MMA Blog

Anderson Silva is arguably the best pound for pound fighter in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He destroyed the hard headed Chris Leben with a KO, he dismantled ace striker Rich Franklin twice with strikes, he beat Nate Marquart with strikes and even though he stopped Travis Lutter and Dan Henderson by submission it was obvious his striking played a huge part in the wins. Now the UFC is searching for an opponent for Silva and coming up empty handed, from outward appearances.

Silva has an idea of his own! He wants to “box” Roy Jones Jr in a boxing ring with boxing rules. The story being reported at MMA Weekly here  states

“Silva feels that fighters in mixed martial arts are often unjustly criticized as not being as technically proficient as their boxing counterparts, a misconception that he would like to dispel. We respect Jones’ boxing ability and think he’s one of the best,” said Soares, “but we’re tired of different boxers saying that MMA fighters aren’t technical. Anderson would love to fight Roy Jones in a boxing match under boxing rules to prove that MMA fighters are technical, too.”

Has Silva really cleaned out the UFC Middleweight division so completely that he must try out another sport to face a new challenge? It sure looks like he has only a few choices in front of him.

Choice #1 - Seek to answer one of the big sports questions of this decade. “Can a boxer really put an MMA fighter to shame?” Certainly having a match in a boxing ring levels the playing field for the boxer who would be at a serious disadvantage facing  “take downs” and “Ju Jitsu”. Often you hear how a “boxer would never survive in an MMA Cage. While I agree with this, I don’t think a boxer in the cage would be a true test of skill. Look at Marcus Davis. An exceptional boxer who did poorly as a striker in the UFC but has been undefeated since becoming a student of the ground game. This match with one of our MMA legends facing a true boxing legend in the boxing ring would make the statement once and for all. If there is a fighter in the UFC that can equal a professional boxer I would say that Anderson Silva is it. So with that said let me encourage him to get in the ring and show the world that an elite UFC striker can hold his own with and elite boxer.

Choice #2 - Challenge other weight classes. We have heard of this move being considered by Matt Huges, George St. Pierre, Brandon Vera and seen it done by Randy Couture, BJ Penn and Sean Sherk. However we have never been faced with a division completely cleaned out by the sitting champion. If there was ever a call for a fighter to move to another weight class and challenge a new division isn’t it now? Isn’t that what they have always said about GSP or Hughes? When he cleans out the division he will move up a class and challenge that division. My opinion is that is what is called for here. Bring the drama on and let Silva start working on other divisions until someone can stand up to him at 185.

Filed under: Anderson Silva