Is Lyoto a better fighter than Anderson Silva?

[AndrewGolota48]

I guess the bottom line is the only argument for Machida being better is pure speculation. Incidentally it's funny that at one time there was three weight classes between the two.

 

[SevenDeadlySins]

I would go with yes. It would have been great to see them both fight but their friendship in an individual sport got in the way of that.

 

[nickdagger]

Machida is better. Anderson was good but spent 10 years fighting cans. Machida has been stellar in a much harder division, and has only 3 legit loses(Jones and Shogun(x2 ).

 

[AndrewGolota48]

Machida is better. Anderson was good but spent 10 years fighting cans. Machida has been stellar in a much harder division, and has only 3 legit loses(Jones and Shogun(x2 ).

Give me a break bro. I know you will make all the excuses in the world, but you can't call someone like Griffin a can while considering Shogun and Rampage great wins when Griffin beat both of those guys all in that same era.

 

[ermac88]

And yet Machida still fought a better and higher level of competition then did Anderson.

It's purely subjective. people say Couture was retiring.
and when Jones beat all the people Machida faced (and lost to), they were all, over the hill...

All of Silvas opponents were #1 contenders.

Foremost Machida never enters GOAT discussion

 

[ermac88]

lol...while he was boring us to tears with his tepid performances against leites(who choked out drew mcfedries),cote(who had to beat ricardo almeida to earn his shot),and maia(who beat dan miller to earn a shot) machida was taking on guys who were head hunting for him like rampage,shogun,jones,and plenty of others.

Again purely subjective.
When Rampage faced Jones he was over the hill to many on Sherdog.
When Shogun faced Jones, he was over the hill as well, or a MW.

and when Chael fought Shogun, Chael beat his ass in a minute.

See how that works.

But the facts are Silvas opponents were top contenders and Silva beat them, where Machida took many losses.

 

[wilKO]

how would anderson do against jones,rampage,and shogun?

Beat all but Jones. Rather easily embarrass Rampage.

 

[moreorless87]

I guess the bottom line is the only argument for Machida being better is pure speculation. Incidentally it's funny that at one time there was three weight classes between the two.

Theres obviously a large degree of speculation on both sides of the debate but I would actually say that theres more of it around how Anderson would perform vs Lyoto's opponents than vice versa.

The reality is Machida fought in the stronger division during Andersons peak years and is now fighting in a stronger MW division than Anderson did in his prime years. We've seen his skills tests much more fully than we have Andersons, you were claiming that Silva is way above the other guys mentioned in this debate standing but what evidence do you have to back that up? that he was hyped a lot and danced around lower level opposition? guys like Vitor(pre TRT/kickboxing evolution), Hendo, Franklin and Forrest are is a good lineup of wins but I would consider none of them t have been among the very very best strikers in MMA.

 

[Panacci]

I believe so, I also think he fought tougher competition. Give Machida leben, lutter, franklin and okami any day

 

[HHJ]

But the facts are Silvas opponents were top contenders and Silva beat them, where Machida took many losses.

cos he fought way tougher guys,a blind man can see that. There is nothing subjective about that.


i just highlighted who these top contenders had to face to even be top contenders,its not really that impressive,but you can paint it up all you like. Even then people who hailed andersons performances still could lament his division wasnt all that great until the 2nd half of his reign.

 

[HHJ]

Beat all but Jones. Rather easily embarrass Rampage.

if anderson was as sure as you were,he would have fought them allready instead of fighting TUF finalists

 

[s1fys]

What people fail to realize is that almost every top fighter was beaten by a lessen fighter once. Machida can be the favorite over everyone Silva has beat but Machida might still drop a fight here and there.

 

[nickdagger]

Give me a break bro. I know you will make all the excuses in the world, but you can't call someone like Griffin a can while considering Shogun and Rampage great wins when Griffin beat both of those guys all in that same era.

Shogun absolutely smoked Griffin in the rematch when his knees were actually holding up for five minutes, and the Rampage decision was a joke, Rampage dropped him like 12 times.

Machida>Anderson.

 

[s1fys]

if anderson was as sure as you were,he would have fought them allready instead of fighting TUF finalists

Because Machida is at LHW. Same reason why Machida didn't fight the top MWs at that time. It really isn't too hard to see.

 

[s1fys]

Shogun absolutely smoked Griffin in the rematch when his knees were actually holding up for five minutes, and the Rampage decision was a joke, Rampage dropped him like 12 times.

Machida>Anderson.

Guess who else was smoked by Shogun in a rematch?

 

[HHJ]

Because Machida is at LHW. Same reason why Machida didn't fight the top MWs at that time. It really isn't too hard to see.

anderson fought at lhw and machida fought at mw

when anderson moved up,he fought guys he knew he could beat ( not taking away that it was impressive,but stil they were selected carefully)

machida moved down,and immediatley went on a tear against the best 185ers en route to title shot

 

[HHJ]

anyway i like both fighters and i dont think its fair to say who was better,really. I just say i think Machida's career has left more questions answered and is more satisfying to me.He's fought the best of two divisions,and its likely he will continue to do so.

 

[Stonehenge]

It's subjective but I'd have to go with Machida. Both have excellent ability to strike, get in and get out, but Machida's wrestling is vastly superior. Certainly during their primes Machida fought tougher competition. Silva's middleweight reign, with the exception of Hendo, was aided by relatively inferior competition.

 

[Scarzi]

I always thought Machida was better then Anderson Silva.

 

[mkt]

No. Although very similar, Silva is more creative with his strikes and has shown a more well-rounded game.

I love Lyoto but have to agree. I think he would've beaten almost all of Silva's opponents, but not as convincingly. He wouldn't finish a younger Hendo in the 2nd round and I really doubt he'd KO Belfort in the 1st round, which unheard of. Those would probably be his toughest fights until he met Weidman.