ABU DHABI – It’s hard to imagine what the Abu Dhabi fans were thinking as they watched UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva’s performance Saturday night against Demian Maia at UFC 112.
Even for Silva, who has been known to clown around, this was outlandish. At times, it appeared more like a Broadway play or a WWE skit than the man touted as the number one pound-for-pound fighter on the planet defending his title.
Anyone who may have turned the fight on at that moment and saw nothing else of the card but that fight would probably never watch another MMA bout in their life if they could help it. And no one could blame them.
The champion Silva looked great in the first round. He still was putting on a show but he was effective. attacking, and landing strikes, but it all went downhill after that.
Between rounds four and five, UFC President Dana White did something he has probably never done in his life. He got up from his seat and walked over to Silva’s manager and gave him an ear full. One can only imagine what that conversation was like.
Silva did appear slightly more “aggressive” for a short time in the final round, but not enough to appease the fans who paid high dollars to watch the UFC’s first ever event in the Middle East. Fans even began to chant “GSP” (Georges St. Pierre), the welterweight champ (170 lbs.) with whom Silva was promised a fight if he defeated Maia.
Maia appeared to stun Silva in the final round with a couple big punches, and he deserves credit for using the tools he had to the best of his ability. The same can not be said for the champ.
Silva feigned respect for his opponent, but his actions said different. He bowed to Maia before and after the bout, but mocked him during the bout. He not only showed disrespect for his opponent, but the sport, and the hard-working fans who pay his salary.
Silva was awarded the unanimous decision but he will be lucky to keep his job, much less the belt.
During the post-fight interview Silva said “he doesn’t know what got into him” and why he acted the way he did. He said he was “not as humble as he should have been,” and he “guarantees it won’t happen next time.” He also mentioned that Maia surprised him with some of his punches.
It is going to be very interesting to see what sort of backlash comes from this. It never pays to embarrass your boss, and that is about the only thing Anderson Silva accomplished with his actions.
Silva would make a great clown or performance artist. He would make a great fighter too if he would just do what he is paid to do.
Read ProMMAnow.com‘s live play-by-play of Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia: UFC 112 results and play-by-play.
It’s a shame. Anderson Silva should be reprimanded. Is he looking for a way out of the UFC but on a winning note? Perhaps Dana should give Anderson less fights in a year or don’t give him main event status. Whatever the case it should be interesting since White is not the type of boss to not do anything.
If the dude thinks he’s THAT much better then anyone else, why dick around for 4 or 5 rounds??? FINISH a fight
Maybe dana white should find anderson a higher level of competion. when anderson beats someone quickly people complain or say its rigged like the forrest fight. But when completly embarrasses a guy in the 1st 3 rounds without breaking a sweat what does he prove by finishing the guy. Nothing blame dana white . Hey dana how about a legit contender.
Does anyone agree with me that Anderson Silva should NOT fight GSP? Do you think like me that he should fight Machida? No one else. Maybe he won`t showboat with him.
Congrats to Matt, and especially Frankie. Do I smell a rematch?
This was the UFC’s attempt to show that Stikeforce can set up better fights… (joke).
Seriously, this is about Silva showing that the UFC does not have the depth in the middleweight and light heavy weight divisions that its fans and Dana White have been hammering every other organization over the head. This was not about Anderson disrespecting the sport as much as it was about disrespecting the UFC. Kudos to Anderson for showing that the UFC middleweight division was abandoned when they let Nick Diaz and Hendo go. The main card of UFC 112 sucked even worse than that for UFC 111 with the brit with no ground game.