Wasn't Shogun one of the best match ups possible for Anderson Silva?

[bjjwar]

I always found it weird seeing posts about how Anderson was ducking Shogun at some point in the UFC. I'm not even playing mma math and seeing how Forrest finished Shogun and what Silva did to Forrest, but just Shogun's style in general in the UFC seemed like one of the best match ups possible for Silva at LHW. A slow forward plodding sloppy striker with a bad gas tank? It's like heaven on earth for Anderson, hell i'd even say its a better match up than Forrest was himself. I'm talking post pride of course and Shogun still had a hell of a chin. But having watched his fights in the UFC i always asked myself why would he give Anderson any trouble with that style? It's tailor made for Anderson's speed and counter.

 

[Blayt7hh]

Yeah it would have been a great fight

 

[Mammothman]

They were friends, out of respect Anderson didn't want to hurt him so that's why he was never interested in that fight, similar to Machida.

 

[Why did you]

When Shogun was in his prime , he didn't want to damage Anderson , and while he was out of his prime, Anderson didn't want to end Shoguns carreer

 

[Necrocrawler]

Shogun, Wanderley and Anderson were, at a certain time, all training partners
The Bond between them made Impossible for they to fight each other (even though i Wonder what would have happened If Wanderley Silva would have got the nod in the arona fight during the pride tournament)

Machida and Anderson were also managed by the same manager during their prime.

 

[Bork Neslar]

It doesn't matter now.

 

[mudrubble]

It doesn't matter now.

This is the best reply, lol!

Sherdog - keep your discussions CURRENT.

The past is the past and we don't dredge up the past - it doesn't matter now!

Mods, can we please change the thread title to "Francis is a failure" and discuss current shit?

 

[IloveTHIS]

They were friends, out of respect Anderson didn't want to hurt him so that's why he was never interested in that fight, similar to Machida.

thats cute. Shogun literally said he wanted to fight him and offered him a shot at Shoguns LHW title.

this "friends" and "didnt want to hurt him" is cute revisionist history. Shogun wasnt a picture perfect stylistic matchup for him so Anderson wanted no part of it.

 

[Bojka]

Yeah... a "slow sloppy plodding striker" beat prime Machida... arguably twice. A+ thread.

 

[Oris79]

The Shogun that KO'd Lyoto would have been a handful for Silva, no doubt.
In the end, though, I think Silva was too intelligent a fighter and would have beaten Shogun.

 

[Oris79]

A slow forward plodding sloppy striker with a bad gas tank? It's like heaven on earth for Anderson

There was nothing sloppy about Shogun, bro.

 

[ArtardFiesta]

if shogun was american ando would have taken the fight

 

[Liverkick-king56]

I'd pick Silva to win but Shogun wasn't a slow plodding striker.
Shogun was the only man to figure out how to out strike a prime Machida. He was great at trapping with footwork, had very powerful and tight combinations and showed he can out strike a elite counter striker. Those are all tough things for a pure counter striker to face.

Honestly Jan vs Izzy is a good comparison of how the fight could've looked. Silva being matched in technique but not having the power to keep up.
Like I said I'd pick Silva to win but it's by no means an easy match up.

 

[Daniel_LaRusso]

Brazil vs Brazil is not cool.

 

[Canadian Kicker]

Ducking and not fighting a friend is a little different, especially when that friend is in a different weight class. Anderson was talking about going after the LHW belt and had two dominant victories at LHW. Probably the only champ who would have actually earned a double champ opportunity had he taken it. When Shogun won the title he gave up on that dream for a bit because he didn't want to to fight his friend. When Jones won the title he gave up on that dream because he didn't want to get his face broken.

As for the first Forrest fight, that wasn't Shogun. This was his first time fighting on US soil for a long time, in all likelihood it was his first time fighting off the roids in a long time. He was having major knee problems and lets face it, he just didn't show up.

 

[Black Blood]

Yeah, the Shogun that fought Machida would have been a real handful for Silva.

 

[Tweak896]

This was one of the fights I wanted to see almost all of Andersons career. Both guys were even vocal about making it happen. Back then double weight classes weren't as big so it was harder to get it booked. I also remember the times people wanted the fight, if Silva won he'd be taking Machida's spot at LHW basically, so he had to take fights that wouldn't effect Machida.

 

[SalvadorAllende]

Shogun was a good matchup for a lot of guys. Specially after being tested by NADA in PRIDE

That is why he has double digit loses.

 

[Aegon Spengler]

UFC wasn’t able to make fights like this because Dana wouldn’t pay for them. They wanted a lot to fight each other. Silva and Machia would have fought for the right money, too.

Dana screwed up big fights all the time

 

[SuperNerd]

Throw Rampage in there for a triangle of fights I wish we got in the UFC.