Mark: I don't think anyone doubts Silva's ability to execute a gameplan. The criticism is that he stood within striking distance with Leites just covering up and didn't release his strikes. He had Leites down, and was beating on him pretty good, and stood up. When given the opportunity to engage, he chose to back off.
While the praise you give Silva is legit, it doesn't accurately address the criticism.

I have to completely agree with Garth. I love Silva, but I found the way he approached the fight disappointing. I certainly don't think he's "lost" anything, but it almost seemed to me like he was choosing whether to give fans a long fight or a quick KO and he chose to go the long way which I thought made things pretty boring. I mean it's his choice to fight how he wants, but because of the way it appeared, it almost looked lazy.

Naw Silva is the best and fights the way he wants to. His job is to defend the belt so he lets his openent bring the fight to him. Thales Leites never did that as the challenger which just goes to show how much he really wanted the belt. Silva vs GSP would be a good superfight but its a while away, in the meantime he should move up to LHW and fight a top 10 fighter. I think Rampage would be a really ideal fight for Silva which if Silva one the fight should show everbody just how good he really is against fighting top tier guys who are alot bigger than the 185lb guys Silva keeps beating

The only accomplishment Anderson Silva has succeeded in his last two fights is lowering his financial drawing power. PPV buy rates will drop if he headlines another card except if he is matched with GSP. Expect most of his future championship matches to be a "co-main event" and not the final match of the PPV card.

Dana White has had to apologize for Anderson Silva's last two matches. It's interesting watching one of the most exciting mma fighters in the world evolve into a fighter that fans don't want to pay to see in less than a year.

I think all the stuff that everyone is saying is great from the perspective of a fan or spectator. At the end of the day Silva is neither, he is a warrior, a fighter and from my years in the ring you want to turn the crowd on with your skills but you also don't want to lose. In MMA its anybodies game on any day of the week, look at Chuck Liddel. Not to mention that as an intelligent fighter you are there to learn and to win, therefore if your fights don't go the distance you never test yourself. Silva is a smart fighter and I'm sure regardless of his critics he's got a life game plan as well. In the Marines we say, work smarter not harder. I'm actually impressed by his ability and humility. Oh yeah, he'll smash GSP as well, height, experience, and ability will win that one.

Vitor Belfort would ruin Anderson Silva and Anderson knows it. Thats why he's getting ready to retire. Think about it, who in the UFC has Anderson fought that was even -remotely- as good as Vitor Belfort. lol... Rich the "ace" franklin? "the fing dumptruck"? I don't think so. Vitor would swarm over Anderson and he knows it.

Vitor Belfort doesn't even fight for the UFC anymore, John, and hasn't re-signed yet, making that statement a falsehood. Perhaps you're thinking of the potential Wanderlei Silva match-up? Do a little research before you pretend you know what you're talking about. Let me google that for you.......

If he can't knock out a jui-jitsu expert, I'm not sure how he plans on boxing pro boxers.

I totally agree with Steel.

AS is a techinician of a fighter and very smart. Too many people are criticising him for being lack lustre and not being agresive like b4. However, he has a plan in his mind he executes it to the best of his ability.

i think he's even more dangersous now than ever coz come fight time he might play it safe or might jsut do waht de did b4. in his own words, AS said " sometimes he can finish fights,sometimes he can't. So let's trust him and enjoy the his fighting skills coz trust me there is no one who fights like AS. This guy is on a totally different level, The only other fighter who comes close is Machida.

GSP is a top fighter but i think AS will take it. His movement , pinpoint accuracy,skill set will be too much for GSP. Either AS will Definateely knock him out or it will be a TKO.

Gary

Uhm... John... Anderson dismantled Henderson. You didn't hear about that? He's better than Franklin, and he beat Vitor's ass down twice. Silva is also not 'getting ready to retire.' Over-aggressive striker vs counter puncher. I wonder how this plays out 99% of the time?

Silva's fights are starting to remind me more of Tim Sylvia when he was champion. Big Tim would come into the ring not to lose, instead of really fighting, and the technical snoozefests of seeing how little action could take place didn't excite anyone.

Silva's opponent was one-dimensional and barely cracked the top-ten. Silva should have been able to destroy him on his feet, but didn't even try. The master of knockouts didn't even hurt a man who barely knows how to hold his gloves. Fighting not to lose may be good for keeping the belt, but he'll be playing to empty arenas if he doesn't show up to fight.

Bill

I wouldn't use the word "dangerous" to describe adopting a fighting style that strives to limit the amount of damage you take while you aim to out point your opponent for the win rather than going for the KO or a submission. I will say it's smart for the fighter's own health and for his W/L record, but it makes for boring fights. The reason Mike Tyson still resonates with the fans and Lennox Lennox, a better boxer, does not is the way each fighter went about out winning his fights. Tyson, in his prime, fought like the other guy killed his dog. Lennox in his prime fought like he was getting paid by the round. I'll take a page from Pride and state that I believe the goal of every MMA fighter should be to make the effort to finish the fight via KO or submission at ALL TIMES, I don't want to watch MMA turn into a sport where the goal is to out point the other guy. If that was the case, why fight at all if you won the first 3 rounds, you might as well take the last 2 round off and play it safe to preserve the win and your health right? Anderson has every right to fight how he wants to get the win, just don't expect fans to cheer and don't expect to be financially rewarded by the UFC when you adopt that style.

The only fighter I would like to see him fight is Cung Le. That would be an outstanding match. All the other fighters that are listed, like Vitor Belfort and GSP have to many weaknesses. Belfort, when he is off steroids, he isn't as strong of a fight. And GSP doesn't have the strength to match Anderson's Muay Thai.

cung le would lose standing even,
in a legit kickboxing match. factor in potential to end up getting subbed in a split second cung's chances in mma arena are very very low.

silva will most likely be beaten by a hendo rematch or even gsp who while relatively small could possibly control the ground game

the way i'd fix the 'problem of fighters not engaging is to have a 10 minute round to start - where the fighter are allowed to lie down if they want (any legit tactic), and just let it evolve however the fight goes. somethings gotta give - basically. in pride something often turned in fights around the last few minutes of round 1, like hunt / fedor or many others, or big nog fights. or wanderlei fights where both guys were worn down and whoever had the baggest heart would arise from the stalemate.

eventually a guy on his back will get kicked in the claves so many time that he has to either get up before his leg give out, or when he realize he's way behind on points.

"In the Marines we say, work smarter not harder" is not a Marine thing. It's something everyone has said for decades Bruce. Brainwashed Bruce... =(

Comparing Silva to Tim Sylvia is ridiculous. Anderson has knocked out every opponent he has faced in the octogon until Leites. I think it is a tribute to how great of a knockout artist he is when fans complain that he took too long to knock out a guy when he moved up a weight class.