UFC 153 Review: Anderson Silva - The Greatest Fighter of All Time Reigns Supreme

There can be no doubt that Anderson Silva is the greatest Mixed Martial Arts fighter of all time. He may very well be the greatest fighter that combat sports has ever seen. At UFC 153 Anderson Silva was simply breathtaking. The ease with which he dispatched of Stephan Bonnar was truly remarkable. Let€™s not forget that Bonnar was the larger fighter and had gone the distance with elite level fighters such as Rashad Evans and Jon Jones. In fact Bonnar had never been stopped in his entire career from either a submission or due to strikes; Anderson Silva destroyed him in the first round. What is even more impressive is that for most of the first round it appeared as if he wasn€™t even trying. Most agreed that Bonnar€™s best chance of success was to get Anderson against the cage and use his superior size to rough him up. Make the fight dirty and Bonnar would have a chance, a slim one but a chance none the less. What most people did not expect was for Silva to wilfully play Bonnar€™s game and choose to fight with his back to the cage. Such is Silva€™s superiority over his opponents that he now seems to toy with them to amuse himself before finishing the fight at a moment of his choosing. When Silva had just about enough of Bonnar he opened up and ended Bonnar€™s night with a viscous knee to the solar plexus. Bonnar, the man never before stopped, was done. Silva is an artist in the purest sense of the word. It is an absolute pleasure to watch him fight. He does things inside the octagon which shock, awe and amaze. His talent, at times, is incomprehensible. There is no one on his level, no one who can come close to testing him. No one, that is, except maybe Jon Jones. Whether that fight happens is not certain. What is certain is that Silva is coming towards the end of his illustrious record breaking career. Fight fans should enjoy him while he is here because there will never be another Anderson Silva. He truly is the best. It was also a good night for Anderson Silva€™s fellow Brazilian Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in the co-main event. Heavyweight Nogueira bounced back after his defeat to Frank Mir by defeating Dave Herman via armbar. Herman had previously said that jiu-jitsu doesn€™t work on him. This turned out to be a bad thing to say against one of the greatest jiu-jitsu fighters of all time. Turns out it does work on you Dave. Lesson learned. Elsewhere on the main Glover Teixeira defeated Fabio Maldonado by doctor stoppage at the end of the second round. This fight should never have been allowed to go on as long as it did. Credit must go to Maldonado who showed extraordinary courage to keep going but it should have been stopped earlier. Surprisingly Jon Fitch won fight of the night honours in an excellent display against welterweight rising star Eric Silva. Silva€™s time will come but he came up against a man possessed in Fitch who won a very tactical encounter. He is now well and truly back in the title mix. Also Phil Davis got back in the win column by using his superior wrestling to decision Wagner Prado and Demian Maia went back to his jiu-jitsu in defeating Rick story via submission in round one. UFC 153 promised to be a good card and it did not disappoint. For my money it was the card of the year. Let€™s hope for more of the same.
 
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Chris, 25, was born in Leeds in the North of England but grew up in Kilburn in North West London. He graduated from the University of Leeds in Philosophy and English and has recently completed an MA there in Writing for Performance and Publication. His interests include philosophy, reading, writing (sketches, tv scripts, short stories) hip hop and Stewart Lee. A life long sports fan his focuses are on Football, Boxing, Rugby League and Mixed Martial Arts. Drop him an email for any questions or potential writing collaborations on c.p.oconnor@leeds.ac.uk