Media Jon Jones says Andersson Silva was so far ahead of the game he'd still Be a top fighter today

[PeterGriffin]

When Anderson fought lean he was a WW, actually a 169lbs Shooto champion.
Even under the way outdated nutrition and weight cut science from two decades ago.
Fought at WW until his 30s.
Weighted in at 197lbs for a short notice bout with Cormier at LHW in his 40s.


Yes, he gained lot of weight during his UFC stint until breaking his leg. Easily 15lbs of bulk to be 205lbs in fighting shape.
If "didnt look like it" to your eyes doesnt say much. Facts are eloquent on this topic.

Silva was way closer to modern WWs than LHWs. Its not even a controversial take.

In a 23 year fighting career, Silva fought what, 5 years and maybe 12 or 13 fights (out of 46) at less than 185lbs? And he was fighting at MW by 27, not "in his 30's". Facts are eloquent, aren't they? The bulk of Anderson's career title accomplishments happened at 185lbs, that's not even debatable.

He dropped back to weigh in at 170lbs for Rumble on the Rock, as there was only LW and WW brackets. 4 of Silva's 5 fights prior to getting dairy queened at Rumble on the Rock were all MW's fights. By the time Silva grew into his body as he matured, he was a MW. Could Silva had cut crazy weight to make 170lbs in the UFC because he did it 3 years earlier overseas?

Maybe. But why even bother?

Silva fought lean but close to his natural body weight, because that's what his primary fighting styles required, and made him successful. Bulking up, and spending countless hours mastering weight-cutting was NEVER Silva's bag. Silva spent more time throwing punches and kicks than pumping iron and it showed.

Even lazing around between fights, Silva wouldn't get more than a small pot belly. Silva rolled off the couch about 2 months after having his gall bladder removed and fought DC on 2 days notice. That alone should tell you at 197lbs, that's pretty damn close to his mythical walk-around weight (which is even heavier than the magical re-hyrdated weight). So to my original point, yes... SIlva fought lean, not skinny asf.

Also, my comment about how "It didn't look like it..." is the exact fucking same kind of statement as your "Silva was way closer to modern WW's than LHW's".

 

[panamaican]

I'm disappointed by the lack of gifs.

 

[pankrat]

In a 23 year fighting career, Silva fought what, 5 years and maybe 12 or 13 fights (out of 46) at less than 185lbs? And he was fighting at MW by 27, not "in his 30's". Facts are eloquent, aren't they? The bulk of Anderson's career title accomplishments happened at 185lbs, that's not even debatable.

He dropped back to weigh in at 170lbs for Rumble on the Rock, as there was only LW and WW brackets. 4 of Silva's 5 fights prior to getting dairy queened at Rumble on the Rock were all MW's fights. By the time Silva grew into his body as he matured, he was a MW. Could Silva had cut crazy weight to make 170lbs in the UFC because he did it 3 years earlier overseas?

Maybe. But why even bother?

Silva fought lean but close to his natural body weight, because that's what his primary fighting styles required, and made him successful. Bulking up, and spending countless hours mastering weight-cutting was NEVER Silva's bag. Silva spent more time throwing punches and kicks than pumping iron and it showed.

Even lazing around between fights, Silva wouldn't get more than a small pot belly. Silva rolled off the couch about 2 months after having his gall bladder removed and fought DC on 2 days notice. That alone should tell you at 197lbs, that's pretty damn close to his mythical walk-around weight (which is even heavier than the magical re-hyrdated weight). So to my original point, yes... SIlva fought lean, not skinny asf.

Also, my comment about how "It didn't look like it..." is the exact fucking same kind of statement as your "Silva was way closer to modern WW's than LHW's".

It's not about "looks"; it's a matter of facts.
You talking about "small pot belly" (under a simpleton eye test) as if it was some kind of argument is ridicullous.
Get the facts straight mate:

Anderson Silva was a 169 lbs champion in 2001 at 25 years old, competed at WW in ROTR in 2006 already 30 years old, and weighed in at 185lbs for an openweight bout against Jeremy Horn in 2004 (Horn weighed in at 200lbs for that fight).

This means, in case you don’t grasp it, that Silva's fight night weight was around 185lbs early in his career. Yes, he was barely cutting any weight while competing at MW then. Just like many other MWs of that generation by the way.
Plenty of fighters skipped big weigh cuts back then. If you’re unaware of this as well, it further proves you don’t know what you’re talking about.

If there was any doubt (which should not) Anderson Silva also weighed in at 197 lbs for a short-notice bout at LHW already in his 40s, with way more bulk/fat on his frame than he had in his 20s lanky version. I don’t even know how you’d argue against this—it’s self-explanatory. No modern LHW would be even remotely close to that weight without dehydrating, much less in short notice, much less in his 40s.

Im not saying Silva is closer to modern WWs than MWs. Im saying that modern WWs are closer to Silva's walk-around weight and fight night weight than modern LHWs who tend to be massive and this shouldn’t be a controversial take at all. Plenty of lanky 6'2" WWs resemble him these days. Either acknowledge the facts or stubbornly cling to your biases. There's not much else to say.

 

[Oz.Pride]

I don’t think he’d be champ today.

MMA is so wrestling/grappling centric nowadays.

These wrestlers would pin him down and grind him out. Pause.

Howd that end up for Uncle Chael?

 

[PeterGriffin]

It's not about "looks"; it's a matter of facts.
You talking about "small pot belly" (under a simpleton eye test) as if it was some kind of argument is ridicullous.
Get the facts straight mate:

Anderson Silva was a 169 lbs champion in 2001 at 25 years old, competed at WW in ROTR in 2006 already 30 years old, and weighed in at 185lbs for an openweight bout against Jeremy Horn in 2004 (Horn weighed in at 200lbs for that fight).

This means, in case you don’t grasp it, that Silva's fight night weight was around 185lbs early in his career. Yes, he was barely cutting any weight while competing at MW then. Just like many other MWs of that generation by the way.
Plenty of fighters skipped big weigh cuts back then. If you’re unaware of this as well, it further proves you don’t know what you’re talking about.

If there was any doubt (which should not) Anderson Silva also weighed in at 197 lbs for a short-notice bout at LHW already in his 40s, with way more bulk/fat on his frame than he had in his 20s lanky version. I don’t even know how you’d argue against this—it’s self-explanatory. No modern LHW would be even remotely close to that weight without dehydrating, much less in short notice, much less in his 40s.

Im not saying Silva is closer to modern WWs than MWs. Im saying that modern WWs are closer to Silva's walk-around weight and fight night weight than modern LHWs who tend to be massive and this shouldn’t be a controversial take at all. Plenty of lanky 6'2" WWs resemble him these days. Either acknowledge the facts or stubbornly cling to your biases. There's not much else to say.

Well, there is no point in discussing anything with you... you obviously didn't or can't read.

Like, at all.

 

[mmaElite53]

Champ. Might not have as many title defenses, but champ no doubt. Still hasn’t been anyone as dangerous at any weight class.

 

[SalvadorAllende]

With modern training who knows, he was obviously extremely fast with great power and reflexes so physically he’d be up there but maybe he wouldn’t absorb all the extra training.

The version we actually saw when he was a champion? Doesn’t make it to the top 5

Fuck off.

He beats the shit out of Strickland, Imavov and Whittaker to say the least.

 

[pankrat]

Well, there is no point in discussing anything with you... you obviously didn't or can't read.

Like, at all.

Dude stop pretending you literally said this:

Silva fought lean but close to his natural body weight, because that's what his primary fighting styles required, and made him successful. Bulking up, and spending contables hours mastering weight-cutting was NEVER Silva's bag. Silva spent more time throwing punches and kicks than pumping iron and it showed

1. Silva bulked up to deal with the big weight cutters he fought in UFC at MW/LHW. Whether if you noticed or not, Silva pumped plenty of iron and put 15-20lbs on his frame during his 30s. Get the facts right.

2. My original statement was simply that the size and natural weight of modern WWs is much closer to that of Silva than modern LHWs, who many of them are fit 220lbers.

Not a controversial statement at all, any long time fan or even fucking Chatgpt would agree on that. Not sure what you try while saying nonsense as the quoted above.