I just watched another post fight interview from Dana where he claims the Griffin fight confirms Silva as the best overall fighter in the Pound4pound rankings. It was clear this was a stab at Fedor.
As I said earlier, Silva is without a doubt the best striker in any weight class in the UFC and one of the best in all of MMA. Being best striker doesn't automatically make him the best overall in all of MMA.
You want to know why Silva was afraid to engage Thales Leites on the ground to finish the fight, because he knows he's vulnerable there. All 4 of his loses took place on the ground.
As good as his stand up is, this is how good some people are on the ground.
A beautiful flying scissor heel hook resulting in a quick tapout by Silva
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePb6caZ-FjESilva get caught in a triangle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mgLIdEXqUkUnsportsmanlike conduct in his fight with Okami.
Silva tried to keep the fight up but was taken down. Gets frustrated after taking a couple of shots while on his back. Then responds with an illegal upkick which Silva gets disqualified for. I could understand him maybe not knowing the kick was illegal ( same as knees to a downed opponent in the UFC.) Up kicks are okay if the opponent is standing but are illegal, same as soccer kicks if the person is down on his knees. I can give Silva the benefit of the doubt he didn't know the kick was illegal but there is no excuse for the referee needing to repeatedly pull Silva away from a fighter he just knocked out with a foul.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxELudYYTq8Have you ever seen someone try so hard to continue a fight after the ref stops it? Even worse, after the fight Silva called the Okami a coward for winning the fight that way.
Silva gets disqualified because of the kick
Has to be repeatedly pulled off a knocked out fighter
Then has the balls to call the other guy a coward? That's fucked up.
Oh well..... Time to make some popcorn, kick back an watch Torres & Bowles fight for the WEC title.