UFC 112: Same Song, Different Tune

We may be just over three months into the 2010 mixed martial arts calendar, but there have already been more than a few occurrences that left the fan with a sense of  upward momentum in the sport.

I know I can’t be alone in lauding the eye-opening performances of the likes of Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez and the official swing of the new guard into the heavyweight fray.

I know I’m not alone in the aura of Jose Aldo introducing himself to pound-for-pound discussions everywhere, or the continuing uprise of the likes of Jon Jones and recently, Phil Davis.

But I also know I’m not alone in that after walking away from the nearest TV set that showcased UFC 112, I felt like I already seen this dog-and-pony show before.

The pound-for-pound discussion will forever have diverse viewpoints, but perhaps we can all join arms and unite as one in agreement that Anderson Silva may perhaps be the most maddening fighter in all of MMA.

After Silva played a glorified game of Dance Dance Revolution with Patrick Cote at UFC 90 and did as much to tank his title defense against Thales Leites as his Brazilian counterpart, and the public relations lambasting that ensured, the fan in me hoped we would be behind performances like today’s against Demian Maia.

And for two rounds, it looked like we were. It didn’t take long for any hopes of a Maia upset to be dashed and in addition to getting outstruck almost at will, any attempts to get inside and pull Silva to the mat were brushed off in a hurry.

But two decisive rounds in, complete with everything we’ve come to expect from Silva, the switch flipped off at the turn of a dime.

Let me the first to say, I don’t mind Silva’s braggadocio and antics to rile up the crowd. I don’t mind him dancing around and waving his crowd to throw off any sense of timing his opponent may be working towards, but only if it leads somewhere.

Fights like the Forrest Griffin fight are the best possible outcome for Silva’s screwball style, but when it goes nowhere against Maia, the shine wears off in a hurry.

If you’ve seen it, you know the frustration creates for a fan, because on paper, Silva appeared to have been able to swarm in for the kill whenever necessary.

This wasn’t Leites flopping to his back whenever Silva came within 10 feet of him and Maia’s striking defense and counterpunching are two of the weakest qualities of his arsenal.

So the mental gymnastics now come in trying to rationalize this all for the UFC’s middleweight kingpin.

The tangents this can take are varied and I’m to the point where I think it’s a mental dilemma with Silva, in that he’s almost a victim of too much success.

Could it be Maia showed his hand early and made it evident to Silva that he had nothing to offer him, and knowing he was in full control of things, a part of Silva just went into cruise control?

It doesn’t help that Silva is a natural counterpuncher and lacks his oft awe-inducing aggression unless it’s his opponent who persistently forces the issue, and the champion wasn’t going to get that out of Maia, whose striking game is largely unpolished.

Could it be that just like the speculation following the Cote and Leites fights, Silva is just bored with fighters whom he perceives as being so vastly inferior to him, and is really just eyeing the big fight?

Perhaps, but that’s not how business is done. For all the allure that Silva gets entrenched in, he’s one of UFC’s weaker championship draws of the last five years.

Saddle him up on a card against Forrest Griffin to co-headline a B.J. Penn title defense and the numbers look nice, but Silva’s not the kind of fighter who has shown he can carry a card on his own, and when your marketability is that shaky, you’re not in any position to pick and choose when you want to show up and fight.

So no, don’t reward Silva by giving him a fight with Georges St-Pierre. Not after the efforts the UFC has gone into marketing Silva as an unstoppable commodity and as the best in the world, for him to go along and phone in his third performance in four fights.

But lest we forget the stylistic clash, which after today, pretty much douses any chance of Silva ever being matched up with a jiu-jitsu specialist.

It’s practically entrenched in Silva’s DNA to counterpunch, so unless he’s got someone who will press him, he won’t engage.

It’s a mystery no doubt, and it takes away the luster of one of MMA’s bigger upsets in recent history with Frank Edgar ousting B.J. Penn.

Need proof? You just finished reading it.