UFC 134 Results: 5 Reasons Why Brock Lesnar Would Beat Anderson Silva

Another dominating performance for Anderson Silva is in the books, as his knockout victory over Yushin Okami at UFC 134 has once again solidified his place as the greatest pound-for-pound mixed martial artist on the planet. Simply put, the middleweight division is once again bare of competition for the Brazilian.

So what about larger weight classes?

As one of the biggest middleweights in the world, some would say that he should consider making a permanent move up to 205 pounds, a weight class that he is 2-0 in within the confines of the Octagon.

But there are even crazy people out there who have made the claim that he should skip that division entirely and move all the way up to heavyweight to start fighting guys like Brock Lesnar.

This type of crazy talk is the kind of thing that needs to be put to rest right here and now. So here are five reasons why, as talented as he is, Anderson Silva would get smashed in a fight against former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. 

5. Physical Size Difference

Silva has gone up in weight before to fight at 205 pounds; the average heavyweights are more around 240 to 250 pounds. Silva is a big middleweight, but he’s not anywhere near that big, folks.

Too often the phrase “pound-for-pound” is thrown around without really considering its meaning. In reality, it is essentially meant to mean “if all things were equal,” otherwise referring to the physical size of the two fighters.

Just because Jose Aldo is a better pound-for-pound fighter than Mark Munoz, doesn’t mean he’d be able to beat a man who outweighs him by almost a third of his body weight. Likewise, just because Anderson Silva is a better pound-for-pound fighter than Brock Lesnar, does not mean that he would beat him in a head-to-head fight.

Lesnar stands 6’3” and is rumored to have weighed in at around 290 pounds at the time he actually steps into the cage.

Even if Anderson bulks up as big as he can get without losing speed, he’s going to be at a massive physical size disadvantage.

4. Strength Difference

As we saw tonight during his fight with Yushin Okami, Anderson Silva can and will beat guys who are stronger than him—but Yushin Okami is not Brock Lesnar.

Okami might be the strongest middleweight MMA fighter in the world, but Brock Lesnar is the kind of physical beast who looks like the project of a genetics experiment. He has muscles in places where most people don’t even have places.

Silva was essentially able to negate Okami’s strength with above-average strength of his own, but he would get tossed around like a rag-doll by Lesnar if it came time for strength-versus-strength in a Silva-Lesnar bout.

3. Brock’s Chin

Before everyone goes jumping down my throat, hear me out.

I know that Lesnar was nearly stopped by punches from Shane Carwin and that he eventually was given a TKO loss to Cain Velasquez at UFC 121, but it is important to note that he was never actually unconscious in either fight—and those were punches coming from arguably the two hardest-hitting punchers in all of MMA.

Unlike many of the weak-jawed fighters who have been knocked out by Silva in the past, Lesnar appears to be one of the lucky few who has been blessed with the ability to take huge punches.

He’d likely need it, too, as Silva has some serious power for a guy his size.

2. Non-Stop Aggression

If there is one thing that seems to be frustrating people who want to see Anderson Silva lose, it seems to be the belief that his opponents are not bringing the fight to him enough.

We saw Chael Sonnen truly attack Silva in their fight as he pressured the champion from the opening bell until the final seconds of the fight. This technique proved to be very successful too, as he nearly walked out with the UFC light-heavyweight championship at UFC 117.

But like him or not, Brock Lesnar does have one thing going for him and that is that he is not the kind of fighter who will stand and wait to see what Silva is going to do. Like every fight before, Lesnar would utilize his deceptive quickness and non-stop aggression to throw off Silva’s timing while likely landing some big shots of his own.

1. Wrestling

If you didn’t see this one coming, you should be ashamed of yourself.

But as obvious as it is, the facts cannot be denied. Anderson Silva’s biggest weakness, so far, has been his wrestling defense—Brock Lesnar may just be the best wrestler in the entire heavyweight division.

Chael Sonnen has some tremendous takedown ability, but he does not have anywhere near the pure brute strength that Lesnar would be able to utilize against a fighter who could be nearly 100 pounds lighter than him come fight time. Simply put, Lesnar would put Anderson Silva on his butt at his will.

Once Silva was on his back, the fight would be as good. Lesnar would absolutely terrorize the Brazilian with his dominant top control, using his strength and weight advantage to keep Silva down. From there, a ground-and-pound victory would only be moments away.