Anderson Silva MASSIVE underdog against Israel Adesanya

DysDave said:
I think Adesanya looks amazing potentially, but I think Silva has some value here. How many times have you ever seen him straight up outstruck, and how much has Israel really been tested as a striker? It's a very bad idea to count out a super experienced striker against a relatively green striker in a straight up striking match. Israel is probably a favourite but I might put something on Anderson at those odds.
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He has 3 times more fights than Anderson. 15 of them are mma fights and the rest are some kind of striking contest. It is a bit unfair to say he hasn't been tested and green.
 
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I have faith in Silva, I think he is basically done but I think Adesanya can make some of the old Silva appear again. This is an excellent fight for Silva, he does not need to fight the methodical tentative striker, he needs someone who wants to be as flashy as him. There will be fireworks, Silva might lose, but I would not be so certain as the odds.
 
Gamer007 said:
Just because a guy had success in Kickboxing, which has bigger gloves and completely different rules doesn't mean they are great MMA strikers. Just because a guy can throw flashy elbows and kicks doesn't mean they are a great MMA striker, we haven't seen enough of Israel to say he's the best striker that Anderson has faced. That's a whole different discussion though, give it time. One second a guy is the best striker ever seen, the next he's face down ass up on live television. Anderson has earned that respect with his MMA resume, Israel doesn't have that yet.
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Yes, but there's a huge difference between Israel and other high level kickboxers. He moves his head, he doesn't rely on hiding behind the gloves, he rolls with strikes and utilizes his footwork and angles. His style translates very well to MMA.

To say that Israel isn't a great mma striker Is utterly ridiculous and yes Israel Is without a doubt the best striker Silva has ever faced. We have absolutely seen enough, even with his relatively limited track record against higher level competition in MMA.
 
NoSmilez said:
He has more 3 times more fights than Anderson. 15 of them are mma fights and the rest are some kind of striking contest. It is a bit unfair to say he hasn't been tested and green.
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unfair is far too nice, stupid would be a better word.. lol

Most of these guys haven't watched any of his kickboxing fights.
 
I choose Israel because he is more than a decade younger, more experienced striker, height advantage and he hasn't taken much damage. Over 100 fights and 1 loss by knockout isn't bad. I am not saying he is the best in the world since he fell short at the highest level within the world stage. It should be enough for Anderson.
The knock on Anderson during his prime was that he was beating up subpar mma strikers but he never reached an international stage in terms of muaythai/kickboxing/boxing. I would like to think maybe Anderson didn't have the opportunities to reach the world stage but he can somewhat hang. At this point of his career, he is very gun shy and probably has one or two good strikes per fight.
 
NoSmilez said:
I choose Israel because he is more than a decade younger, more experienced striker, height advantage and he hasn't taken much damage. Over 100 fights and 1 loss by knockout isn't bad. I am not saying he is the best in the world since he fell short at the highest level within the world stage. It should be enough for Anderson.
The knock on Anderson during his prime was that he was beating up subpar mma strikers but he never reached an international stage in terms of muaythai/kickboxing/boxing. I would like to think maybe Anderson didn't have the opportunities to reach the world stage but he can somewhat hang. At this point of his career, he is very gun shy and probably has one or two good strikes per fight.
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word

one knock on Adesanya Is that he gets sloppy with his boxing at times, but he also does some really good things as well..some of his combos are particularly nice. Based on his last few fights, It seems he's being more calculated In his approach at range.

He's recently brought In a commonwealth boxing gold medalist so he acknowledging the weaker aspect of his striking game. He doesn't really utilize his 80 inch reach to It's full potential, quite scary if he gains some level of mastery over his hands.

But yeah, Anderson Is obviously a great striker and has Inspired many, Including Adesanya. Upon closer scrutiny though, the level of striking of his opponents throughout his career wasn't very Impressive. It's nothing against him, All due respect..but just worth considering when comparing him to other strikers. We really don't know how he would've matched up on that level , even In his prime.
 
NoSmilez said:
He has 3 times more fights than Anderson. 15 of them are mma fights and the rest are some kind of striking contest. It is a bit unfair to say he hasn't been tested and green.
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True, but that's not in MMA. You might well be right, but they're still different sports with different talent levels. How his striking translates against top tier MMA fighters is definitely not a given yet, and it's foolish to assume he breezes past Silva that easily when we don't truly know yet what he's capable of. It does feel like it could be a passing of the torch match though.
 
Makes sense. He's in his 40s and has had a shit load of fights. The dude he's fighting is like a younger version of himself.
 
MikeMcMann said:
Of course this is a strategic cherry picked fight.

How the f*ck does Anderson get a unproven striker for his title shot prelim when Jacare, Romero, Rockhold, Gastelum and Weidman would all pose a take down threat, if needed which would force Anderson to not focus solely on his striking?

I am not saying Israel is not dangerous, but if Anderson cannot beat him then he cannot beat anyone. As Anderson's stand up game is all he has left and if he can't win over another striker (unproven) then he needs to retire once and for all. And that with a win he might get a title shot against the only other guy in the division who is unlikely to grapple him, even if in trouble is just Anderson and his team brilliantly cherry picking a path for him as they always have.
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The way I see it Dana wanted this fight and he convinced Anderson to take it with the promise of a title shot. I think both fighters stand to gain a lot from this fight. I don't think Israel is unproven. But you know that's just my opinion.

The odd man out is Jacare in all of this it should be Jacare vs Israel. Israel wanted to fight Weidman if he beat Jacare. And maybe the UFC doesn't want Jacare potentially taking out Israel because Jacare has already faced and lost to Whittaker and Gastelum.

This has got to be Anderson's last chance and it does seem a favorable matchup because it's a striker. It is preferential treatment. Going off the past five years Silva's career being one fight away from a supposed title fight continues to make the ranking system look like a joke. I still can't get on board with it being "cherrypicked". I think the UFC wants to help build Israel up with a win over a legend far past his prime.
 
Will bet on Anderson for fun. Play money. Expecting to lose.
 
MMA4Life said:
The way I see it Dana wanted this fight and he convinced Anderson to take it with the promise of a title shot. I think both fighters stand to gain a lot from this fight. I don't think Israel is unproven. But you know that's just my opinion.

The odd man out is Jacare in all of this it should be Jacare vs Israel. Israel wanted to fight Weidman if he beat Jacare. And maybe the UFC doesn't want Jacare potentially taking out Israel because Jacare has already faced and lost to Whittaker and Gastelum.

This has got to be Anderson's last chance and it does seem a favorable matchup because it's a striker. It is preferential treatment. Going off the past five years Silva's career being one fight away from a supposed title fight continues to make the ranking system look like a joke. I still can't get on board with it being "cherrypicked". I think the UFC wants to help build Israel up with a win over a legend far past his prime.
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Yup.

This is what the UFC loves to do with a fading and exiting star. If Anderson beats this exciting up and comer they promote the return of the legend in one last title shot. If Israel wins they forever promote him based on his win over Legend, Anderson Silva.

Its win/win for the UFC.

With someone like Jacare, as you say, it would not be. Jacare gets little benefit in knocking out a young gun contender. That is not the fight that moves him up.
 
A 43yo fighter who's always relied on speed, reflexes and chin to win should be a massive underdog against any top 10 guy.
 
Depends if Silva is allowed to use PEDs again.

We've all seen that USADA Silva is a bum.
 
silva beat dc in striking and handled his grappling well.
 
We gonna get to see both Anderson and Fedor KTFOd back to back this next month
 
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