Anderson Silva?s performance at UFC 112 is puzzling to say the least. At first, he danced around the ring and delivered blows with surgical precision. As he had done in the past, Silva was able to strike at will and it looked as though the fight would end in the first round.
Then, something strange happened. It almost appeared to me that Silva became frustrated with Demian Maia. He started to wave his arms aggressively calling for Maia to attack him. Silva would also put his hands down and stand still begging for Maia to make his move. It had the appearance of wanting to put on a show, but came off as disrespectful.
To this point, I wouldn?t say Maia was overly aggressive, but he defiantly wasn?t avoiding the fight.
Then, about half way through the third round it happened. Anderson Silva just stopped fighting. Silva continued to dance around the ring, but instead of serving up accurate strikes he just stopped fighting.
In the middle of the fourth round, it was clear that everybody from Dana White to the casual fan was upset at Silva?s antics. To me, the biggest disappointment was that the referee didn?t deduct a point for timidity. The rules clearly state that a foul is committed when one fighter clearly avoids contact with an opponent. The ref did warn Silva late in the fifth round, but by then a warning was nothing more than a slap on the wrist.
My theory on why Silva didn?t engage is that he was scared. I believe Silva is a fighter that does his homework on an opponent and looks for specific openings and reactions to attack his opponent. When Maia became desperate to win the fight, he changed his approach and landed a few big punches. This change in style confused Silva and clearly changed the way he was fighting.
I think Maia did very well in this fight, even though he was defeated. He came out in the fourth round with one eye swollen shut and continued to try and find ways to win the fight. I still haven?t heard the judges? scores, but I am willing to guess he won the last two rounds.
I don?t want my money back; I just want an explanation from Anderson Silva. Oh, and ?I don?t know what got into me? doesn?t cut it.
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