Is Anderson Silva Trying To Send A Message?

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Is Anderson Silva Trying To Send A Message?



Anderson Silva apparently is as smooth and calculated out of the Octagon as he is in it. While many speculate about what could be wrong with Silva, or why his last two title defenses have been lackluster at best, it seems to be that the real issue is, “What is Anderson Silva trying to say?” Silva’s actions at UFC 97 could lead one to believe that he is looking to send a very loud non-verbal message to the UFC.

It would appear that his prefight spectacle of rubbing Vaseline off of his face and onto his body, while staring in the direction of people / someone at cageside was one way to draw attention to this. Coming so soon after the UFC and Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre were steeped in controversy over an alleged “greasing” allegation, why would Silva seeming go out of his way to so blatantly do the same at a time when he is certain that a camera is firmly fixed on him.Anderson Silva

Because of the close proximity in time to the previous incident, Silva would know that any action even remotely resembling spreading a foreign substance on his body would be seen, reported, and criticized. In addition to that, he was fighting in Montreal, Canada, home of Georges St. Pierre, and the champion was at ringside for the event. Clearly the move could be construed as a message to St. Pierre himself, or an attempt to put UFC officials right back in the hot seat over the issue.


If the prefight gesture did not raise enough flags, the fight itself certainly did. We are used to seeing Silva come out and “feel out” his opponents for a few moments before engaging. However, Silva came out early in the first and barely engaged at all. The entire first minute of the fight saw both fighters circling nearly six feet apart with neither man looking to make the first round a fight. The same thing took place in the second round, with Silva rarely engaging first and spending quite a bit of the round with his hands at his side. The boos from the crowd would begin to get considerably louder in this round.

In between rounds, as the camera was in Silva’s corner, the translator gave the impression that Silva was being strongly urged to engage by his trainers. The third round began, and Silva scored early, and actually committed an unintentional foul (eye poke) that was not seen by the referee. From there Silva would be happy to land a single punch at a time and score points with leg kicks. Any time the fight went to the ground Silva would back right up and force his opponent to his feet in order to continue the fight.

The crowd’s disapproval of the fight in the third round and throughout the rest of the main event fight would grow louder and louder, with chants of “GSP” and “Bullsh*t” reigning down. And even when Silva appeared to have opportunities to open up his offense or to capitalize on a mistake, he chose instead to step back away from the engagement. Causing the jeers to become louder and louder.

In Silva’s defense, his opponent did very little to give the champion much of a fight. But after receiving quite a bit of criticism, especially from UFC President Dana White, for taking a similar approach in last bout, one would think that we would have seen the Anderson Silva that had run rough shod through UFC’s middleweight division over the last few years. But in the end, after the bout was over many would be left wondering what was wrong with Silva or just generally upset at the atypical and occasionally boring performance by such an explosive fighter.

In the post-fight press conference following the fight Dana White would say, “I can honestly tell you that I’ve never put on an event that I was embarrassed to be at until tonight. I want to publicly apologize to all the fans.” Also adding, “Watching that was hard. That was tough to take. It was embarrassing, honestly. It was really and truly embarrassing.”

Anderson Silva’s comments regarding the fight aren’t as apologetic, and can be perceived as stand-offish, “I’m comfortable with people’s opinion, because they have a right to their opinion, but when I went out there, everything I [prepared for] in training, I felt I executed in the fight. My game plan was that I wanted to go to the later rounds with Thales. I was unable to finish. Sometimes I’m able to finish guys and sometimes I’m not able to. But I felt I proved to everybody that I’m able to go five rounds and that I’m in good shape.”

Several reports have also surfaced that Silva’s manager and translator, Ed Soares embellished Anderson’s comments after the fight. Those reports state that Silva’s actual translation was not apologetic, but rather pointed in nature. Part of that translation is said to have been, “Not everyone understands what they are watching. But hey, you guys can boo if you want. You are paying my salary." Although the quotes are unconfirmed at this time, comments like this are so out of character for the Anderson Silva we’ve come to know, they are either true and evidence that he is unhappy, or the reports are incorrect.

Only Silva can speak for what may be at the root of the issues. Maybe it was UFC’s quick and direct shutdown of any talk of Anderson Silva boxing Roy Jones Jr. while still under contract to UFC. The side project is one that Silva has stated as an eventual goal for nearly a year. He has even gone so far as to say, “After my contract with the UFC ends and end my career in MMA, I intend to have a boxing match with Roy Jones. That’s something that’s already been arranged, it’s all practically a done deal. Now I just have to wait and see.” Those comments, although made on the heels of signing an extension with UFC, would lead one to believe that Silva would, in fact, walk away from Mixed Martial Arts after his contract expires.

It is also possible that Anderson Silva may not be happy about the level of opponent’s he has been matched up against. While no one argues that Silva’s first few title defenses were against fighters that were worthy of the match ups, analysts have been very critical of the fighters selected as his last three opponents. So it may come as no surprise that we have not seen the same motivated Anderson Silva in those match ups. Could it be that Anderson is looking to challenge himself beyond the fighters that are being deemed the number one contenders for his championship?

Many other issues could be involved, if Silva is actually upset with UFC officials. There is always speculation that Brazilians are not treated the same by the UFC as their American equals. It could be that Silva is being used to Main Event fights where he is not the actual top story, as in UFC’s return to Montreal. It is always possible that the issues are as simple as dollars and cents to be made by the fighter. There could be other reasons for being upset as the UFC and the outspoken Dana White are continuously under fire for a variety of topics, especially concerning some of their business strategies.

What seems clear though, is that this Anderson Silva is not the same Anderson Silva that was once the playful unassuming superstar lauded as the best pound for pound fighter in the world. And while, his being upset, or any message he may be attempting to send is all speculation at this time, there is certainly no shortage of theories or questions in the aftermath of what we saw this past Saturday at UFC 97.**

I dig it, he isn't a puppet and I hope he showing the UFC that he doesn't have to play ball if he doesn't want to.

They won't let him box RJJ (what would it hurt???)
They aren't giving him quality fights (although they're working on it)
They aren't giving his "killer bee" fighters shots in the UFC like they do for other UFC champions / former champions.

[J.B.]

Originally Posted by atomdanger

They won't let him box RJJ (what would it hurt???)

Dana is not about to let the sport of Boxing steal any of his thunder. I bet he wouldn't even let it happen in a UFC cage.

[Tyburn]

Denise was the first person to suggest that Anderson Silva is doing it to try and be released from the UFC...that he knows what he's doing.

Career suicide is fine if there is no real competition for you, and you'd rather fight other places...but you cant get out without some kinda woe bad enough to make the UFC want to drop you.

I tend to think this might be correct, because I'm convinced he could have done better...I just dont know if he actually would go so far...but he must have had some motivation...and I cant see any other motive for deliberately giving such a bad set of performances.

This writer stole Denise Idea

[J.B.]

If Silva wanted to be released from the UFC, all he would have to do is turn down the fights. He may be upset with the way he is being treated, but I don't see him going out on a limb to put on "bad" performances just to get dropped. That makes no sense at all.

[Tyburn]

Originally Posted by JB Rattlesnake

If Silva wanted to be released from the UFC, all he would have to do is turn down the fights. He may be upset with the way he is being treated, but I don't see him going out on a limb to put on "bad" performances just to get dropped. That makes no sense at all.

What like Randy Couture did?

Refuse to fight in other words? What and have people call him out for ducking?

Thats not his style. Nope, this way he gets what he wants without losing face, its not his fault the MMA fans cant comprehend his brilliance, and the UFC is a business.

He's not a dumbass.

[J.B.]

Originally Posted by Tyburn

its not his fault the MMA fans cant comprehend his brilliance

You say this as if it's not the case.

Seriously though, the UFC has ultimate control of their business, and pretty much a monopoly on the sport at it's highest level. They pretty much make or break the fighters, not the other way around. I don't doubt that Silva may be upset with the UFC, but I just don't see how intentionally putting on a "boring" fight helps his cause at all. If the UFC wanted to, they could release Silva and the backlash would be minimal at best. Sure, the hardcore fans like us would be talking about it for months, but the common fan would forget in about a week and the UFC will STILL be selling out arenas and cashing in big on PPV's. Nothing would change.

Besides, it would not be a very logically sound plan to try and intentionally put on a boring fight in order to get back at the company. That plan would assume that the other fighter in the cage is going be boring too. What happens if the opponent comes out guns blazing? No, Anderson is not a dumbass, you said it yourself, and only a dumbass would think they can get back at the UFC by intentionally putting on a boring fight. Not to mention that if that was his plan, if backfired because it's Silva who is the one taking the most criticism for the fight, not the UFC, not even Thales Leites (who really does deserve most of the blame).

When Randy left the company nobody accused him of "ducking" anybody. In fact, a lot of people came to Couture's defense and painted the UFC and Dana as greedy and evil (I was not one of them). If Silva wanted to get back at the UFC for something that has him upset, he would call them out directly in the media, and it WOULD work because that puts heat DIRECTLY on the company rather than on Silva.

[Bonnie]

I still wonder about this fight...

You don't think it's strange, JB, how this "championship" fight went down? And, then, Anderson and Thales just hug each other at the end--neither one of them seemed upset with how things went. I'm kind of like Denise with her theory, except I'm wondering if they both weren't in cahoots (each for their own reasons).

This was the first fight I saw with Leites so I don't know if he's done this in other fights(?). As for Anderson taking most of the flack, he is the champ so expectations are going to be higher for him.

he's trying to send a message alright. his translator just sucks.

[J.B.]

Originally Posted by Bonnie

I still wonder about this fight...

You don't think it's strange, JB, how this "championship" fight went down? And, then, Anderson and Thales just hug each other at the end--neither one of them seemed upset with how things went. I'm kind of like Denise with her theory, except I'm wondering if they both weren't in cahoots (each for their own reasons).

This was the first fight I saw with Leites so I don't know if he's done this in other fights(?). As for Anderson taking most of the flack, he is the champ so expectations are going to be higher for him.

No, really I don't find it that strange, and I don't think it's gonna be the last time we see a less than thrilling championship fight.

Is Anderson Silva mad at the UFC? I don't know, and it's fair to say that until somebody actually asks Silva that question, none of us know the answer. I think it should also be pointed out that the person who posted this article is also the author of the article. While it is well written, and an interesting theory, it is still just a theory.

As for Silva and Leites working together to put on a boring fight, I think that is really stretching it. What is the benefit for Leites? What is the benefit for Silva? There is none. Dana White came out right after and handled the damage control from the UFC's side when said he was embarrassed by what happened. Now, everybody is blaming the fighters, NOT the UFC.

So, if Anderson Silva's master plan was to be intentionally boring or rig the fight to get back at the UFC, it was incredibly stupid because it backfired and HE is the one taking all the criticism. Not to mention, if he did actually rig the fight along with Leites, that would be illegal and they could both go to prison.

That's why I just don't see it. If Silva REALLY wanted to get back at the UFC, he would just blast them in the press. That's how most professional athletes do it when they are mad about something in their team or organization and they cannot resolve the issue one on one.

That's how I see it, but of course the only one who truly has all the answers in this is Silva himself.