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Anderson Silva's, Couture's, And Rodrigo's Merits For P4P Greatness

Anderson Silva is considered by many to be the #1 p4p fighter in the world because:

1) He’s a PHENOMENAL striker, widely considered the best in MMA.
2) He’s very well-rounded. He’s very good on the ground also, having received his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt from ‘Rodrigo’ Nogueira, one of its best practitioners.
3) He’s in the rare group of fighters who seem to be improving with every fight. In each of his recent fights he seems to either showcase new skills, or show improvement in the skills he was already known for.
4) He’s a very smart fighter who learns from his mistakes, the kind who will seldom, if ever, beat himself.

But his bread and butter is his striking. His reach, quickness, creativity, power, timing, and accuracy are unparalleled. Witness his 49 second demolition of iron-chinned Chris Leben, his two-time destructions of the very good former champion Rich Franklin, one of which lasted less than 3 minutes, the reverse-elbow (yeah that’s right, ‘reverse-elbow’, I said the guy is creative ☺) that he knocked Tony Fryklund out with, and the fight-ending strikes he delivered to the very good Nate Marquardt, in which he displayed his reach by connecting with the grounded Marquardt from an upright position. His Muay-Thai is positively frightening and his clinch deadly, as shown in the Franklin fights. Unlike many great strikers he doesn’t show any fear of being taken down, routinely going for more risky strikes such as flying knees. Opponents who have taken him down confront a very fluid, flexible, and constantly shifting guard. His great chin and unorthodox movement make it very hard to land on him solidly from the mount. He has dangerous up-kicks off his back, and good submissions, like the triangle choke he submitted BJJ specialist Travis Lutter with. In general, if opponents take him to the ground, they either don’t make headway with him and the ref stands it back up, or they themselves are in danger of submissions and strikes while in the mount. This versatility, combined with his continuous improvement (see the 2nd Franklin fight, Franklin definitely improved his clinch defense, but Silva improved also, and still was able to hurt him significantly in that position) and overall, chess master-like ring intelligence (he doesn’t seem to make major mistakes, and on the other hand, exploits the ones his opponents make immediately and ruthlessly) make him a very popular choice for the world’s p4p best.

Randy Couture is a tenacious, smothering-type fighter who’s a great wrestler, has a tremendous clinch, and good striking. He’s also one of the best fighters ever at devising a great game plan to beat an opponent. He’s beaten great strikers like Chuck Liddell and Tim Sylvia, great wrestlers like Kevin Randleman and Tito Ortiz, and great Jiu-Jitsu artists like Gabriel Gonzaga. He’s made a career out of fighting much-favored opponents and beating them. Currently 44, Couture is always in tremendous shape, and routinely out-hustles and has better stamina than much younger fighters. He’s superb at imposing his will and getting others to fight his fight, and once he obtains a clinch, he’s very good at using “Dirty Boxing” (a technique which involves strikes to your opponent while you have a hold of him in a clinch), and also scoring takedowns and ground ‘n pounding. He does a very good job at controlling larger and stronger foes. He holds wins over Vitor Belfort, Pedro Rizzo, and Jeremy Horn, along with the aforementioned fighters. Although primarily known for his strong wrestling base, he has often out-boxed “better” strikers in order to get close enough to secure a clinch, as shown in the first Liddell fight and against Sylvia, the latter case being even more amazing because the 6’8”, 265 pound Sylvia completely dwarfed him. Against Ortiz, he took the feared wrestler down almost at will and dominated the entire fight. Against Gonzaga, a much more naturally bigger man and a well rounded fighter whose great Jiu-Jitsu and good striking were supposed to be a bad match-up, he controlled him and bullied him around the Octagon, before scoring a third round TKO. As well-respected by his peers as any fighter in the world, Couture is considered a P4P great because you can NEVER count him out against ANYONE.

When legendary MMA fighter Antonio “Rodrigo” Nogueira was ten, he was run over by a truck and almost died. He was in a coma for four days. He lost a rib and part of his liver, and was hospitalized for eleven months. So you could make the case that he’s been a fighter his whole life, in many more ways than just MMA. A world-renowned Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, he’s also a frequent sparring partner of UFC champion Anderson Silva, the best striker in the sport. So unlike many Jiu-Jitsu specialists, he’s good enough in that aspect to be a pretty well-rounded fighter. Ranked as the #2 Heavyweight in the world by many in the industry, he’s beaten a “Who’s Who” of MMA, including Mirko “Cro-Cop” Filipović, Josh Barnett, Dan Henderson, Mark Coleman, Fabricio Werdum, Ricco Rodriguez, and Jeremy Horn. He’s been ranked in the top 3 for many years, and before being beaten by Fedor Emelianenko, who’s now considered to be the world’s best fighter, he was Pride’s champion, and the one who was considered unbeatable. In many ways, one can measure him by what he’s never done, in 36 fights he’s never been stopped by anyone. In fact, he’s only lost 4 times at all, and only twice to anyone not named Fedor. Rodrigo’s success is a testament to the fact that he never stops coming, and never loses faith in the ability of his Jiu-Jitsu to end a fight at any time, from any position. He’s known for an ability to withstand unbelievable punishment and still come back to win, as he did against Cro-Cop, and the monstrous Bob “The Beast” Sapp, a man who outweighed him by 150 pounds. On the ground, Rodrigo runs a never-ending submission clinic on opponents, if they happen to get out of one, he fluidly transitions into another, and another, and another, until one finally sticks. He’s a fighter we’ve learned to never consider out of a fight, and his all-around versatility, terrific Jiu-Jitsu, and limitless courage are all reasons he’s considered a P4P great.

Article Source: http://MMAWriters.com

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