Anderson Silva solidifies status as best pound-for-pound MMA fighter

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This article was published 02/03/2008 (6671 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – While other fighters nursed swollen faces or headed to hospital for X-rays, an unmarked Anderson Silva nibbled on chocolate and smiled at the UFC 82 post-fight news conference.

Another victory to savour. Another body in his wake.

The soft-spoken Brazilian middleweight choked out former Pride champion Dan Henderson to defend his UFC title Saturday night at UFC 82 and solidify his claim as best pound-for-pound fighter in mixed martial arts.

The 32-year-old Silva has now cleaned out the’5-pound weight class. It’s arguably the weakest in the UFC but Silva has laid waste to it so elegantly and dominantly, thrashing former champion Rich Franklin twice and now dispatching Henderson, that he may have to move up in weight to light-heavyweight to find a challenge.

His fellow fighters look at him with awe.

“He’s a bad dude and I don’t want to fight him,” said welterweight Josh Koscheck.

“Unbelievable,” added welterweight Diego Sanchez. “He’s unbelievable.”

Fellow 170-pounder Jon Fitch was left shaking his head at the champion’s workout regimen after sharing the same pre-fight training room.

“I’ve seen pro boxers work mitts and I’ve never seen somebody move with the agility that he moves and throw with the power he does.”

Lightweight Jorge Gurgel, who has spent eight years training with Franklin, said the way Silva beat Franklin “still flabbergasts me.”

“Making somebody like Rich Franklin look bad, it’s not very easy. Rich Franklin is usually the one that takes the fight out of the fighter. And Anderson Silva right now is on a different level, I really believe that.”

The 37-year-old Henderson, a former two-time Olympic wrestler, can at least say he won a round off Silva. After a cautious opening before 16,431 at the Nationwide Arena, Henderson took Silva down two minutes in and controlled him on the ground the rest of the round. He did not do that much damage, other than some hammer fists, but the champion looked mortal for the first time in a while.

Still Silva kept calm and survived the round and the indignity of a Henderson paw across his face.

A more aggressive Silva stalked Henderson in the second round and, after a clinch on the fence, the two started swinging. Henderson got the worst of it and went down, eventually giving up his back to Silva after the Brazilian fired a barrage of punches from above.

After Silva sank in a rear-naked choke, Henderson tried to hang on until the end of the round but had to tap at 4:52.

“Anderson Silva is pound for pound the best fighter in the world,” said UFC president Dana White. “Anybody who tries to debate that is out of their mind.”

Silva deflected such praise.

“I’m grateful that I’m the champion but I still don’t consider myself the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world,” he said through an interpreter. “It’s really hard for me to say that until I’m retired, and then I can look back and say ‘You know what? I was the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world at that time.”‘

Away from the cage, Silva is somewhat of a mystery to the fans who revere him. Speaking through an interpreter, he made reference to his humble roots in Brazil but more often than not speaks in generalities.

Now the UFC has to find a new challenge for Silva, a six-foot-two fighting machine equipped with a cool head, black belt in jiu-jitsu and a devastating striking game.

“We’ve got some ideas right now, we’re working on some stuff right now,” White said without elaborating.

The light-heavyweight division is stacked, offering a slew of big-name opponents.

“No matter how big this guys is, when you step up to 205 in the UFC division, these guys are huge,” White cautioned. “Forrest Griffin is a monster. Tito Ortiz is a monster, Chuck Liddell is a monster. These guys are huge. These guys walk around at 230, 235 and they cut down to 205. So it’s a big jump.”

When not in serious training, Silva normally walks around at 215-216 pounds.

“I’m an employee of the UFC and if the UFC would like me to move up in weight to make a big fight happens and that’s the fight the fans want to see, I’m here to fight the best in the world and out on the fight the world wants to see,” Silva said.

One option is for Silva to stay where he is and have Canadian George St. Pierre step up from the 170-pound ranks, presuming he defeats Matt Serra to reclaim his welterweight title at UFC 83 in Montreal on April’,

But Silva rejected the suggestion he might fight training partner Paulo Filho, who is 16-0 and the World Extreme Cagefighting’s middleweight champion.

“It’s impossible,” said Silva, scowling at the idea. “We train together and it’s something that’s not going to happen.”

White was less dismissive. “I think any fight is possible.”

Silva’s last loss was by disqualification to Yushin Okami in January 2006 for an illegal kick to the head that left the victor in la-la land. Silva, who was in guard when he launched the kick, shakes his head at the loss saying the Rumble on the Rock organizations rules were not explained to him properly and he thought kicks to the head were allowed if you were on your back.

Such controversy aside, his previous loss was 11 fights ago in December 2004, a submission defeat in Pride at the hands of Ryo Chonan.

“This kid, his game gets better every time he fights,” said White.

Silva and Henderson each won a $60,000 bonus for the UFC’s fight of the night award with Silva earning another $60,000 bonus for best submission.

Knockout of the night award went to middleweight Chris Leben, who KO’d Alessio Sakara.

Henderson, who held the Pride equivalent of both the middleweight and light-heavyweight titles when the UFC bought the organization, has now lost to the UFC champions in both weight classes (he was beaten by Quinton Jackson at UFC 75 last September). He did not meet the media after the fight but White, no doubt looking to shore up the weak’5-pound division, said he would like Henderson to continue campaigning as an’5-pounder.

In Saturday’s co-main event, Heath (The Texas Crazy Horse) Herring won a split decision over France’s Cheick Kongo in a rough-and-tumble heavyweight bout that was short on style but still had its moments as the two big men wrestled and rolled.

“I thought the two heavyweights fought like’5-pounders,” said White.

Koscheck, Sanchez and Okami also posted impressive wins, although Okami may have suffered a broken hand in spoiling former champion Evan Tanner’s comeback. Koscheck scored a TKO over Dustin Hazelett in the second round while Sanchez stopped Swedish newcomer David Bielkheden in the first round.

Notes: After becoming the fifth man to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, 43-year-old Mark (The Hammer) Coleman announced he will meet former WWE star Brock Lesnar in Minnesota later this year in what will be a matchup of two big, blunt objects. … The UFC confirmed Chuck (The Iceman) Liddell will headline UFC 85 in London on June 7. No opponent was identified, although reports have linked Liddell with Mauricio (Shogun) Rua … Welterweight John Fitch,an Indiana native explained MMA’s popularity in Ohio by saying Midwesterners respect combat sports, adding: “There is not a damn thing to do in the Midwest. … especially in the wintertime when it’s cold out.” … The UFC 82 gate was $2.2 million.