Aldo fought some beasts, but Yan got exposed as of late, couldn't even beat Aljo in a fair one.


The dismission of Silva is getting absurd at this point, nobody in UFC history was fighting the level of competition Silva did at his age (maybe Randy?), you could easily argue DC and Izzy are two of the top 10 UFC fighters in the history of the promotion. Silva had to fight DC literally off the damn couch, using his guard to almost completely nullify one of the most dominant grapplers in the sport. <45>


Jose Aldo would tell you right now Silva was one of his idols, he doesn't even believe he's superior to Silva. Nor does the vast majority of people who watched their careers.

 

[cade187]

I do, I'm weighing in that Aldo fought much tougher competition and in divisions with much tougher aging curves. Not to mention Silva began his career at 22 and Aldo began his at 18.

You can compare Aldo's second fight against Holloway with Silva's against Bisping to get an idea of what I mean about Aldo having a more complete defensive style that ages better.

Silva never faced someone as good as most of Aldo's late career losses.

I’m not saying Silva’s style aged well. His style was based heavily on speed and reflexes, which are the first things to go with age, but you’re being pretty generous to Aldo here.

 

[avenue94]

Better than Silva? insane brother

Silva ended his UFC career with a 60% striking defense percentage, fighting over a decade past his prime. In his actual prime he was a 70-75% defensive fighter.

Sean at his absolute peak rn is at a 62%, without the fighting till he's 45 part lmao.

Sean is a badass with very good defense, but nobody is Anderson silva.

I'd say comparable in practice, similar in style. Strickland is a better kick defender and has a tighter guard, Silva has better reflexes and reads. Keep in mind Strickland's stats, if you care bout that thing, are brought down by fighting at WW against faster fighters. Not to mention that while I don't rate Strickland's MW resume very highly, Silva's wasn't the greatest either.

Who knows how Strickland's style will age. I suspect not great, but can't say until we see it.

And like I've mentioned previously, Aldo is a world's better defensive fighter than Silva...like not even close.

 

[avenue94]

I’m not saying Silva’s style aged well. His style was based heavily on speed and reflexes, which are the first things to go with age, but you’re being pretty generous to Aldo here.

Maybe. But Aldo was about as great defensively against Holloway as we've seen. And Holloway is almost without a doubt the greatest pressure fighter mma has had to date. Not to mention he dropped down and stood toe to toe with Petr Yan for almost 25 mins. Someone like Holloway would be a nightmare for Silva. Not his fault MW was thing, but it is what it is.

 

[Gamer007]

I'd say comparable in practice, similar in style. Strickland is a better kick defender and has a tighter guard, Silva has better reflexes and reads. Keep in mind Strickland's stats, if you care bout that thing, are brought down by fighting at WW against faster fighters. Not to mention that while I don't rate Strickland's MW resume very highly, Silva's wasn't the greatest either.

Who knows how Strickland's style will age. I suspect not great, but can't say until we see it.

And like I've mentioned previously, Aldo is a world's better defensive fighter than Silva...like not even close.

Just because Aldo utilizes good defensive fundamentals, doesn't mean he was a better defensive fighter. The only thing that matters are the actual results in the cage.

Jose got slept in 13 damn seconds, where was the defense?? Silva had a different style, that doesn't make him worse. Silva had far better cardio which is why he got hit less in his prime, Aldo has always tended to fade and his defense failed him multiple times in his prime years, first round Aldo was top tier, by round three his defense and ability to counter aren't in Silva's league.

Defense is more than that, which is why Aldo doesn't have a better striking defensive percentage. If we start talking about overall defense, then it's not even a debate anymore. Andersons MMA applied BJJ has proven far more effective and elite than Aldo's.

Anyway, I don't want to disparage Aldo, but saying he is a worlds better defensive fighter than Silva is crazy.

 

[avenue94]

Just because Aldo utilizes good defensive fundamentals, doesn't mean he was a better defensive fighter. The only thing that matters are the actual results in the cage.

Yeah...and he's a better defensive grappler and striker than pretty much anyone we've ever see, facing the competition he's faced.

Jose got slept in 13 damn seconds, where was the defense?? Silva had a different style, that doesn't make him worse.

And Silva got heel hooked by a relative nobody. Hence we judge fighter's by the totality of their careers, not cherry pick their highs or lows.

Silva had far better cardio which is why he got hit less in his prime, Aldo has always tended to fade and his defense failed him multiple times in his prime years.

Not sure what would lead you to think Silva had better cardio. Aldo has a significantly higher striking rate, and some of those fights were back and forth wars, not one way traffic.

Defense is more than that, which is why Aldo doesn't have a better striking defensive percentage.

It's pretty much because he fought the significantly better competition, including two of the greatest pressure fighters of all time in Volk and Holloway. Not to mention Aldo's defensive stats are negatively affected by his checking of kicks (see the Munhoz fight).

Anyway, I don't want to disparage Aldo, but saying he is a worlds better defensive fighter than Silva is crazy.

We can agree to disagree. I'd say he's a more effective defensive fighter, and a much better example of what good defense is given that very few athletes have the natural reflexes Silva had. You can take away the reflexes from Silva's game, and it falls apart. From someone like Aldo, it still works, just not as well.

 

[moreorless87]

He was also facing relatively bad competition on that point. Granted, before Strickland's hot streak I would say Strickland wasn't far off from those fighters, but the fact is he got a legit win over Izzy. Which is my way of saying, I don't actually know if Silva would have been aggressive against Strickland. I suspect he might have been annoyed by the length of Strickland's ranged weapons and sort of tight defense and just waited for a huge counter.

I would say Franklin is on a similar level to Strickland and Hendo is probably above him.

Style wise I think it would be worse for him as Strickland is less willing to throw down than those two are but I suspect Silva would be much more willing to lead than latter in his career.

The difference of course is Silva did get hit more in that era and generally I think the idea of his ghost like defence was a bit of a myth but I suspect he would probably out chin/power Strickland.

 

[avenue94]

I would say Franklin is on a similar level to Strickland and Hendo is probably above him.

I agree, but I think Strickland is a much tougher style match up for Silva. Relatively speaking.

The difference of course is Silva did get hit more in that era and generally I think the idea of his ghost like defence was a bit of a myth but I suspect he would probably out chin/power Strickland.

Yup, I'd say a mid-fight finish after dropping rounds just on activity. Like I said, not a fight I'd ever want to see if I'm looking for entertainment.

 

[moreorless87]

I agree, but I think Strickland is a much tougher style match up for Silva. Relatively speaking.

Yup, I'd say a mid-fight finish after dropping rounds just on activity. Like I said, not a fight I'd ever want to see if I'm looking for entertainment.

I suspect Strickland would try and stop it turning into a war more than Rich and Dan did and he is arguebly a better counter puncher than they were but still I suspect Silva would probably end
up watlking though his offence and either beating him down or landing something big.

Latter day "Matrix" Silva though I'd agree it could end up being very competitive, perhaps going to decision and depending on how the judges weigh Silva being flashy on the outside even if not much lands.

I think people maybe forget SIlva's fight with Cote for example.

 

[PaddyO'malley]

#bluecollarmatrix vs. Spider Silva's matrix – this #battle was straight flames, my fam! Hoooooly,

Spider Silva was certainly been a don at finding dem holes in man's defence,,maybe he was snatch KO later in the rds maybe 4,,,5. Easy W he was retire Sean Tarzan 2 bcome welder

But you was check into this,,,,,APEX mode Sean Tarzan now, Mastered God of Freedom Form and Alex Poatan in corner of his? Mans was gonna deadass been scoop W with mad pressure plus solid American Gumption,,,,,,,, ahlie???

 

[Cowboy Kurt Angle]

Prime Silva mops the floor with him

 

[marvinparsons]

People have lost their damn minds. Strickland got a great win, fair play, and looked good defensively against DDP. But he's also 3-3 in his last 6 fights and lost a SD to Jarod Cannonier. He isn't some all-time great.

It's a fight, anything can happen in a fight, but no evidence suggests that a .500 Strickland beats Anderson Silva 9/10.