A Spider’s Legacy
By Eddie Sanchez
The relationship between a fighter and their coach is one of the most sacred in sports. So much so that in a fight-by-fight basis they are trusted to have their fighter’s best interest in mind and wave the white flag when it’s clear that a win is out of the realm of possibility and continuing the fight will do no more than put them in danger.
We have seen this happen many times, often the fighter is heartbroken that they were forced to stop when they had the heart to continue, but almost always it is the correct decision.
What happens when a fighter continues to compete long past their expiration date, when it’s not a singular fight, but a continuation of their career?
Without the appropriate adivsors, or more likely in the case with stars, a divided power dynamic, will contribute to legends competing until they truly can’t anymore, as opposed to when they should have walked away.
This past Halloween we saw what will most likely go down as Anderson Silva’s last fight. He exited the octagon far from the special talent we were accustomed to in his elite run from 2006-2012. It’s because of this extension of his once dominant career that his legacy is forever damaged.
Fans will always have the memories of Silva’s dominating fight style, which expressed his brash confidence and represented his physical gifts. His ability and physical dominance led him towards 11 KO/TKOs, which is tied for the most in UFC history. He has the longest win streak with 16 consecutive victories, and at one point he had an aura of invisibility that was unmatched.
Unfortunately, this is no more than a distant memory. Given that he ended his career with a 1-7-1 (NC) record, which included a PED bust for drostanolone and androsterone, the more time that passes, the less we will hold onto the fond memories. This is the issue with recency bias.
At the top of his reign, he was regarded as one of two possible GOATs with GSP being the other candidate. Now at this time, it seems that Silva’s name is mentioned more out of respect than with genuine consideration.
There are many more elite fighters now than ever before. Jon Jones is quite honestly the most gifted fighter in UFC history; if it wasn’t for his lack of mental awareness and out-of-the-cage issues, he would be regarded as the GOAT with no questions asked. We also have GSP who is highly respected, avenged his two losses and has championships in multiple weight classes. We have Khabib Nurmagomedov who never put us in a position where he lost more than a round in a fight and Israel Adesanya, who has a long way to go, but has shown promises of a lasting legacy.
Given how careers are managed now, it’s unlikely that these men would find themselves in the position Anderson Silva finds himself in. It’s not that he was never competitive in his final nine fights, he had moments in each of them that offered a brief glimpse at the glory days, but it was also equally clear that he was essentially washed.
On Halloween, we saw Anderson Silva fight aggressively. He came forward, mixed his attack and looked to bring punishment. The issue was that the punishment wasn’t there. He offered activity, but no damage. He continued to fight with his open style which brings excitement and drama, but as we have grown more accustomed to seeing, his reflexes weren’t fast enough to slip punches he would have a decade ago.
It became so clear that he was less than a shell of his former self, that Uriah Hall couldn’t help but cry and apologize for finishing Silva in the fourth round.
It was quite sad to see and as a fan, I hope this doesn’t hang over Anderson Silva’s head too long because we have seen other former greats struggle to live as normal folks, without the competition, strict schedule and general lifestyle as a star.
Our hope is that he finds a way to stay connected to guide the future of MMA outside of the cage, because seeing a former great become a gate keeper is not the memory we want to live-on.
