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What’s the story?
Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva is a former UFC middleweight champion, who still holds the longest title streak in UFC history with 16 consecutive wins and 10 successful title defenses.He has been widely regarded as the greatest MMA fighter of all times.
‘The Spider’ was featured on a TV show Combate News, where according to MMAFighting.com, he joined the list of fighters and experts who criticize the UFC champion Conor McGregor for being one dimensional. On that show, Anderson Silva pointed towards the obvious flaws in McGregor’s skill set,
“He has flaws. We all have flaws. And his flaws are clear. He defends well, but he doesn’t have jiu-jitsu. The main thing is that he uses his movements and his opponent’s movements to his advantage. He never puts himself in uncomfortable positions. Everyone who fought him put themselves in uncomfortable positions and weren’t able to get back to comfortable positions again.”
In case you didn’t know...
Anderson Silva has a professional MMA record of 33-8-0 (W-L-D) and has a record 10 successful title defenses. He lost his title in a fight against Chris Weidman (13-2-0) atUFC 162 via a knockout and in the rematch ‘The Spider’ broke his leg, losing that fight as a result.
After recovering from his horrible leg injury, Silva made a comeback against Nick Diaz at UFC 183. He won that fight via unanimous decision but the result was later overturned because Silva failed the drug test before and after that fight. He was suspended for 1 year by the NAC for the failed drug test.
Conor McGregor is the only fighter in the history of the UFC to hold two world titles simultaneously, in different weight divisions. Ever since he came to the UFC, his rise has been meteoric. ‘The Notorious’ McGregor has a career record of 21-3-0 (W-L-D), with 18 wins by KO and 13 first round finishes. He is among the best strikers in the sport today.
The heart of the matter
The UFC champion Conor McGregor is the biggest star of the MMA world. He has made a name for himself by destroying all the opponents in his path. He achieved the unthinkable, when everyone was doubting his ability to go up in the weight division, he proved everyone wrong. He became the only fighter ever in the UFC to hold two championship belts, but regardless of all the success, there are people who still criticize his fighting style for being one dimensional.
He struggles in the ground game, his stand-up fighting is phenomenal, but once he is on the ground its a different story. It was quite evident in his fight against Chad Mendes in UFC 189, where McGregor faced some problems when in the ground. It again was in play, while fighting against Nate Diaz in UFC 198. After hitting the mat, Diaz made quick work of the champ and made him tapout quite easily.
What next?
‘The Spider’ is all set to make his return to the UFC, when he will face Derek Brunson in UFC 208. McGregor is on a self imposed hiatus from UFC, as he is looking forward to the birth of his first child with his long-time girlfriend Dee Devlin. He has no shortage of opponents when he returns, as fighters are lining up to get a piece of his superstardom.Even Anderson Silva is looking forward to fighting the Irishman.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Having flaws is a good thing, as it leaves room for improvement. All fighters have their flaws, and Conor McGregor is no exception to it. To Anderson Silva, McGregor’s flaws are abundantly clear, he lacks in experience when it comes to wrestling and jiu-jitsu. But in spite of these flaws, he has found incredible success in the UFC. The trick is that, he makes the other fighters so uncomfortable around him, that they find it hard to focus on his weakness.
It will be an amazing fight, if we get to see Silva in action against McGregor. We will get a chance to witness, just how ‘The Spider’ plans to exploit these so called flaws.
