Anderson Silva: a big fish in a small pond?

Angry Hobo · 10-09-2007, 05:04 PM

Now don't get me wrong, i'm a big fan of the Spider and love watching his fights. But part of me got thinking the other day, how good is he really, pound for pound? We all know that the middleweight division is the weakest in the UFC, could it be that his skill level is being artificially inflated just through a lack of real competition in his weightclass? Rich Franklin is really his only notable victory in the UFC; Lutter and Marquardt he was kinda expected to steamroll anyway.

So my question is this: Is the Spider a legit pound for pound top fighter, or is he just a good fighter in a pretty mediocre division? Theoretically if Anderson could magically jump to 175 or even 205, how do you see him doing?

Broncoi! · 10-09-2007, 05:06 PM

More like a shark in big pond of fish

SLOmmafan · 10-09-2007, 05:09 PM

Do you mean going down to 175 (170lbs)? I could not really see him getting down that low and not suffering - he is very well suited to the division he is in. And, he has beaten quality opponents larger than him.

Pound for pound is all theoretical anyhow. Just because GSP is a great P4P fighter, does not mean you would expect him to move up and beat a fighter like Forrest Griffin or Jardine. Same could be said of the spider - he is good but I am not sure he could hang with guys like Rampage, Couture (who was 205), ect.

ruggedi · 10-09-2007, 05:11 PM

i would compare it to when chuck was champ and everyone thought he was unstoppable because of the shitty division he was champ in

Daniel-san · 10-09-2007, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SLOmmafan

Do you mean going down to 175 (170lbs)? I could not really see him getting down that low and not suffering - he is very well suited to the division he is in. And, he has beaten quality opponents larger than him.

Pound for pound is all theoretical anyhow. Just because GSP is a great P4P fighter, does not mean you would expect him to move up and beat a fighter like Forrest Griffin or Jardine. Same could be said of the spider - he is good but I am not sure he could hang with guys like Rampage, Couture (who was 205), ect.

he's fought at 175 before fyi, not terribly long ago either

on the other hand i think filho is better than him though he won't neccessarily fight him. hendo too, hell maybe ryo could beat him again. but by cosmic coincidence none of these guys will be appearing in the UFCs MW division