WHY W. Silva can win the GP

Sabor3 · 05-23-2006, 01:19 PM

This is not a statement regarding that W Silva can beat everyone person in the GP, as its a toss up. Below describes why Silva can win, similiar to saying for instance, Hunt cannot beat every person in the GP, but he can win the GP.

First we look at Wanderlei as a fighter:
----------------------------------------------------------------
1. Nearly all wins by tko/ko.
2. Excellent Cardio (something that was lacking in many of first round GP fights)
3. Great Gameplans, Wanderelei has stated, against Hunt, a takedown clinic will occur, against Nog a standup clinic will occur similiar to fedors.
4. Silva is well seasoned fighter and has been in 2 gp's, one he won and the other he lost in the semi finals to a decision of his worst style matchup. (later avenged).
5. Silva has never been finished since entering pride ring, by submission, tko , even ko. His only loss is by 1 split decision that arguably he could have taken, and the other was a fair decision in the semi of the 2nd grand prix.
6. The crowd loves Silva, that is why he is the front poster man for the gp post now , in fedors place. Therefore, you will see the matches they want to see in Japan. Also , in close decisions this favoritism may go to Silva.
---------------------------------------------------------------

7. Silva has fought the following people already in the GP:

a. Yoshida: He has defeated all times. Do we need to see it again?
b. Crocop: everyone knows Crocop has further evolved, but note, so has Silva. Additionally, Silva is agreed by most to be the winner in the special rules match(rules favored crocop), given there was no draw clause.
c. Hunt. Many have seen this fight as it is very recent. Many argue it was a toss up decision and had Silva not been stunned in the 2nd round it would have definetly been a decision in his favor. This fight is very recent and therefore we could expect to see an even better display by both opponents, as hunt is healed in his ankles and will probably have better cardio. Silva on the other hand will be prepared to fight him and have a lot more weight then weighing in at 205 the previous night vs a ~270 pound monster of k1 champion.
---------------------------------------------------------------
This leaves only 4 opponents in the GP:

Barnett: This will be a difficult fight for Silva, Silva can defiently win this fight but he must keep it standing or take mount top positions, he must fight like Alexander with more cardio. We probably wont see this fight. In the 2nd round anyways.
Nog: Perhaps the hardest fight for Silva. He will have to be careful in his standup, and also will have to avoid the ground game as much as possible. Nog seems the most likely opponent for Silva in the 2nd round.
Fujita: Silva will give some hits standing and take it to the ground, we probably wont see this fight. Silva will probably take this.
Werdum: This will be a interesting match, imagine alistairs fight, but longer and without the submission victory. Silva is more experienced then Werdum by far, he could probably take this as well.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Thing We forget about Silva & GP:
1. Silva is NOT GOING into this GP weighing at 205 pounds. It is OPEN WEIGHT, that means we are going to see Wanderlei Silva weighing in at the same weight as Mirko Crocop, Mark Coleman, or Ken Shamrock. ~220-235. This means Silva will hit even harder and have strong ground controls then usual. It is an art to match weight with cardio and speed, I think we will see Silva do very well as 220+.

2. This is the first GP I can see no clear winner. Each fighter in a round robin, could easily defeat another fighter. All the fights are very close, however, Silva has a great chance. example: hunt vs crocop, nog vs barnett, werdum vs fujita, fujita vs hunt, nog vs werdum, crocop vs silva, silva vs yoshida. So many possibilites and so many weakness/strenghts of each fighters.

3. Without Silva this would be a boring GP, and not technically even a OWGP. With Silva now there is a good mix and its a lot more exciting. Even Fedor stated recently in an interview, Silva vs Crocop is the fight he wants to see. I would love to see that again in the semi or 2nd or even finals.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The Road to Victory:
1. Silva is likely to fight Nog for his first fight. If this is the case, as long as Silva avoids submission (ala fedor) and which we know by his record he can avoid submission, Silva has a good chance at taking a decision victory(probably nothing else possible). If nog outshines him by taking him to the ground and keeping him there, this is perhaps the end of the road for silva in the owgp. However, we will have seen that Silva is a true fighter and went the distance with the #2 Hw in the world, and we have that much more to add to our highlight reels. Wouldnt it be cool to see silva ko nog or nog throw silva in a triangle!

2. Semi Finals & Finals: It is difficult to predict all the outcome scenarios without first seeing the GP2nd round lineup, however, if Silva passes through Nog, he has proven himself good enough to take out anyone left in the GP. If Silva does not fight Nog in the 2nd round it is very likely silva will advanced to the semi finals. Because , it is not likely he will fight crocop in the 2nd round and anyone left he can definetly have a very good chance at defeating, and vise versa.

3. Basically silvas key to victory is being able to defeat Nog. This is his toughest opponent, and the one for which he called out, and vise versa. THey will respect each other and it will be a great display of skill. Again, if Silva can pull this win(its an if, because anyone who fights nog is an if i win situation, with exception to fedor) then Silva has the tools to beat anyone left in the tournament, not easily but he has fought ever other hard opposition left. Silvas chances of victory will be very clear during the third round picks. If Silva advances to the semi finals, we will be able to see if Pride removes all the wrestlers by places fight like, Crocop vs Barnett 2, and Nog vs Barnett, etc, if these fights happen, Silvas chances go up, because its less ground game fights for him to worry about.

Silva has a great chance. Silvas chances of winning overall rely greatly on a fight against Nog. If he beats Nog he can probably beat any other submission specialist, as none other are as well rounded as Nog in standup and ground/cardio. Bare in mind there will still be very strong opoosition left ahead. However, I see Silva fighting either Hunt or Nog in the 2nd round. Hunt being the "Easier" fight style was for Silva.

Finally, without Silva this GP would have no excitment to it. Now it is a true GP, so GO PRIDE for this one and filling in for Fedor just right!
GO WANDERLEI!

JKS · 05-23-2006, 01:25 PM

Wow a long thread. I agree with you. The way i look at it is that there is only one fight that Silva would have a hard time and that is against Barnett cause he is a wrestler and he is very heavy. Fujita is a wreslter but is too slow for SIlva. Nog and Werdum have average takedowns, and SIlva can outstrike them. Hunt and Yoshida he proved that he can beat, with Hunt he just need a little more and he would have won. And Cro Cop, striker vs striker, and SIlva can ko him

In_Poor_Taste · 05-23-2006, 01:28 PM

Excellent post. I'm hoping Silva wins it, but I'm not delusional about it.

casper1144 · 05-23-2006, 01:28 PM

man that post must have taken a long time! lol, anyway I don't see Silva coming in at 220lbs. I see him coming in at 215lbs. MAX (and he will probably look chubby and become slower at this weight.)

rampage22 · 05-23-2006, 01:29 PM

freaking noob....haha ya right dude hell of a post...good to see silva get some props. Im a big silva fan and look forward very much to see him bang with some of the big boys. ttt for this bad boy good read

Naysayer2004 · 05-23-2006, 01:32 PM

Actually, in an interview Wanderlei said that he was working more on speed and agility. He will not be gaining any weight for this GP.

Are you training in order to gain weight? Will you change your trainning routine?

I'm working very hard with my cardio and my gas. Now I'm 94kg (206.8 lbs) and won't take too much weight. I'll focus in my speed and agility.

source: tatame.com.br

candian_born · 05-23-2006, 01:33 PM

i think silva will do great at this gp, he deserves it as much as anyone in the gp does, Can't wait to see who his first match up is against.

Kayo · 05-23-2006, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by casper1144

man that post must have taken a long time! lol, anyway I don't see Silva coming in at 220lbs. I see him coming in at 215lbs. MAX (and he will probably look chubby and become slower at this weight.)

Silva... chubby? Never thought I'd hear those words in the same sentence. If there's anything we can ALL agree on about Silva (haters/nuthuggers) is that he's ALWAYS in great shape.

Btw, he fought Cro COp at around that weight 215-220 and didn't look at all chubby.

casper1144 · 05-23-2006, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Naysayer2004

Actually, in an interview Wanderlei said that he was working more on speed and agility. He will not be gaining any weight for this GP.

Are you training in order to gain weight? Will you change your trainning routine?

I'm working very hard with my cardio and my gas. Now I'm 94kg (206.8 lbs) and won't take too much weight. I'll focus in my speed and agility.

source: tatame.com.br

makes sense! It would be in his best interest to keep his speed, because for his height he won't have much strength to gain from becoming bigger

consortium11 · 05-23-2006, 01:34 PM

Good post, although I disagree. Silva cuts to hit 205, and as such will probably not come into the GP weighing any more than he usualy does. I also disagree with your choices of fights. He won't fight Werdum or Nog in the 2nd round (training partner/friend), although, Nog might be a slight possibility. This leaves either rematches or Barnett/Fujita. I think he can take Yoshida once more, and as such I doubt this match will be put on (as I'm sure Pride wants either Fujita or Yoshida in the final 4). I think he may beat Hunt this time... I like Hunt but the guy is about 30lbs overweight at his last fight and a fairly poor gastank, I can't see him beating Cro Cop, and I think a Fujita with less ring rust can ground him Arona style, and survive in the standup. I think Barnett outmatches him as does Nog.

I can;t see him winning, maybe a "shock" second round win, but not enought to get to the finals unless something strnage happens in the second round matches.