I'm not sure, TBH. The problem is that many of these guys have really sloppy clinch work, at least compared to Sylva. Totally textbook. Even his bob and weave is just unbelievable. I'm not sure that many guys in the UFC currently would even be ready for him... I've gone through the UFC Middleweight fighter list and no one jumped out at me screaming "I'll beat him". As a matter of fact, I saw a lot of older names who wouldn't be even remotely competitive. I think some of the newer guys could be interesting challenges for him, but they need more time to get better IMO.
Cung Le's striking is clean and precise. They both use somewhat unorthodox for MMA style strikes, and they both have no fear of engaging in a trade. I'd have to see him and Anderson go at it before I'd determine who'd win the standup. Though there's no doubt in my mind Anderson would demolish Cung as soon as it hit the floor.
I think Hendo's got the power and wrestling to be a threat, but he likes to stand and brawl too much; Silva would clinch & destroy him. Hughes, if he decided to step up, could probably control him on the ground, but would probably get KO'd or take a lot of damage getting there. A striker with a good chin, good reach, and who could stay out of the clinch would be a threat, I think, as Franklin was at least landing some shots before getting mauled in the clinch and against the cage. But you're right, I don't see anyone under UFC contract at MW who could get me to bet against Silva.
Uh, Sylva's not exactly a slouch in the stand up arena, y'know. He'd give Cung a run for the money, IMO, and that's where my concern is. We don't know what Cung Le can do on the ground, while we know Sylva's a beast.
ahm spell it Silva please so ppl dont mix them up with Sylvia..... anyhow of course he'd give a cung a run for his money. did i say he wouldn't :S? either way it'd be a good match to watch
I don't know, since Cung hasn't been tested on the ground. It could be the best match in profighting or it could be a complete charlie foxtrot as Cung gets taken down and mauled by Silva's BJJ. I'm not going to put my money on some guys who's known for KOs and a limited ruleset which discourages clinching and has NO allowances for groundwork. PERIOD. If you don't agree with me, fine, whatever.
Domino is, however, correct. His ground game's completely untested - the only person he's fought that's known to be even a little tricky on the ground (Fryklund) inexplicably decided to try and stand with Le for the whole fight We've seen Silva on the ground; he's subbed BJJ blackbelts, swept ADCC veterans, KO'd people from his guard and so on. In short; we know Silva's good on the ground, we don't know how good Le is there. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that since Silva's had a hell of a lot more training and practise there, Silva's ground game's lightyears ahead of Le's at this point in time
What Sever said. Untested, and probably not ready for someone who can eat BJJ blackbelts and ADCC champs for breakfast then beat up Thai boxers for lunch, especially when Cung Le himself has acknowledged that his groundgame needs hella work (Inside Kung Fu, a spring issue, IIRC. He was the cover boy). And once again, allow me to remind you that Cung doesn't play in the octagon, nor is there any indication he'll be signing soon, so please, can we perhaps discuss opponents who might actually step in the ring and fight Silva?!? I'm getting really bored with your teenage manchrush. Stop following me around MAP nutriding Cung Le before I get a goddamn restraining order.
And you obviously have no clue what you're talking about, so just hit Alt + F4 while the adults continue to think about who in the UFC could take on Anderson and win.
The only person that's signed under Zuffa that I can see beating Silva right now is Paulo Filho who's in the WEC, but I have doubts of that fight happening due to A) the two of them training together at Black House and B) Filho will probably be disliked very strongly by the US crowd since he's not especially exciting (many of his fights are lay n' pray heavy). I'd like to see him fight Henderson, but Hendo still doesn't want to drop back down Interestingly, the UFC has got Ryo Chonan (the guy who leg-scissor-heel-hooked Silva at Shockwave 2004), but he's fighting at 170 for the time being. That could be a big-money rematch if they handled it right, but it'd involved Chonan moving back up and making some waves at 185
Also on the UFC building up a fight based on events that happened outside the UFC. So far, only the Herring-man-kiss-KO has done this. I don't even feel like they promoted Rampage & Chuck's first fight all that well building up to their rematch.
Honestly there is no one in UFC MW list that I think can beat Silva. Silva has amazingly accurate and brutal strikes, he's a true Muay Thai fighter not a MMA fighter who learned Muay thai or a grappler who learned Muay thai. This dude is the real deal. I can only think of a few people in WEC who could take him on and only one person in strtike force (Cung Le). Here are Cung Le's disadvantages 1. Never been tested on the ground 2. Keeps his hands low 3. A bit too fancy with his striking 4. Never really been tested in general With that said, his strengths are ironic 1. Neutralizes and reverses take downs very well 2. Moves around the ring instead of standing still like a lot of mma fighters 3. Though fancy with his strikes he's amazingly accurate and devastating like Silva 4. He's Undefeated in more than one style of fighting, which does count for something Cung Le's ground game may have never been tested, but I've never see Cung Le not take preparation for a fight seriously. Notice he's never done a scissor kick take down in his mma matches...something that had become very instinctive for him in sanshou. With that said, Cung isn't know for his clinch and Silva's Clinch is as infamous as Cung's throws. Speaking of throws...Could that be Cung's secret weapon against Silva's Clinch? Hmmm....we'll just have to find out and see one day won't we? If I had to bet, I'd bet on Silva though...his game is all A's I don't think SIlva has met a good enough grapller/wrestler...cung definately isn't that person. I heard Cung was suppose to fight Frank Shamrock but Shamrock backed out and complained that Cung isn't ready for him yet. Sounds fishy to me.
where did you hear this? Cung Le has to fight better competition to be considered a serious threat. if the fight did happen, Shamrock would be the first notable fighter he's fought in his entire fighting carreer, let alone MMA. it seems like this guy made his career ducking the best fighters, and is undefeated against cans. he fought in K-1 USA, but never flew over to Japan, probably because he didn't want to lose to the best of the world.