Anderson Silva vs. America: Why We (Still) Don't Stand a Chance

Dana White and Chael Sonnen have done all they can to challenge Anderson Silva before the Spider has even set foot in an Octagon for his suddenly anticipated main event title bout at UFC 117.

Coming off of a boring, if not bizarre, performance against Demian Maia (surprise, surprise ) at UFC 112, Anderson Silva has not only been threatened by UFC President Dana White should he perform similarly against Chael Sonnen, but Dana White has booked Anderson against a fighter who is guaranteed to push the action!

Haven't we seen this movie before? 

Why yes.  Yes, we have.  It has more sequels than your typical pornography franchise. 

Hell, I wrote a rather prescient article almost one year to this day about the last installment of this "movie."  The ending saw Anderson Silva devour Forrest Griffin in the blink of a black eye. 

Funny story about that fight, Griffin was matched against Silva as somewhat of a punishment/challenge from Dana White because Silva's previous two fights against matchup nightmares (from a fight quality standpoint) Patrick Côté and Thales Leites left much to be desired.

Sound familiar? 

It should, as Dana White's answer to Anderson Silva's above mentioned Silva Snoozefest against Demian Maia is to, wait for it, sic another American fighter on Anderson Silva. 

I'm sure Anderson's frightened for this one.  Oh the horror.

Perhaps Dana White subscribes to the at times viable school of thought that history means nothing. 

If this is the case, and Dana White secretly wants Anderson Silva to finally get his comeuppance (let's just assume this for the sake of discussion), Dana seems to be overlooking an obvious trend that even the unmercifully thorough Joe Rogan wouldn't dare touch upon.

Anderson Silva owns American fighters. 

Sure, this argument appears to be easily dismissible by submitting the counterpoint that Anderson Silva owns everybody.  Dude hasn't lost in four years, so why pick on the American fighters? 

But reading in between the lines and putting forth enough analysis will tell an entirely different story that many proud Americans would rather not hear. 

You don't have to listen to me, but doing a bit of homework will reveal an objective, yet harsh, truth (if you're subscribing to the Dana White theory that Anderson must die at UFC 117) about Anderson Silva when he steps into a cage with an American fighter. 

At one point in Anderson Silva's career, Silva faced seven consecutive American fighters.  All seven fights were stopped in the first or second round. 

When Team America was finally cut some slack, and Anderson Silva faced the above mentioned Patrick Côté (Canada) and Thales Leites (Brazil), neither fight, although both were boring and nearly unwatchable, was stopped by Anderson Silva himself (one went the distance, one was stopped due to injury) as Silva refused to commit to any semblance of a ground game against the Jiu-Jitsu practitioners.

The styles and technique utilized by these two uninspired opponents were the antithesis of your typical American fighter. 

Leites or Côté didn't exactly pose any sort of threat to Anderson Silva; however, it's worth noting that neither fighter was stopped or picked apart in the same spectacular fashion that has kept Anderson Silva's at times erratic stock above water.

After a terrible stint of back-to-back fights against Côté and Leites, it was back to business as usual for Silva when he was gifted the more aggressive American in Forrest Griffin (who does practice Jiu-Jitsu, however his style places more emphasis in striking and kickboxing).  

The result?  Silva.  Before you even took your seat. 

As somebody who follows the NFL closely, and even provides NFL betting advice during the season (the SpreadSHREDDER was over 52 percent last year!), it is often easy to poke holes in the flawed logic betting trends (they're usually designed to disguise sucker bets).

Trends are very flaky when it comes to the NFL due to the high turnover of rosters, facilitated by the salary cap and the (recently) historical parity that has become almost synonymous with the league. 

However in MMA, trends carry more legitimacy because not only do styles make fights, they often decide them. 

There's a reason why Tito Ortiz owned Ken Shamrock, or why Chuck Liddell had Tito Ortiz' number, or why Mauricio "Shogun" Rua has Lyoto Machida's number.

Likewise, there's an explainable reason as to why Anderson Silva has America's number (which apparently will be 9-1-1 for the mouthy Chael Sonnen). 

Because styles make fights. 

Americans traditionally bring a more aggressive, action-packed style to the table.  This is a style that the excellent counter striker and superior defensive fighter Anderson Silva lives to destroy. 

One mistake, one misstep, which is highly likely when one adopts a balls to the wall style to "take the fight" to Anderson Silva, and it's all over.

Again, you don't have to believe me.  Just ask Chris Leben, or Rich Franklin, or Travis Lutter, or Nate Marquardt, or Rich Franklin, or Dan Henderson, or James Irvin, or Forrest Griffin.

Chael Sonnen has done an excellent job talking up his chances in this fight.  And Dana White has done a similarly admirable job adding intrigue to this fight by creating a somewhat hyperbolic "win and you're fired" dynamic to the outcome of this fight should Silva under perform. 

But let's get real. 

Anderson Silva is UFC's version of Vietnam.  America has no business coming near him, and not even the best Chael Sonnen promo can change the fact that history (and some logic) may have already determined the outcome of Saturday's Middleweight title bout.

Big Nasty is the editor of The Big Nasty Athletic Dept. Log on to twitter at twitter.com/bignasty247 and follow him until he presses charges!