5 good fights left for the Spider

[jhell]

Five Good Fights Still Out There For Anderson Silva


By: MMARated
09/23/08
Views: 122
Comments: 4
Tags: andersonsilva , ufc
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by Chad Dundas, MMARated.com


By now we’ve all heard that UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva started unexpectedly talking retirement during an interview this week broadcast on Brazilian television. Talking about it a lot. Insisting, was the word the Brazilians used, actually. The Spider insists he’ll hang it up sometime next year, if all goes according to plan.

Now, before we get all teary-eyed over this, let’s remember that Silva is an athlete and if you can count on an athlete to do one thing, it’s prove completely unable to follow through with a planned retirement. So I’m taking an “I’ll-believe-it-when-I-see-it,” approach to Silva trading in his gloves.

As for the champ reportedly saying one reason for his potential retirement is that there is simply no one left for him to fight, that’s hogwash. It was hogwash when Frank Shamrock said it upon leaving the UFC in 1999 and it’s hogwash for Silva to say it now.

Here’s five quality fights still out there for the seemingly unbeatable 185-pound king, any one of which would be huge for his legacy.

1. Matt Lindland. The infamous malcontent is perhaps the only other man in the world who can lay legitimate claim to the No. 1 ranking at 185. He may also be the only natural middleweight who has a prayer of defeating Silva one-on-one. The catch is, the UFC will probably never re-sign him due to the typical reasons of childish feuding and silly grudges that too often rule the fight game. But if Silva wants to go down in history as the greatest 185-pounder ever, a win over Lindland would be a nice capper for his resume.

2. A Top 10 Light Heavyweight. What did we learn from Silva’s recent crushing defeat of James Irvin? Well, nothing. Silva proved he is a great fighter while Irvin proved he is not, but we knew both of those things already, didn’t we? It would still be intriguing to see Silva take on some real competition at the heavier weight. Champion Forrest Griffin, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Shogun Rua or Wanderlei Silva all come immediately to mind.

3. Georges St-Pierre. Perhaps the two best pound-for-pound fighters in the world not named Emelianenko could meet up at a catch weight. Or have GSP move up to fight for Silva’s belt. Silva would certainly own the stand-up game, but St-Pierre’s takedowns and ground skills make him a dangerous match-up for anyone in the world. Besides, after fighting BJ Penn in another meaningless intra-weight match-up come January, St-Pierre will have earned a bout where the risk-reward ratio benefits him more than his opponent.

4. Robbie Lawler. Silva might well walk through the EliteXC middleweight champion, but Lawler would make it exciting for as long as he managed to remain conscious and upright. The HIT Squad member has reformed himself from a risk-taking headhunter into a competent technical striker in recent years and his fearlessness alone would make this a fight not to miss.

5. Michael Bisping. The UFC has been grooming Bisping for something big since he won “The Ultimate Fighter,” but he can’t go on fighting tomato cans and recent retirees forever. If “The Count” manages to scrape by Chris Leben in October – a big if, in my opinion – he’ll take another baby step toward an eventual (and regretful, for him) fight with Silva. Sure, “The Spider “would destroy him, but it would be fun to watch.

Thoughts, comments?

[Duskseyr]

Bisping? Lawler? Really? I like them, but come on. If we were talking 5 solid fights for the end of Silva's career neither name should be coming out of anyone's mouth. IMHO.

Thnx for the post as always Jhell. =)

[frogman]

michael bisping wtf is this a joke.

i want see gets his revenge against okami and have a rematch with dan hendo
and fight shogun rua
i want also anderson silva competes with dream

[rugoatee]

Not too great a list in my opinion. Some noteables that should be there.

1) Paulo Filho - I know they said they don't want to fight, but if you are talking what good fights out there are left for him, you have to include Paulo.
2) Rematch Dan Henderson - I think Hendo will do better in a rematch. Not sure if he will win, but he will make it competitive.
3) Cung Le - Would much rather see this than Robbie Lawler
4) A named top ten LHW - A cop out to bunch everyone up into one category. Pick someone in the grouop and go with it. IMO, I would like to see him fight Wandy if he gets by Rampage, allegedly.
5) Yushin Okami - He can wipe out the DQ loss to him

The GSP fight I think is only a top notch fight if GSP gets by BJ Penn in January. If he is coming off a loss, then that fight doesn't make as much sense to me.

[Palma]

My top 5 would be:
Lindland
Cung Le
Fhilo
rematch with Hendo
Almeida

[jhell]

Originally Posted by frogman

michael bisping wtf is this a joke.

i want see gets his revenge against okami and have a rematch with dan hendo
i want also anderson silva competes with dream

Well the author does admit Bisping would get destroyed, and that could be fun to watch.

[frogman]

Originally Posted by jhell

Well the author does admit Bisping would get destroyed, and that could be fun to watch.

ah oki bro.but i dnt know understand why they put bisping there?
they are many good 185 in ufc like Rousimar Palhares and Demian Maia

[jhell]

The list definitely leaves something to be desired, that's why I threw it out there. I do like the idea of seeing him fight a top ten lhw, though.

[B_footballer]

give him jardine, chuck or Shogun

[BananaClipper]

Linland
Hendo
Mousasi