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| MMAWeekly: Silva Analyzed |
| Written by Damon Martin of MMAWeekly.com | |||
 Anderson Silva has solidified himself as one of the most dominant fighters on the planet since coming to the Ultimate Fighting Championship with his devastating striking and intimidating style. He has knocked out former middleweight champion Rich Franklin twice, finished Nate Marquardt and also dispatched of Chris Leben and Travis Lutter.
Now Silva will face likely the toughest challenge of his entire career as he squares off against the last Pride 183-pound champion, Dan Henderson, at UFC 82: Pride of a Champion.Here is a breakdown of what Silva will bring into his title fight with Henderson. STRIKING: There is no question that Anderson Silva’s biggest weapon is his unbelievable stand-up and Muay Thai clinch game. He has shown throughout the years to have pinpoint accuracy with his punches, working a perfect boxing jab to set up anything from kicks to his signature knee strikes. Silva is willing to give up position to go for a big strike, as he did in his fight with Travis Lutter in which he went for a flying knee and ended up putting the jiu-jitsu fighter in his guard when the knee didn’t land flush. His Muay Thai clinch is legendary, especially going back to watch his fights with former champ Rich Franklin, in which he was literally able to move the fight around the cage by controlling his opponent’s head and neck with his clinch. Silva may be the best striker that has ever set foot into MMA and because of the diversity of his strikes. No one can predict (ask Tony Fryklund) how he will find a way to knock an opponent out. GRAPPLING: There aren’t too many weak spots in Silva’s game, but when compared to Henderson this may be the one place he will lack coming into this fight. As previously mentioned, Silva is a fighter who is willing to take chances in his stand-up game, which can ultimately land him on the ground or pulling guard on his opponent, leaving him to deal with a ground and pound attack from above. The one moment in his UFC career that could be classified as Silva being in trouble was in his fight against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Travis Lutter, when Lutter passed the champion’s guard and ended up mounting him and reigning down shots. Silva stayed calm and composed and worked his way out, but he did put himself in that position. If he ends up in a similar position with Henderson he may not find a way out. What Silva does do very effectively is control his opponent’s grappling with his jiu-jitsu background. His long legs are troublesome for most fighters at 185-pounds because he is able to lock on guard or even a body triangle with his legs and keep his opponent from raising up and throwing any power shots. Add to this Silva’s ability to throw very dangerous elbows from the bottom and even in that position his strikes can end a fight. In his fight with Nathan Marquardt, Silva nullified Marquardt’s ground attack by using his defensive guard game and eventually the fight made its way back to the feet. While his wrestling is suspect, his overall grappling can still be very useful in ending a fight. SUBMISSIONS: One aspect of his game that gets overshadowed many times when talking about the current middleweight champion is his tremendous jiu-jitsu game. Holding a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under the Nogueira brothers, Silva uses his long arms and legs to trap an opponent and look for submissions during a fight. He was able to trap Lutter in a triangle choke employing this very strategy in their fight. Silva’s guard could be one of the best in the business because he is able to avoid taking much punishment while on the bottom and at the same time he is consistently looking for opportunities to move his legs up an opponent’s back looking for an armbar, triangle choke, or another submission. While his win over Lutter is classified as submission by strikes, it was his triangle choke that trapped Lutter and allowed Silva to unload elbows to his head to end the fight. He may never be seen in the same light as his jiu-jitsu trainers, the Nogueira brothers, when it comes to his ground game, but he can be just as equally as dangerous if he can lock onto an arm or an opponent’s neck to finish a fight. OCTAGON CONTROL: Silva has literally controlled the pace of every single fight he’s had in the UFC if you break it down to the fact that he’s able to put his opponent where he wants them in almost any position. On the feet, it’s almost a forgone conclusion that Silva’s movements seem to keep any opponent on the defensive and if he locks on his Muay Thai clinch, a look of panic almost washes over a fighter. Silva is also able to control the fight on the ground because of his superior jiu-jitsu. He uses the ground just enough to get his opponent to stand back up where he shows his true superiority. CONDITIONING: Anytime a fight is five-rounds versus three, the question of conditioning has to be asked. As of yet, Silva has done nothing to make us ask questions about his gas tank. None of his fights have made it out of the second round. But since defeating Franklin in October 2006 to win the middleweight title, he has prepared for three subsequent title fights, which potentially could have gone five rounds. Silva’s stand-up game is so unbelievably controlled that it’s just not likely that he would gas himself out trying to finish an opponent with a flurry of punches or kicks because that is simply not his style. He is accurate and deadly with his jab and clinch work, and he doesn’t over exert himself when it’s not necessary. On top of that, Silva isn’t a fighter who cuts a lot of weight to make the 185-pound limit, so there is little worry of him cutting weight the wrong way and losing energy during a fight. THE “X” FACTOR: Silva’s training camp for the upcoming fight with Henderson included Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and his brother Rogerio Nogueira, both of which have fought and defeated Henderson in past matches. While it is not likely that Silva will employ the same game plan that they did, it can be a mental edge to have that advantage in his corner. As far as common opponents, Silva and Henderson do share a couple, but it’s not likely those fights will gauge where these two will go in their match-up. Silva and Henderson both faced Ryo Chonan. While Henderson knocked him out in under a minute, Chonan defeated Silva with one of the craziest submissions in MMA history, but it’s not likely to be duplicated in this fight. Silva knocked out Carlos Newton, while Henderson defeated him by unanimous decision. While Silva has shown an icy demeanor in the cage when fighting and an almost vicious style that seems to put his opponents away, what could break his concentration in this fight is if Henderson is able to take him down and control him on the mat repeatedly. If this happens, Silva could become frustrated and give up a dominant position to Henderson, but again, every round starts standing and that’s where Silva is most dangerous. KEYS TO SUCCESS: For Silva to defeat Henderson, the game plan seems simple… keep the fight standing and work the Pride champion over with jabs until he moves in and gets caught in a Muay Thai clinch that could end the fight. Henderson has shown a tendency to stand with more and more opponents lately and if he plays with fire in this match-up, he may very well get burned. What Silva doesn’t want to do is become tentative because of Henderson’s wrestling pedigree and keep away and not go for any big strikes. Silva’s tendency to throw the flying knee or big kick, while dangerous to both his opponent and himself, is an intimidating weapon that may keep Henderson from shooting for his legs and make him only work for a Greco-Roman clinch takedown. If the fight makes it to the ground, Silva needs to frustrate Henderson much like he did Nate Marquardt and not let him work any real offensive ground and pound. Back on the feet, Silva should pepper Henderson with jabs because of his longer reach and then move in for the kill if he’s able to put his opponent against the cage and unload a barrage of punches and knees.
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