Do you think Thiago Silva could have been an elite?

Thiago Silva has the toughness(ability to take a beating and still fight) and some good skills(KO power and BJJ blackbelt), but he was very sloppy and gassed exceptionally easy. I mean, here's a guy that was losing for 2 rounds straight up to Stanislav Nedkov, who really wasn't even in the LHW picture.
 
His record is actually really impressive. One blowout soul-reaping defeat against the Dragon, a clear loss to Gustafsson but Thiago fought a much more competitive second and third rounds than he's given credit for, and he actually finished the Rashad fight looking like the better fighter.

He doesn't have trademark wins, though. The Jardine fight was nasty vicious, as was Cavalcante, but he lacks the signature wins that anchor an elite resume.
 
Shogun Rising said:
His record is actually really impressive. One blowout soul-reaping defeat against the Dragon, a clear loss to Gustafsson but Thiago fought a much more competitive second and third rounds than he's given credit for, and he actually finished the Rashad fight looking like the better fighter.

He doesn't have trademark wins, though. The Jardine fight was nasty vicious, as was Cavalcante, but he lacks the signature wins that anchor an elite resume.
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Very very true. I used to write off Thiago Silva, since he struggled so much with Tomas Drwal, Antonio Mendes and rushed the Houston fight to the floor. However, we've seen that the guy will not be finished very easily, fights well being gassed, has a decent wrestling, a good chin, and won't be held down very easily.

Really, I think his signature performance was against Rashad. After Machida, who wasn't known as a finisher at the time, knocked Thiago out cold, I thought he was going to lose very easily to Rashad, and I bet on Rashad. Thiago proved to be near impossible to ground and pound and nearly finished Rashad at the end of the fight.
 
I'd say he's/he'd be top ten. Is that considered elite? Not sure, I don't think he is champion material, but he's a bad ass dude I wouldn't mess with.
 
solid top 10 fighter, though wouldnt pass the top tier fighters
 
jeremyemilio said:
Meh.

The truth is, he hadn't fought very many guy who counted for much before meeting Lyoto.

Since then his record is 3-3 with 2 NC, one for marijuana (which, on its own, I wouldn't much care about, and another for a urine test that came back 'inconsistent with human urine' (which is kind of a big deal).

Even one of his wins is tainted by the fact that he didn't make weight.

The guy looks badass when he's having his way... but he's nothing particularly special when he's in there with the best of the best.

And he's a loose canon.

And he's an asshat.

Sooooooo...
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We're talking about Thiago Silva here. You seem to be talking about Nick Diaz.
 
The dude is a cold blooded killer that could put just about anyone on ice. Not only was his cut pretty dumb but then they dick teased us and said he was resigned just to cut him a few days later for the same original crap... wtf?
 
Speaking of the devil, this just announced

 
I always thought he was a little too chinny and lack the wrestling required to apply his strong suit (hands) in every/most situations a fighter can end up in.
 
Good fighter, he was a little slow and his technique wasn't always the best on the feet but to balance that he was very tough and had great power and still kept trying when he was gassed out.

His back injury hurt his career as well, that and the fact that he's mental. I don't think he'd ever have been truly elite if you consider elite to be top 3-4.
 
felmmando said:
Wasn't Houston Alexander considered hot stuff back when Silva KO'd him?
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Yes. But with the benefit of hindsight, we know that was just an illusion.

Should we just pretend we don't know that?
 
Yes, his losses were to respectable fighters and Machida was in his prime when he starched him.....no shame in that. I miss his fights and hope he is getting his life back on track
 
He definitely could've been, but back injuries did a number on him. He slowed down big time after they happened, and seemed to have lost a step athletically.
 
He was the Michael Bisping of the LHW division.

I enjoyed watching him fight but the guy is his own worst enemy.
 
jeremyemilio said:
Yes. But with the benefit of hindsight, we know that was just an illusion.

Should we just pretend we don't know that?
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Either it was just an illusion or Alexander declined or the other athletes have since raised the sport's standards. Probably some combination of the three.
 
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