Do Chuck Liddell's Losses Hurt Anderson Silva

For a long time Chuck Liddell was thought of as a bad ass among the ranks of UFC fighters.  Some fans still think Chuck is just hitting a slump, and will return for "his title".  While some believe that Chuck is just too old, and can't compete anymore.

My opinion is that Chuck's style is just becoming obsolete.  Chuck is a counter striker...I'm not saying counter striking is on it's way out, but Chuck's particular style is.  Chuck would force his opponents to come at him, and level them with a huge looping over the top right.

The effective couter striking being used today is a more methodical precise striking style, that used more than a one punch with no setup.  Silva and Machida are both effective counter strikers.  The problem with Machida, is he isn't as powerful of a striker, and is seen as boring because of it.

Anderson Silva had a recent problem of sorts with Patrick Cote.  Silva couldn't get Cote in to open up on him, and his single strikes weren't enough to put away Cote.  So Silva was doing what most counter strikers do...he showboated a bit.  He even offered Cote a hand getting up off the mat.  I think maybe it was a trap and so did Cote.

Do fighters really dance, and put their hands down because they think they have this guy so overmatched that it doesn't matter if they get hit by them...I personally don't think so.

The whole concept of showboating is luring your opponent into fighting off pure emotion, and making a mistake.  Now with Silva's less than stellar performance everyone is looking at him a bit differently...almost as if Silva had no chance at finishing off Cote.

Being a great fighter has nothing to do with how fast you finish your opponents.  It's all about getting the win. 

Let's look at why Chuck's downfall may have an impact on Silva. 

Chuck is a counter striker with an amazing right hand.  That coupled with great take down defense made Chuck nearly unstoppable.  Chuck was exposed by the fact that if you don't bull charge this guy and try to knock him out...he will give you an opportunity to do so.

So with Chuck's style is practically out there in front of everyone broken down in a "Beating Liddell For Dummies" book they think that when another counter striker has a problem it may just be the end of their dominance.

Silva on the other hand is a much more complete fighter than Liddell.  Silva has excellent stand up, as well as one of the strongest clinches in the game.  Being a BJJ black belt also means Silva can handle himself on the ground.

The only reason I made this connection is seeing the articles on other sites that are seriously bashing Silva's last performance.  I will admit that I thought the fight was boring.  I as well as everyone else I'm sure was expecting to see some leather being thrown, but that doesn't mean that these two should have went out there and just started throwing making stupid mistakes.

All in all Anderson Silva is no Chuck Liddell, and if you take away his counter striking he will find a way to beat you.  And he has more of an arsenal than to go in with looping punches leaving himself open in the process.

I think if Chuck Liddell were still on top of his division and not exposed then this fight wouldn't have brought so much negativity down on the last Silva fight.  It's not the first time that MMA thought it had a war, but it turned out to be way more technical.