Positives of the UFC 97 Main Event

Beyond the obvious records that were broken and the history that was made on the night of April 18, 2009 inside the Bell Centre in Montreal, another historic event occurred that was not so obvious to those watching on television.

I had the privilege of being in attendance for this event and was absolutely amazed at what I was seeing in the arena beginning in the fourth round of the main event between Anderson Silva and Thales Leites: hundreds of people leaving their seats and heading for the exits—in the middle of the main event!

As fans do at a hockey game when the score is 7-0 in the third period, the seats began emptying like the building was being evacuated.

I'm almost positive that this is something that has never happened to the UFC before. So disappointing was this fight that many in attendance decided they'd be better off getting an early front row seat in one of Montreal's many strip clubs than be witness to two guys staring lovingly into each other's eyes for another 10 minutes.

The fight was disappointing, yes—but instead of completely tearing this thing apart, I would like to take a look at some of the positives that came out of this fight. As few as they may be, there were some good things that we can take from it.

First, a positive for Thales Leites—he was able to find a hole in Anderson Silva's defense, as he landed a beautifully placed head kick that Silva didn't see coming.

Now I'm sure this was due to Silva's lack of respect for Thales' standup game. Had he been fighting an opponent with a more lethal standup game, I'm sure he would have been more conscious to defend.

That aside, Leites was still able to hit him with a good shot, and had it been a kick from someone who pumps real power into their kicks, it could have been a fight-ending blow.

So from here, some fighters may take from this and say, "Hey, as long as he doesn't respect my striking, he may leave openings."

For Anderson Silva, he once again proved just how good he really is. He was able to goof around and be very creative with his striking—punching the legs, some weird backwards cross kick, and very brutal side kicks to the lead leg of Thales Leites. 

Silva proved that he is so good he can play around with his opponents and still win the fight and win it without taking any damage. That is how good this guy is.

Also for Anderson Silva, he was able to nullify any ground attack from Thales Leites while on his back. Leites is one of the best submission fighters in the game and couldn't mount any offense while in the top position. 

Silva showed just how good his ground game is. He was never in any danger while on the ground, which was supposed to be Leites' advantage. Not only did he defend well from the bottom, but he made it look easy and got back to his feet.

Silva has great takedown defense, but Thales can take from this knowing that he was able to get him down in round two which is something that good takedown fighters (*cough* GSP *cough) can also take from this fight. 

Dan Henderson and Travis Lutter are also fighters who were able to get Silva down. Thales can also now lay claim to being one of only two fighters in the UFC to win a round over Anderson Silva; Dan Henderson being the other, taking round one of his fight with Silva.

Another positive thing to take from this fight was the record that was set by Anderson Silva for most consecutive wins inside the Octagon, surpassing Jon Fitch and UFC legend Royce Gracie. He also tied the record for most consecutive UFC title defenses at five alongside Matt Hughes and Tito Ortiz.

The most significant positive to take away from this fight is the future matchups for Anderson Silva. At the UFC 97 post-fight press conference, Dana White had said that a matchup with an elite 205-pounder might be in store—someone who will be a threat to Anderson Silva.

This excites me the most about the aftermath of this fight. 

I believe that because Silva seems bored and chooses to toy with his opponents, he is now going to get what he wants and be matched up with someone in the top 10 or top five of the light heavyweight division. I'm all for megafights, and I'm sure that Anderson Silva's next fight will be a megafight. 

So there is some good that came out of this gong show of a fight. Maybe we'll see the Anderson Silva of old re-emerge at, say, UFC 102 or 103?

A new reign of terror may be on the light heavyweight horizon.