Observations on Fedor vs Silva

[davidreednyc]

First, Fedor looked pretty good in that fight. The first round he and Silva were both putting some damage on each other and really the round could've went either way. The second round Silva had a great strategy and got him down early. Fedor did a great job on the bottom with a MUCH larger and stronger BJJ black belt on top of him and it's a testament to his skill that he didn't get KO'd or submitted. In spite of his face after the fight, he did a good job avoiding damage. Fedor's only obvious mistake was going back to the ground with Bigfoot after he had the chance to stand up.

While Fedor is still the Greatest of All Time, he is no longer the greatest of today. He should retire now and this fight illustrates why.

He's getting older and has clearly slowed down. Perhaps most importantly, he's also just not psychologically as into it as he used to be, and it shows to an extent. He still fought hard and to the best of his abilities against Silva, but there was a certain hesitance and lack of aggression and killer instinct that has been his hallmark in the past. Plus he's been talking about retirement for years now. For all of a person's skill, if their heart isn't in it it's very difficult to defeat a tough opponent.

Finally, he's always been an undersized heavyweight. Fedor fans never said much about it before because it never mattered before, he could still beat guys way bigger than him by either being faster, having better instincts, hitting harder, or having more skill in some area outside the other person's strength. However now the level of MMA heavyweights has increased. Heavyweights historically have looked comparatively unskilled compared to the lighter weight classes, partially because they haven't developed (for lack of need) the same degree of technique and because they lacked the speed/athleticism to effect some of the same technique. That isn't the case anymore. Now there are legit superheavyweights who aren't just fat. You have actual muscular athletes showing up at 285 at fight time with skill on par with their peers in the lighter weight classes and incredible speed and explosiveness. This is why Fedor's retirement after this fight marks the end of an era.

I'm not taking anything away from Silva. He fought a great fight. He kept it competitive standing where frankly a few fights ago he would've gotten owned. On the ground his jiu-jitsu was sharp and tight and ultimately the deciding factor in the fight. However while I think he still would've had an advantage on the ground via superior jiu-jitsu, I don't think he would've been competitive standing nor been able to dominate on the ground so convincingly were he not 55 pounds of muscle heavier than Fedor with a 7.5 inch reach advantage. I still think skill-wise, at least on the ground, he's better than Fedor, but Fedor's instincts, style, and explosiveness likely could've kept him out of trouble were it not for also having to deal with the size disparity, and standing would've looked entirely different as hopefully anyone can see.

But Fedor wasn't fighting a 55-pounds-smaller Silva, he was fighting the actual Silva. And Silva earned a victory that other guys his size haven't been able to, and that no one other than the absolute best BJJ black belt at heavyweight has been able to.

I hope to God Finklestein doesn't convince Fedor to keep fighting out of his own selfish need to keep M-1 afloat at Fedor's expense.

Thank you Fedor for your sacrifice over the years and for setting such a great example both in and out of the ring.