Anderson Silva-Thales Leites: A Battle of Strategy

After watching UFC 97, I was left with a feeling of disappointment. Not because of the Silva fight, rather because Chuck Liddell was unable to beat Mauricio Rua.

I really was upset with Liddell's loss, and the postfight press conference gave the vibe that Liddell was going to retire from Mixed Martial Arts, which actually left me saddened.

Today I am upset for another reason.

The Anderson Silva-Thales Leites fight proved to be not as exciting as everyone hoped.

However, unlike everyone else, the lack of excitement does not disappoint me. At least not as much as all the people who have decided to best spend their time talking about how awful a fight it was. I would have preferred a more exciting fight, but too many of us are missing the point.

Both of these fighters clearly came into this fight with a game plan. Silva wanted it stand up, Leites wanted it on the ground.

So what went wrong here?

This was basically two very skilled fighters in their own rights trying to control the match through their greatest strengths. In the end, neither fighter really got their way.

While this fight may not have been exciting, strategically, both fighters attempted to make the fight work to their advantage.

Leites tried to get it down to the mat the entire fight, whether it was by attempted take down (which did not work), or by baiting Silva (which also did not work).

Silva was content to stand on his feet and throw punches and jabs. He wanted to do what he did best.

But I guess defending your belt with millions of people watching is not enough. Unless of course, it ends with a knockout.

In the post fight interview, some member of the media had, what I thought to be, the audacity to call out Anderson Silva. I was very happy to see Chuck Liddell defend his fellow fighter by explaining how it is hard to get an exciting fight going when your opponent is falling to his back every time he gets close to you.

I am disappointed that so many others are taking the same stand as the member of the media who basically questioned Silva's intent and fighting integrity.

Seriously, what does everyone want? Do you need bruised faces? Do you need blood all over the mat?

Does anyone care about strategy and intelligence in this sport?

I am pretty certain very few people are able to appreciate strategy in this age of MMA.

People are questioning why Silva did not attack. Well, that answer is quite simple. He did not have to.

Why would Anderson Silva take unnecessary risks to end a fight he was going to win by decision anyway? We all are aware that just one punch can end a fight. Silva avoided that and he still has his belt.

When it comes to Leites' strategy, everyone had to know that he needed the fight on the ground to win. He did not want to stand with Silva, was forced to, and lost the fight because he could not bring it to the mat.

I was even more shocked when I had a discussion with an acquaintance who had seen maybe three MMA fights in his life ask me why everyone was so upset with this fight.

Even he, who has no interest in the sport, was able to see deeper than the blood and bruises and realize strategy is what gets you wins.

So maybe this sport has their conservative fighters. The plain fact of the matter is that they win.

People say Gray Maynard is boring. He has never lost.

People say Lyoto Machida is boring. He has never lost.

Now, people say that Anderson Silva is boring. Anderson Silva? Boring?

What I get from all this is that the boring fighters are the ones who win. The fighters who are smart and do not take unnecessary risks win.

UFC 97 may have not lived up to the hype surrounding it. I know the Silva-Leites fight definitely did not in most peoples minds.

The fact of the matter is Silva still has his belt. Is that not what he came to Montreal to do?

This fight (and the criticism it has received) has shown me something. I realize that there is a fine line between a boring fight and a strategic one. It is unfortunate that too many people fail to recognize the latter.