Issue 049
May 2009
Our resident experts preview three upcoming fights in their own different ways.
First, Andrew Garvey takes a look at the bigger picture. What are the career implications for the combatants? Where are they coming from, and what will victory or defeat hold for them? Next, Fighters Only’s technique expert, Pete Irving, breaks down the strategic and tactical considerations.
Anderson Silva (23-4-0) vs Thales Leites (14-1-0)
UFC 97, 18 April 2009, Montreal, Canada
BREAKDOWN BY THE NUMBERS
9
Number of consecutive wins that Silva currently boasts
9
Leites’s career wins by way of submission
13
Number of fights Anderson Silva has finished inside the first round
53:55
Time [minutes : seconds] that Leites has spent fighting in the Octagon
70
Percentage of accurate strikes thrown by Anderson Silva
Andrew Garvey
Montreal is some 800 miles from Chicago, but even if it were just around the corner, it is doubtful any of the fans unfortunate enough to have.paid hundreds of dollars to see Silva’s last UFC middleweight title defence would be making the journey.
His misguided efforts to ‘entertain’ the audience and ‘give them a show’ by prancing around and doing absolutely nothing against massive underdog Patrick Cote failed miserably. To make Silva’s appalling performance even worse, the fight ended when Cote’s already-injured knee gave way early in the third round.
Perhaps Silva’s obsession with fighting an over-the-hill boxing legend meant he’d been watching too many Roy Jones tapes, and he grossly misjudged what MMA fans consider entertainment, particularly from a fighter so sublimely destructive. UFC fans might pay to see the man who cut down Chris Leben in 49 seconds, the man who re-positioned Rich Franklin’s nose and then beat him up again a year later, the absolute best, the most dominant striker in MMA history. They certainly won’t pay to see a replay of the atrocious Cote fight. Hopefully the negative reaction to the fiasco from last October will focus Silva on the task at hand, namely making a successful and, most importantly, spectacular fifth defence of his belt.
For those watching on television, see how many times UFC commentator Joe Rogan describes challenger Leites’s grappling skills as “sick” and “top of the food chain”. Leites is undoubtedly a superb grappler, and holds submission wins over faded stars Jose ‘Pele’ Landi-Jons and Gustavo Machado, but, no matter how excited the endearingly enthusiastic Rogan gets, this is a very weak main event and title fight. The almost anonymous Leites most recently choked out the limited (though dangerous) Drew McFedries in 78 seconds. That was a solid performance, but his previous fight was a very different story.
Leites beat Nate Marquardt by split decision, but Marquardt, himself dispatched inside a round by Silva, should have comfortably won the fight. Leites took the first round but Marquardt controlled the rest of the fight and would certainly have won if not for a pair of point deductions, for an illegal knee and punching the back of the head. In the closing seconds, a cut, bruised, exhausted Leites had little left while Marquardt had enough energy left to pick him up and slam him on his head. Not a good sign for Leites.
Even more worryingly, Leites lost to blown-up welterweight Martin Kampmann. How will he cope with a boiled-down light heavyweight in the ‘Spider’? Silva, who turns 34 just four days before the fight, is a justifiably overwhelming favourite in this one. Like Leites, he’s the proud owner of a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. He also happens to be an infinitely better striker, with far more MMA experience and something to prove. This could be a very painful night for Leites, and for Rogan.
Pete Irving
Silva’s movement is unique, a master of ring craft, a virtuoso Muay Thai striker. His long, lean physique gives him an inimitable style and a control of range that seems to baffle even world-class fighters. Silva is so accurate with his fists, kicks, knees and elbows that he barely wastes a single shot, dishing out punishment while absorbing the bare minimum. His leverage, balance and technique in the clinch stifles the raw power that other, more explosively strong fighters generate when wrestling him. No one as yet seems to have come close to countering his Muay Thai clinch.
78.26%
Percentage of fights Anderson Silva has finished inside the distance
Although he delivers his knee and elbow strikes with basic, textbook Muay Thai style from a standard plum clinch, there is some mystery to his skill that the spectator cannot see, but his opposition must feel, as world champions are made to look hapless by these simplest of techniques. His jiu-jitsu is now so well developed that he is capable of submitting anyone in the 185 division. On the mat, as on the feet, Silva has a style that is well adapted to his unique physical type - capable of dishing out punishment without receiving it back. Although he can be taken down, like any tall, slim fighter he will normally land in the guard position and works defence and offence simultaneously, setting up his attacks without leaving a chance to pass or strike. His mental calm, training ethic and efficient technique make it a real rarity to see Silva start to blow.
A rudimentary striker, Leites throws one shot at a time and always looks a little phased upon receiving a good shot. His wrestling is competent but, typical of a Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter, tends to fail to power through his lifts, lacking the real explosive strength and subtle timing that wrestlers develop. Often his first and second efforts don’t quite work and he finishes with a trip or ankle pick, and struggles to cover the scramble. While he can get them down, his style is not energy efficient and makes a hard labour for him over three rounds.
Leites’s one hope lies in matching jiu-jitsu against Silva. Leites’s positional game is strong and he possesses the physical strength to control Silva on the mat, providing he doesn’t get trapped in the guard.
Miguel Torres (35-1-0) vs Brian Bowles (7-0-0)
WEC 40, 5 April 2009, Chicago, Illinois
BREAKDOWN BY THE NUMBERS
4
Number of wins Bowles holds in the WEC
30
Number of fights Torres had in his native Indiana
416
Days Torres will have spent as champion going into the fight
2: 11
Two years and eleven months: length of time Bowles has been fighting professionally
Andrew Garvey
The WEC’s debut in the Midwest has a very fitting main event. Almost-local boy Torres is from neighbouring Indiana, and just happens to be one of the most entertaining fighters in the world. He also has an official record of 35-1, and is riding a five-year winning streak. Relentlessly aggressive, he makes Clay Guida seem restrained. Torres attacks without fear but with a tremendous amount of skill. He has a dazzling array of submissions, a great jab, nasty kicks, and more killer instinct than a small army.
Relatively unknown until he tore through the WEC bantamweight division in 2008, Torres choked out Chase Beebe for the belt and has since defended it twice. He battered Japanese star Yoshiro Maeda’s eye shut in a ferocious battle before slaughtering unbeaten puncher Manny Tapia. Challenger Bowles is widely regarded one of the best bantamweights in the sport, but just how big is the gap between Torres and the rest of his weight class? In a word, huge. Bowles is unbeaten at 7-0 and has finished all his fights inside the distance. With powerful takedowns, good punches on the ground, and his last two wins by guillotine choke, Bowles is a dangerous challenger, but is he (or anyone at this weight) anything like as dangerous as Torres?
Pete Irving
Torres exploits his long range with an accurate jab and a fast left kick. Although his gangly frame makes his style a little ugly, it’s not as sloppy as it appears, as many of his opponents find out as their openings disappear and they find themselves on the receiving end of some solid shots. He generates more power than his appearance might suggest and is not averse to throwing in some wild and unorthodox strikes in the midst of his conventional jab, left kick set-ups, keeping himself unpredictable.
100%
Percentage of fights Brian Bowles has finished inside the distance
Torres’s ground game has few flaws, as his record tells with extensive submission and TKO victories. His repertoire of submissions is as varied as his striking and he can work well from any position, but often finds himself on his back, sometimes throwing himself there recklessly. He works comfortably from his guard or pops back to his feet effortlessly.
Bowles’s record, although far less extensive than the ultra-experienced Torres, tells a story not too dissimilar. He’s dominated all seven of his professional matches, racking up submission and KO wins, and has never been taken to the judges cards. Rough around the edges, he’s not as polished as Torres but will certainly take the fight to him.
David Loiseau (18-8-0) vs Ed Herman (14-7-0)
UFC 97, April 18th 2009, Montreal, Canada
BREAKDOWN BY THE NUMBERS
4
Herman’s last six losses that have come by choke
2: 7
Two years and seven months: time lapsed since Loiseau last fought inside the UFC Octagon
2
Number of fights Herman has lost in a row
92
Percentage of fights Herman has finished inside the distance. He has only gone to a decision once
Andrew Garvey
Unsurprisingly, the UFC have tried shoving as many Canadians (and particularly, Quebeckers) onto this show as humanly possible. Montreal’s MMA fans are a truly passionate bunch and without local demi-God GSP to cheer for, they will embrace his long-time training partner Loiseau as their interim hero. No stranger to this audience, Loiseau started his career in Montreal before moving on to the UFC, where he was a regularly featured middleweight from 2003 to 2006. ‘The Crow’ even challenged Rich Franklin for the UFC middleweight title, but took a prolonged, five-round beating. Bouncing around the Canadian scene for a while, he seems to have recaptured some of his old, dynamic form after some poor, dispirited showings.
78.88%
Percentage of Loiseau’s 18 wins he has finished inside the distance
TUF 3 finalist Ed Herman should have plenty of motivation in this one. Coming off a pair of defeats (choked out by Demian Maia and outworked on his feet by Alan Belcher) another defeat here could easily be the end of his UFC career. A solid fighter with good wrestling, Herman has been inconsistent in his seven UFC fights, going 3-4 and never quite showing the talent of which many feel he is capable. If he’s on top form, Loiseau may just be a little too fast, fluid and creative on his feet for the more plodding, ‘grind-it-out’ Herman, for what should be a thunderously popular victory.
Pete Irving
‘The Crow’ possesses dangerous knockout ability, solid punches, and a varied array of kicks and knees from both in and outside the clinch, but it is the notorious elbows that he employs, both standing and on the ground, that have gained him a reputation as a fearsome striker. His ground game, while competent, has never quite set the MMA world on fire, but Loiseau has got proven submission skills and is capable of delivering vicious ground ‘n pound. Loiseau has never really been defeated on grounds of technical deficiency or poor conditioning. Instead, he has at times in his career found himself unable to ‘pull the trigger’, and thereby let fights slip away from him.
Herman’s wrestling and submission skills are his forte, yet as much as submissions have brought him the lion’s share of his victories, they have also been his undoing. Triangle chokes and armbars are responsible for five of his seven defeats. Against Loiseau this probably won’t be his biggest worry, but the fact remains that when he mixes it on the ground things can, and do, go either way for Herman.
