Media “Right now, the greatest middleweight of all time is Anderson Silva” ~ Michael Bisping

[SCTwins]

"Greatest" to me is defined by how good an athlete was against in their era against their peers, so yes. Anderson was more dominant over his division than Izzy.

 

[Fioretti]

The (as of this post) 21 people who said "no" don't know shit about fuck.

 

[Hdfi]

Vettori has a much tougher strength of schedule, all respect to Brian Stan lmao.

are you kidding? Sonnen faced:
Jon Jones
Fedor
Anderson Silva
Rashad Evans
Machida
Wanderlei Silva
Filho
Shogun
Bisping
Forrest
Rampage

 

[Vayn Sword]

Anderson never had a fight where he didn't land a single clean stike.

 

[rjmbrd]

are you kidding? Sonnen faced:
Jon Jones
Fedor

These are not middleweight fights, and he was embarrassed in both of these, and could / would never earn fights with these guys.

Anderson Silva
Rashad Evans
Machida
Filho
Shogun
Bisping
Forrest

Wanderlei Silva, Rampage

LMAO in the retired fighters geriatric league? Now you're just being a jackass.

 

[SpamuraiSensei]

Anderson never had a fight where he didn't land a single clean stike.

Daiju Takase sends his regards

 

[Vayn Sword]

Daiju Takase sends his regards

Ouch, how could one leave out the mighty Takase!? LOL

 

[ezekielthree]

Maybe Izzy threw the fight so Anderson would stay the middleweight GOAT.

 

[tramendous]

Maybe, maybe not. It would be a hell of a fight though. Izzy could most likely beat everyone Anderson beat but I'm not so sure a prime Silva could beat everyone Izzy has beaten.

I don't know. Prime Vitor would be a dangerous fight for Izzy. Same with Hendo, Chael Sonnen.

 

[Leon Edwards]

Anderson is Israel should not be mentioned in the same sentence.

1) Israel is 34 and has already been beaten twice in his prime. Beaten in dominant fashion.

2) Israel lost to Poatan when he was 33 Andy lost to Weidman when he was 38. Can you see Izzy fighting at 38?

3) Anderson has longer streak as champ and won is much more dominant fashion

4) Israel fought out of prime Anderson and Anderson did really well. Prime Vs prime i could see Anderson taking that fight. Anderson has better boxing and power.

5) Anderson moved up in weight class and won in dominant brutal fashion. Izzy moved up and got mauled by Jan. Prime Anderson would beat Jan.

6) Anderson had true KO power and was a phenom.

7) Anderson best some real killers that could take out Izzy. Dan Henderson, Belfort. After what Strickland just did Dan Henderson could seriously hurt Izzy.

8) Anderson had a legit ground game and was much more complete as a fighter.


Izzy is a good fighter but unless he wins the belt again and goes on a 10 fight win streak he can't touch Anderson.

At MW could make a strong case for Israel being the 2nd best MW but there is a huge gap between him and Anderson.

 

[SakurabasEar]

He was beaten 3 times, if we're counting Jan

Maybe 4 times if you count the robbery with Whittaker

 

[The Accuser]

You make good points.
You should stay away from unfounded claims like "Andy would have mauled Jan", which is ridiculous, they ruin your otherwise valid post.

 

[Davidjacksonjones]

Anderson is Israel should not be mentioned in the same sentence.

You just did it 7 times though

But I agree. Anderson forever MW GOAT.

 

[Leon Edwards]

You make good points.
You should stay away from unfounded claims like "Andy would have mauled Jan", which is ridiculous, they ruin your otherwise valid post.

Prime Anderson beat similar fighters to Jan. Slow and plodding flatfooted.

If Anderson avoids the leg kicks I could see Anderson taking that fight.

Taking nothing away from jab but styles make fights and Anderson is a bad matchup.

In a similar way I think Poatan is a harder fight for Andy than Izzy due to his style and size.

 

[Brit_Brawler]

I agree. People will bring up that izzy fought better competition ( debatable )
Alex is the only one I give a pass. I think vitor would've gave izzy hell. I believe prime bisping would have had a good chance also

 

[Leon Edwards]

I agree. People will bring up that izzy fought better competition ( debatable )
Alex is the only one I give a pass. I think vitor would've gave izzy hell. I believe prime bisping would have had a good chance also

Prime Anderson fought who was Infront of him and made it look easy. Many of Israel's opponents I think Anderson would take out. Andy's boxing was too good, groundgame too slick and too much power.

Whitaker too small for Anderson he would get picked apart.

Costa too slow and too small

Vettori similar to Costa

Yoel could pose problems

Brunson would be a easy fight for Anderson

Jared hard fight for Andy due to size power and strength

Poatan hard fight for Andy probably the hardest fight due to the power and size.

 

[Substance Abuse]

Anderson never had a rival the caliber of Periera to overcome. Weidman was the closest,and he could not overcome.

Strickland though...

LOL.

 

[Leon Edwards]

Bisping beats izzy

 

[Pem123]

Do i think Izzy surprass Silva in p4p all times middleweight rangking ? no.

But you gotta admit, its hard to compare apple to apple, Izzy fought way harder competition.

 

[DS7]

Do i think Izzy surprass Silva in p4p all times middleweight rangking ? no.

But you gotta admit, its hard to compare apple to apple, Izzy fought way harder competition.

This myth that izzy fought way harder competition is hilarious


Chael Sonnen, Prime Vitor, Yushin Okami, Dan Henderson, Damian Maia, Rich Franklin

Izzys best wins are Whittaker, Alex Pereira Who he also lost to, Yoel Romero in one of the worst fights of all time and Paulo Costa


Does anyone here thinks Prime Vitor can't beat Paulo Costa or Whittaker? Lmao, Chael Sonnen was miles better than any wrestler Izzy fought as champion
Dan Henderson is a better win than ANY Izzy win

Not to even mention that he wasn't near Andersons domination and now has multiple title fight loses. Anderson rules the MW division for 10 (should be 11) consecutive title defenses and lost at 38 years old

2009 Anderson would have slept Sean Strickland while sleepwalking