Not everyone is down on Anderson Silva after the way he clowned around with Demian Maia at UFC 112 on Saturday.
Greg Jackson, regarded by many as the best coach in mixed martial arts, said in comments that aired on The Fight Show with Mauro Ranallo that he thought it was fun to watch Silva's mimicry in the cage in the early part of his fight with Maia. Jackson added that he thought Silva got a little tired from all the dancing he was doing and had to cruise through the second half of the fight, but Jackson didn't have a problem with that, either.
"I actually really enjoyed the first part of the fight, with Anderson changing up his style, like he would do Machida, then he would kind of do the Diaz brothers' thing, then Muhammad Ali," Jackson said. "I was actually very entertained with all the different styles that he was emulating as he was going after him. And then for the last half of the fight, I think he got so far ahead he played it smart, or he got tired. One way or the other, to me, it's not a disgrace at all. It was a fight and sometimes you look great and sometimes you have one with a little more grinding. But playing it smart or getting tired and not engaging because you're a little tired isn't a disgrace to me."
It's no surprise that Jackson would say that, because Jackson was one of the few people defending Silva after his lackluster bout against Thales Leites at UFC 97. Of the Silva-Leites fight, Jackson said, "I loved that fight; I thought it was so creative and interesting what he was doing. I really like Anderson."
I really like Anderson, too. But I liked him more against Forrest Griffin and James Irvin than I did against Thales Leites and Demian Maia.
Greg Jackson, regarded by many as the best coach in mixed martial arts, said in comments that aired on The Fight Show with Mauro Ranallo that he thought it was fun to watch Silva's mimicry in the cage in the early part of his fight with Maia. Jackson added that he thought Silva got a little tired from all the dancing he was doing and had to cruise through the second half of the fight, but Jackson didn't have a problem with that, either.
"I actually really enjoyed the first part of the fight, with Anderson changing up his style, like he would do Machida, then he would kind of do the Diaz brothers' thing, then Muhammad Ali," Jackson said. "I was actually very entertained with all the different styles that he was emulating as he was going after him. And then for the last half of the fight, I think he got so far ahead he played it smart, or he got tired. One way or the other, to me, it's not a disgrace at all. It was a fight and sometimes you look great and sometimes you have one with a little more grinding. But playing it smart or getting tired and not engaging because you're a little tired isn't a disgrace to me."
It's no surprise that Jackson would say that, because Jackson was one of the few people defending Silva after his lackluster bout against Thales Leites at UFC 97. Of the Silva-Leites fight, Jackson said, "I loved that fight; I thought it was so creative and interesting what he was doing. I really like Anderson."
I really like Anderson, too. But I liked him more against Forrest Griffin and James Irvin than I did against Thales Leites and Demian Maia.