In 2015, does the Leites fight help/hurt/no difference to Spider's legacy?

[krolik1157]

I was thinking about Bones (hard not to on Sherdog these days) and Silva, and remembering the time after the Cote/Leites/Maia fights when Silva was pretty much the most hated fighter out there. (I won't defend the Maia fight, that was awful and weird.)

At the time, Silva was booed after the Leites fight for not engaging, and a lot of people got on him for not finishing a (relatively) low-level opponent who got the fight more due to Nate fouling than anything else, and there was at least one "Fedor would have dived into that guard with BOTH FISTS!" thread, because it's Sherdog and of course there was.

Here's what happened: Every time Silva and Leites would go to exchange, Leites would pretty much flop to his back and beg Silva to engage him in a grappling match, then wait until the ref told him to stand back up when Silva refused. (In Leites' defense, Nog did this in the first round of his fight with Cro Cop, and ended up winning by submission when he finally landed a TD in the second round.) Anderson wasn't able to do real damage to him, but won an easy decision because Leites wasn't actually trying to hurt him.

A few years after the fact, do you look at that fight as detrimental to Spider's potential GOAT status because he didn't go balls-out and try to finish Leites with GnP, and was satisfied with taking the decision, give him credit because he actively terrified a guy in a UFC championship match so much he wouldn't actually fight him, or just put the fight down as one of those weird fights that could happen to anyone when their opponent doesn't want to engage?

P.S.: Before the fight, Leites got the "If you were building a fighter to defeat Anderson Silva, it would be Thales Leites" treatment. Gotta love fight hyping.

 

[prikoke]

The fact that you had to remind everyone about that fight answers your own question. The general public doesn't remember, and doesn't care. No effect on Anderson's legacy.

 

[thinkandbeslim]

I remember Chuck Liddell defending Anderson, saying that he came to fight and there was very little he could have done when Leites wasn't engaging at all throughout the fight.

I think it was more a disappointment for the fans who were expecting Silva to put on a striking masterclass against an opponent many expected to be obliterated.

 

[Rational Poster]

Leites is still fighting. He looks good too.

 

[Senbonzakura]

^^

No? Does the Demian Maia fight tarnish his legacy? Nope when people reminisce about Silva they talk about The Franklin saga/Leben/Okami/Sonnen fights

Which were all finishes by Andy

 

[Arrrrgh]

I don't think it hurts. It just sucked to watch--so did the maia fight.

 

[surgeyou1]

No. Leites is a good fighter who didn't come to fight that night. Also it was clear that Anderson was getting bored/frustrated with the division as a whole.

 

[TheComebackKid]

Leites has always been referenced as one of those "cans" Silva fought precisely because of how he fought in that fight. He looked so anemic and scared that everyone thought he was a total joke. They completely ignored his excellent record at the time and only remembered him for that fight.

It probably hurts Silva because of that. People now use Leites as a go to name when trying to criticize Anderson's competition. They fail to realize tho that he actually has a very good record(24-4 overall, 9-3 UFC) and is a solid fighter.

Edit: People treated Maia the same way for a long while until Weidman beat him(barely) and his fans (silva haters) were trying to hype up his record. Then Maia became this elite fighter along with Mark Munoz. Maia has always been solid tho just couldn't do anything to Silva.

 

[Awesome Possum]

At the end of the day, the fight that people will remember from that point in Anderson's career is the one vs Forrest Griffin.

 

[Handawg]

Doesn't do much at all other than add to the record.

K1 Leites be lookin good recently though.

 

[moreorless87]

I remember Chuck Liddell defending Anderson, saying that he came to fight and there was very little he could have done when Leites wasn't engaging at all throughout the fight.

I think it was more a disappointment for the fans who were expecting Silva to put on a striking masterclass against an opponent many expected to be obliterated.

Never agreed with that, I think Anderson was just as much if not more(being the higher level fighter) to blame for the match being dull simply because he wasn't willing to engage Leites for fear of being taken down.

 

[TheComebackKid]

Never agreed with that, I think Anderson was just as much if not more(being the higher level fighter) to blame for the match being dull simply because he wasn't willing to engage Leites for fear of being taken down.

And this is the type of attitudes Silva was facing at the time. If he presses forward and the guy runs or flops to his back then that is Silva's fault the fight was boring lol.

 

[Hendo101]

Leites is no scrub.

Look at Joe Daddy and Tyson Griffin. Young, skilled, tough contenders, but fell off and are nowhere now. That doesn't hurt BJ's legacy or RDA's chances of being worthy of being a top dog.

 

[Rational Poster]

Doesn't do much at all other than add to the record.

K1 Leites be lookin good recently though.

Leites coming for another shot.

Who knows, maybe a rematch with Anderson?

 

[chiefwiggum]

I can't remember anything about that fight.
It doesn't hurt him though.

 

[moreorless87]

And this is the type of attitudes Silva was facing at the time. If he presses forward and the guy runs or flops to his back then that is Silva's fault the fight was boring lol.

That's the issue, he really didn't press forward much at all in this fight, Leites flopped a few times but what really made the fight dull was that Anderson couldn't defend the takedown AND be aggressive standing.

 

[Cantalope]

Leites is still fighting. He looks good too.

This! I wouldn't jump in Leites guard either.

 

[Dart Feld]

It did nothing for Silva long term either way esp. since Leites streak coming into the fight included that wonky fight with Nate where the fouls gave Leites the win.

 

[TheComebackKid]

That's the issue, he really didn't press forward much at all in this fight, Leites flopped a few times but what really made the fight dull was that Anderson couldn't defend the takedown AND be aggressive standing.

Perhaps I need to watch again but I remember a whole lot of this:

 

[Spycho]

Well, for what it's worth, Leites sure is going balls-out lately.