Prime Anderson Silva is the goat

[giusti825]

Great, no doubt....but most overrated goat candidate on the list.

He looked great due to timing.

Lets be real.....at the time of andersons prime, MW in the UFC was a wasteland....it was spread between two weight classes and 3 promotions.

It wasnt until jones arrived that we got a true MW division. One where all the bloated MWs that were fighting at LHW decided to cut down to their proper division.

Until Jones came along and brought the new blueprint to the lhw physique....too many MWs got away with not cutting and fighting heavier....

i think lawler, shields, fitch, rashad, lyoto, filho and gsp all wouldve beaten him.....

 

[PlayboyMixx]

Well he got dominated by Ninja Rua and was gifted a decision, hence the moniker Decision Dan Henderson.

Pretty sure Rockhold and Romero would have murdered Ninja.

I agree that Hendo won plenty of controversial decisions. No argument there, but that doesn't take away from how good he was and how dangerous he was. I'd pick a prime Hendo over Rockhold and Romero. As far his fight with Ninja though. I too thought Ninja won that fight (against Rampage too) and at the time, he was on his way up and a very good fighter. Lost his momentum and was never the same again.

 

[Bjjpitbull8]

Look at that Thai Plum. Look at Franklin's eyes and face when he realizes the strength of Silva's grip.

Over 100k in facial reconstructive surgery.

And another 100k for the face.

 

[mmacrisis]

Both GSP and Fedor never had to deal with USADA, people have to stop claiming they were so clean. I definitely think Anderson did things no one else did, always defending the belt, going up in weight, taking whatever fight was thrown his way.

 

[Bjjpitbull8]

Thanks for proving my point about Vitor in regards to these fights.

Vitor was at the peak of his TRT abuse against Anderson. Hate to break it to you. He was younger and better vs Anderson and coming off 3 straight knockout victories and a 5 fight win streak which included his victory fighting for Affliction where he was first approved for TRT clearance.

 

[ShadowOfDeath]

Few fighter have a "God" aura like Silva where people are looking for opponents in higher weight classes and whom would have a "fluke" chance of beating them.

 

[Metallicalabran]

I think McGregor looks like he is hacking the matrix just as impressive, if not most, than Anderson Silva

He needs more fights and to defend the belts, but its' a matter of time

 

[MisdemeanorMMA]

I disagree in part. The division has guys like Jacare, Weidman, Rockhold and Romero but most aren't that different from his contemporaries in Maia, Dan Hendo (was pride's welter and Middleweight champ shortly before corresponding to UFC LHW and MW) and Ace Franklin all in their prime. Silva also beat Griffin with absolute ease (he had just lost the light heavyweight title) and Belfort.
In general term the more impressive the opponent the more spectacular he looked.
Silva would have likely beat all of the top dogs of today. In general we take for granted that taking him down was the way to go but for a long time closing the distance on Silva was seen as the wrong move due to his muay thai. A Sonnen on PEDs vs a demotivated, injured Silva trying to make a point did not work (close). While in the second fight with Silva slowing down he got KOd at the first mistake.
That is the legend of the Spider, that while not being a complete fighter as the other greats managed to make a strong claim for the GOAT by destroying the best opposition available at the slightest mistake.
Most fans at the time only thought GSP, Jones or Machida could have beaten him... speaks volumes

I didn't say he would lose I said he wouldn't have looked as great. Silva could beat everyone today sure, but I feel it would be tougher.

 

[Nobru]

tough to call a GOAT, the sport is constantly evolving. I would say he was the GOAT of his era, as fedor was in Pride.

 

[Bjjpitbull8]

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

Top 3 GOATS

1. Anderson
2. Fedor
3. GSP

But Prime Anderson beats all!!!

 

[uptheirons!]

Jon Jones is a close second. With Fedor and GSP fighting for 3rd place.

No one has looked like they were hacking the matrix the way prime Silva did and no one ever will again. If you missed his UFC run as it happened you can't appreciate the aura he had around him at the time.

No on fought the bums he did in their prime either. Doing the matrix against Forrest is like landing a left on ronda, not that difficult.

 

[MMAandBOXINGfan]

i fkn hate how jon jones is even considered over anderson, pierre or fedor for the GOAT... like seriously when the fuck did that happen??? ya hes good but hes not even the very best his own division has ever had. the guys he beat like shogun and rampage for example, werent even in their prime or at their best. fuck jones seriously and his fucked up pussy fans

 

[dudefacemcghee]

He was a beast but fought during a weak period during mW history. Also had a glaring hole in his wrestling. Prime Andy would not have looked so great in today's mW division.

Everyone that was great fought in a weak division. It's cause they just looked weak by comparison

 

[Gamer007]

Great, no doubt....but most overrated goat candidate on the list.

He looked great due to timing.

Lets be real.....at the time of andersons prime, MW in the UFC was a wasteland....it was spread between two weight classes and 3 promotions.

It wasnt until jones arrived that we got a true MW division. One where all the bloated MWs that were fighting at LHW decided to cut down to their proper division.

Until Jones came along and brought the new blueprint to the lhw physique....too many MWs got away with not cutting and fighting heavier....

i think lawler, shields, fitch, rashad, lyoto, filho and gsp all wouldve beaten him.....

lol

 

[Frankie Baby!]

"Anderson Silva you absolutely suck"

 

[MMAandBOXINGfan]

BJ FUCKING PENN

 

[giusti825]

I think Jon Jones is the best talent this sport has ever seen, but my Goat list would go.

GSP
Jones
Silva
Aldo
Fedor

jones relies too much on his height and reach advantage.....his strength isnt anything amazing and his speed was only really an issue with his spinning elbow, which everyone is prepared for now.....

his specialty is distance management via poke, teep and oblique kicks....

when the division finishes its transformation to his height, with the smaller fighters cutting to MW.....he is going to have serious issues.....his striking is predicated on him staying on the outside and his takedowns are mostly judo/greco trips that work due to his ability to get his leg on the opposite side of his opponent, which will be much more difficult against fighters his size....

 

[Perrichet]

Anderson is a fraud.

Lol at him being GOAT when he has more losses than Fedor, Jones and GSP combined and is a PED cheat

 

[Steve-French]

jones relies too much on his height and reach advantage

So what... There are plenty of freakishly tall fighters that never even crack the top 10. Struve, George Roop, Corey Hill, Cyrille Diabate etc...

The fact is that he has never been beaten in a fight. Just because he knows how to use his physical attributes to his advantage shouldn't take away from his achievements.

He only cuts about 5 pounds of water weight come fight week, so it's not like he's in the wrong division. All LHW are HW's that cut down to 205.