Anderson vs Leites and Maia

[Islam Imamate]

I know this is old news but I keep hearing what I believe to be a mosconception about these fights. I see it often said on this forum that Anderson chose not to finish them to prove some kind of point or send some kind of message and Anderson himself has made some excuse for both these fights. For example:

He sounds a lot like GSP[/U][/B], who by the way I love to watch. (by the by, I really believe Anderson didn't finish Maia and Leites because he felt they were so far beneath him they were a joke. I think he made that point to Dana and Dana hasn't forgotten it since.)

Honestly, to me the reason is quite simple; these two fighters have very poor striking and lack great takedowns yet have great BJJ. They posed no threat standing and were not able to take him down from far yet if they got a hold of him it could've ended badly for Anderson so he chose to stay on the outside and try and bait them into a pure striking match so he could find an opening but it didn't work and for the most part both Maia and Leites were very complacent and therefore we got a boring fight.

I feel like I'm pointing out the obvious but it bugs me since it seems like a double standard. When GSP doesn't finish its because he isn't taking risks or he's just unable to but when Anderson doesn't finish he's holding back on purpose to prove a point. I think that way of thinking is silly and to me its clear that he just wasn't willing to risk being the aggressor as it could leave him open to the takedown so he coasted. Not because Maia disrespected him or because he respected Leites or whatever BS excuse Anderson or his camp says.

Hell, Leites and his camp even called Anderson out on his silly excuse that he refused to finish Thales because they were friends.

First of all, I would like to say Anderson has never been or went to Nova Uniao. I have never seen him around, we were never friends, only professional colleagues. No doubt, he is a great fighter. If he says he was easy on me because he considers me to be his

 

[The Soothsayer]

Anderson, like most fighters, has fans who get really creative making excuses for anytime their guy looks less than optimal.

Fights are unpredictable, and stuff happens.

 

[Judoka4ever]

Those fights, the second with Chael and the Bonnar one were obviously fixed.

 

[Fight Gone Bad]

They dont want to hear the real reason because it would make AS look like the king of trolls.

If you bring a gun to a knife fight why get close enough to get stabbed.

 

[Bolshevik***]

They dont want to hear the real reason because it would make AS look like the king of trolls.

If you bring a gun to a knife fight why get close enough to get stabbed.

anderson probably still wakes up in cold sweats when he dreams about chonan subbing him.

 

[FlyThai**]

To this day I don't know how anyone can blame Anderson for the Leites fight

 

[EliteLurker]

Vs. Maia he did choose to do nothing for the final two rounds. That had nothing to do with anything Maia was actively doing. Why I have no idea other than Anderson is a real life troll.

 

[ironfist05]

I think the only thing those fights proved is that Silva doesn't have offensive JJ Maia or Leites level (which is understandable, given their grappling credentials) or the necessary sub defence to deal with their ground game and he was scared to engage them on the ground (again, understandable)

Silva obviously was afraid to go for the finish, he wasn't trying to make a point, but that's understandable, the point of hte fight is to take win, not to take needless risks
smart fighting>fighting for an unnecesssary finish

can't really explain the Cote fight though, that was weird

 

[tenniswhiz]

You know what would have impressed me?

If Anderson had circled, thrown a jab, circled, thrown another jab, thrown a Superman punch that missed (but got good hang time while throwing it), and then if he were to suddenly change levels and get a TD. If Anderson had done that for 10 rounds against Leites and Maia I would have been so impressed. That's what a true champ and P4P great does, they win 10-9 rounds.

 

[SnowBlynd]

Anderson clearly chose to fuck around with them and not go for the kill.

 

[Fight Gone Bad]

anderson probably still wakes up in cold sweats when he dreams about chonan subbing him.

then he gets up and says realizes that he's UFC champ, undefeated in the UFC, beats up men bigger than himself on the regular, makes tons of money, has fantastic BBQ's, HL reels for days and goes to BK in his Bentley. Its hard out here for the Spider.

Someone find Chonan

 

[spin]

Not because Maia disrespected him or because he respected Leites or whatever BS excuse Anderson or his camp says.

here's where you went wrong. your argument could have gone better with this little bit of haterism thrown in.

because at the end of the day, anderson and his' camp's BS > yours

 

[Magjee]

I'll be real...

those were just shit fights

 

[Islam Imamate]

To this day I don't know how anyone can blame Anderson for the Leites fight

Its not his fault since he was winning and it was Leites who had to do something different, not Anderson. So yes, its definitely Leites fault, can't argue aainst that. In fact, I'd say the same about the Maia fight as well.

Vs. Maia he did choose to do nothing for the final two rounds. That had nothing to do with anything Maia was actively doing. Why I have no idea other than Anderson is a real life troll.

It looks weird to me as well and I was thinking its possible that Maia was pressing forward just enough to dissuade Anderson from employing his bag of tricks but not enough for him to find an opening.

I think the only thing those fights proved is that Silva doesn't have offensive JJ Maia or Leites level (which is understandable, given their grappling credentials) or the necessary sub defence to deal with their ground game and he was scared to engage them on the ground (again, understandable)

Silva obviously was afraid to go for the finish, he wasn't trying to make a point, but that's understandable, the point of hte fight is to take win, not to take needless risks
smart fighting>fighting for an unnecesssary finish

can't really explain the Cote fight though, that was weird

I agree entirely, no need for Anderson to do anything risky if he's sweeping the cards but we should call a spade a spade.

You know what would have impressed me?

If Anderson had circled, thrown a jab, circled, thrown another jab, thrown a Superman punch that missed (but got good hang time while throwing it), and then if he were to suddenly change levels and get a TD. If Anderson had done that for 10 rounds against Leites and Maia I would have been so impressed. That's what a true champ and P4P great does, they win 10-9 rounds.

My point was that Anderson's reason for not finishing these ightrs was similar to the reason that GSP doesn't finish most of his fights; his skill set was lacking and that it has nothing to do with trying to send a message

here's where you went wrong. your argument could have gone better with this little bit of haterism thrown in.

because at the end of the day, anderson and his' camp's BS > yours

What was wrong with my statement? I demonstrated that the excuse he used for the Leites fight isn't valid and therefore, its BS.

I don't hate Anderson, I find it hard for anyone to. In fact, I don't hold these fights against him like a lot of fans since I see that it was just an unfortunate style match up for him. He's an awesome fighter and if he fought these two today he stop them within two rounds but back then his skill set was a bit more limited in the TDD department and he had to resort to some unorthodox tactics.

I'll be real...

those were just shit fights

They were entertaining but not in the way fights should be. If I want a comedy act, I'll look for one. I don't need it in the octagon.

 

[Mooner]

AS vs Leites was possibly the worst title match in the UFC.

 

[shunyata]

What TS observed is obvious to any thinking man, but at the same time, noone likes a butt flopper.

Some of the most infamous fights revolved around a standup guy and a bjj guy who couldn't get the td just butt flopping everywhere.

Reem Werdum II is another example.

Fall down on every significant strike and play hurt, it gets unwatchable after a while.

 

[Islam Imamate]

What TS observed is obvious to any thinking man, but at the same time, noone likes a butt flopper.

Some of the most infamous fights revolved around a standup guy and a bjj guy who couldn't get the td just butt flopping everywhere.

Reem Werdum II is another example.

Fall down on every significant strike and play hurt, it gets unwatchable after a while.

Problem is some people blame Anderson for those fights as if he had some easy way to KO them but chose not to to prove a point.

Anderson was clearly winning so it was up to Leites and Maia to change the tempo of the fight and they didn't but some here act like Anderson is this other worldly fighter who can finish anyone and everyone and when he doesn't its because he wants to send a message.

 

[RaggedyRooster]

Anybody got gif of Anderson playing guitar in Maia fight?

 

[p4p1]

To this day I don't know how anyone can blame Anderson for the Leites fight

It is because he didn't finish a guy who dropped to his but everytime Anderson got close enough to hurt him. He gets way too much hate for that fight.

 

[Islam Imamate]

It is because he didn't finish a guy who dropped to his but everytime Anderson got close enough to hurt him. He gets way too much hate for that fight.

Not exactly. Anderson stood on the outside kicking Leites leg while Leites followed him around the octagon while refusing to commit to anything but a handful of weak punches. Its still Leites fault but Silva wasn't pressuring him like Overeem was pressuring Werdum