March - 2016
SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
20
If UFC fights were scored solely on accumu-
lated damage, there would be overwhelm-
ing evidence – in the form of Bisping’s bat-
tered face – that Silva deserved the nod
at Fight Night 84. You could also make a
convincing argument that the fight should
have been stopped after round three. Silva
dropped Bisping with a vicious flying knee
as the round came to a close and misinter-
preted Herb Dean’s customary stepping in
at the end of the round as a stoppage win.
Few, outside of maybe Bisping and his cor-
ner, would have debated a TKO stoppage at
that point, but it didn’t happen, and Silva
ultimately lost a close decision to the Brit.
Silva was clearly displeased with the decision,
going as far as to blame the loss on MMA’s
“totally corrupted” system. However, in the
context of the overall fight, Silva’s loss has
less to do with corruption than with a per-
formance plagued by his own complacency:
he allowed Bisping to have too much control
of the pace of the fight and the cage itself;
he repeatedly stood with his back against
the fence, hands down, happy to duck and
weave while Bisping scored shots; and de-
spite the fact that Bisping entered round four
looking slow and sluggish – clearly still feel-
ing the effects of Silva’s knee – the Brazilian
was largely inactive for the first half of the
round, which gave “The Count” ample time
to recover and ultimately steal the fourth –
and the fight – on the judges scorecards.
Silva occupies a strange space in the UFC’s
middleweight division. After going 16-0
from 2006-2013, the majority of which
were title fights, “The Spider” is now win-
less in his past four fights – officially, he’s
0-3 with one no-contest; his win over Nick
Diaz was overturned due to a failed drug
test. Despite this, his legendary status in the
sport means that Silva is always only one or
two wins away from a title shot, but his last
couple of fights have left many wondering if
the 40 year old has the drive to make anoth-
er legitimate run at the title. If Silva wants to
convince the naysayers that he still has what
it takes to be a UFC champion, he’ll have
to take the fight to his next opponent for
all five rounds, or until he gets a definitive
finish.
Silva may want to consider the rematch
route as a way to both stay active and regain
some of his previous middleweight glory.
One rematch option for Silva is fellow Brazil-
Silva shows flashes of greatness, but is bitter in decision loss to Bisping
Potential Opponents: Thales Leites, Lyoto Machida, Dan Henderson
