5 MMA Fighters Who Have the Tools to Beat Anderson 'The Spider' Silva Today

UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva is the greatest mixed martial artist on planet Earth today, and quite possibly of all-time. Of this I have no doubt. And I’m honestly not convinced there’s anyone in the world today who could beat him.

So why, then, am I writing an article about guys who have the tools to dethrone The Spider?

Well, for one, no one is unbeatable. Anyone who follows MMA (or sports in general) knows that anything can happen. Two, while I wouldn’t put money on anyone defeating Silva, there are some guys who because of their physical talents or fighting styles do measure up favorably against The Spider.

Here are those five guys. A couple ground rules: I only considered middleweights, light heavyweights and welterweights who could move up to middleweight (guess who that is!), because those are the three categories of fighter who could actually meet Silva in a cage. In addition, given the fluid world of MMA promotions and the drawing power of the UFC, I considered guys from across the sport, not just those currently working in the Octagon.

Honorable Mentions

Ronaldo Souza (Outstanding takedowns and submissions, but would be vulnerable in the standup)

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (Only good Shogun, though, not flaccid Shogun)

Chael Sonnen (Fact is, he came closer than anyone else has in quite a while)

5. Gegard Mousasi

Currently a light heavyweight in the Strikeforce promotion, the 26-year-old Mousasi has only lost once in his past 20 fights. And take a pause before you play the “weak competition” card; he’s bested the likes of Hector Lombard, Denis Kang, Ronaldo Souza and Renato Sobral, among others.

You want well-rounded? Mousasi is it. In 36 professional fights, he has scored 18 wins by striking-related stoppage and nine wins by submission. Outside the cage, he is the Netherlands’ former national amateur boxing champion, an accomplished kickboxer, and a judo black belt.

His boxing is strong enough, in fact, he is training for the 2012 Dutch boxing team. It’s a long shot, sure, but just being in the conversation says a lot. Speaking of training, the fact that Mousasi regularly works with some guy named Fedor Emelinanko can’t hurt.

Size-wise, Mousasi compares pretty favorable with Silva; he would certainly have a mass advantage. In a striking war, it’s hard (if not foolhardy) to actively pick against Silva, but Mousasi does everything right and has good speed, power and defense, not to mention an impeccably hard head.

Mousasi’s potential undoing against The Spider would not be skill or technique, but aggression and sheer willpower. Mousasi often seems content to fight the other fighter’s fight. Maybe that reflects the confidence he has in his skills, maybe it belies a substandard work ethic or commitment to MMA or maybe it’s a combination of the two.

Is he a world beater? No. Does he have the tools? Yes.

4. Jon Jones

Before getting into anything else, let’s for the record take a quick look at the tale of the tape.

Jones: light heavyweight, 6’4” tall, 84” reach
Silva: middleweight, 6’2” tall, 78” reach

Conclusion: Jones has a distinct physical advantage over Silva, and that’s all there is to it.

OK, now on to the speculative part. I know you can’t wait.

There seems to be a bit of a Jon Jones backlash brewing out there. I don’t really know or care why that is, though it is certainly reasonable for people to request a title defense or two before crowning him The Greatest of All-Time.

Still, of late it seems that Silva can do no wrong, whereas Jones can do no right.  For example, both men like to throw unorthodox strikes. Silva is unquestionably the more skilled striker of the two, but that doesn’t explain why fans swoon when Silva scores an unorthodox T/KO but roll their eyes whenever Jones does the same.

Like I said, I’m not interested in playing armchair psychiatrist here, but it is worth pointing out, because you’ve got to give Jones his due. He is well-rounded. He is fast. He is strong. He can wrestle. His reach allows him to attack while staying relatively clear of the red zone. He is creative and unorthodox to a devastating (if not always fundamentally sound) effect. He has a decided physical advantage over Silva. If those don’t constitute “the tools” to beat Anderson Silva, then I don’t know what does.

So after all this, why is he only No. 4?  Well, though he does have the physical tools, Jones has yet to be truly challenged in the cage, to be dragged down into the murky waters. I think it’s pretty safe to expect Spider Silva to do that. No one knows how Jones would react in that situation, but given that he is borderline reckless at the best of times, I imagine a stiff challenge would lead to sloppiness. Just a guess.

Plus, Jones is only 24. A few more years and a few more wins, and maybe he bumps up the ladder.  For now, though, his mind-bending physical tool kit alone is enough to land him here.

3. Hector Lombard

The Bellator and CFC middleweight champ is a knockout artist of the highest order. On his current 18-fight winning streak, 14 have come by way of knockout or other striking-related stoppage. This man cannot be stopped.

Now, I realize he has not consistently faced UFC-caliber competition, much less someone like Silva. But a knockout is a knockout, and an 18-fight win streak is an 18-fight win streak. The guy beats people like they owe him money. 

Silva has a definite height and reach advantage, but Lombard’s compact body (5’9” to Silva’s 6’2”) and low center of gravity can make him tough to hit or take down. Something in that arena is working for him, anyway, as he has never been stopped in his 33-fight career.

It is also worth noting Lombard’s world-champion judo pedigree, which would give him the chops to at least hang with Anderson on the ground.

But let’s be frank here. Lombard is a threat to Silva because of those two boulders on the ends of his arms. If anyone has the proverbial puncher’s chance against The Spider, it’s Hector Lombard.

2. Vitor Belfort

It’s a well-worn rut running through the MMA landscape. Vitor Belfort gets a head of steam, then loses it suddenly. Then he gets his mojo back, and look out. Then he loses it again. It’s like the tides, really.

So maybe I’m just a slow learner, but why do I see Belfort having a chance against Silva should the UFC ever schedule a rematch?

Belfort’s supernaturally fast and powerful hands are well known to MMA fans. While Lombard has a puncher’s chance, I think Belfort may be the only fighter with any hope whatsoever of holding his own in a sustained exchange with The Spider. 

In their first meeting, during which Silva employed The Seagal Kick to end the fight in a quick and definitive fashion, Belfort was reentering the cage after a 17-month layoff.  He got caught on a spectacular move.

Take nothing away from Silva’s performance. At the same time, though, the move should not mean that the book on Silva-Belfort is ready to close forever.

Before the backdrop of his uneven career, all Belfort’s recent talk about the flukey nature of The Front Kick and so on makes him sound a little like the serially unfaithful partner, always looking for one more chance just to squander it upon receipt. 

Nevertheless, if it was up to me, I’d give Belfort this rematch. 

But this is the last time…I swear. 

1. Georges St-Pierre

I know…shocker.

This superfight may never happen, but there’s a reason it’s so highly desired among fans and such a cliché in analyses like this.

St-Pierre, if he so chose, could put on 15 pounds of muscle and move up to middleweight.  That move would make him large and very strong. It would make his drinking-from-a-fire-hydrant takedowns all the more difficult to resist.

Once horizontal, GSP has the smarts to stay out of submissions and the physical tools to pass Silva’s guard as necessary en route to controlling The Spider on the mat and pounding on him for 25 minutes. 

If I was a wagering man, I personally wouldn’t put anything on St-Pierre in this fight. Silva is too dynamic, too resourceful.

Then again, I’m not sure I’d put anything down on Silva, either.

After all, there’s a reason that none of this information constitutes a new revelation.