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Should Bonnar Take Silva Down?

7K views 82 replies 39 participants last post by  Rauno 
#1 ·
I know he's known for standing and brawling but Anderson is not a brawler, he's a precision knock out artist and can evade a brawl if he wants to. Would Bonnars best mode of attack be to take Silva down and use his size to GnP and work a submission? He's a BJJ Black Belt and 7 of his 14 wins have come via submission. I think Andersons speed would be too much for Stephen standing.
 
#4 ·
Actually no, he shouldn't.

Bonnar has nothing but a lottery ticket in this fight. On the ground, Silva might actually be careful, he will never submit Silva. Anderson will just work to stand up and make sure he doesn't get in any really bad positions.

Bonnar has next to no chance on the feet, but at least he could win with a Hail Mary shot, I think he has even less chance of a Hail Mary sub.
 
#6 ·
****, I don't know, the more I think about this fight, the more it seems like Bonnar is going to have to get lucky. I mean, if he takes it to the mat, he could try for a sub, at least he could avoid getting matrix KO'd like Griffin.
 
#8 ·
Bonnar doesnt get the chance to, and loses the possibility for an epic fight if he does. No way he should. He has a punchers chance on the feet but NO chance on the ground. Chael Sonnen is the best at that style in the world, and when Silva adapted he didn't have any real success with it. Bonnar needs to go toe to toe and go out like a legend, either way.
 
#9 ·
I think Bonnar does fine on the ground against Silva. I'd consider it a stalemate. The only time I give Anderson an advantage on the ground is if he stuns Bonnar and follows him down.

Standing I think Bonnar can win a decision if he avoids the finish.

Most of this comes down to whether Anderson would rather play with his food or eat it.
 
#10 ·
If Bonnar gets Anderson down and takes a full guard (which is hard to see happening), Anderson will easily tie him up. As I said, Anderson's BJJ improved a lot in the second Sonnen fight and he managed to keep Sonnen in place and stifle all of his work, which no one before has been able to do. If he can do that with Sonnen, he will easily do it with Bonnar. Stephan is an alright grappler, but that's not going to be enough here. He needs a war, and he gets to decide wether it happens or not.
 
#34 ·
...Conventional wisdom would say yes because of the size and power issue but Anderson is hands down one of the best at fighting off of his back as well. His ground defense at Silva/Sonnen II was outstanding. Anderson's TDD has improved as well. At 205, Silva's 2 fights have demonstrated his bigger punching power with no affect on his timing. I think Bonnar may go for a takedown because of his solid BJJ game to try and mix it up but I think once Bonner eats a few hard jabs, he's gonna go into brawl mode which plays right into Silva's game. Will Anderson repeat the matrix-type of performance like he turned out against Griffin? Hard to say. Bonnar admits he'll eat a few to give a few. Maybe not a good idea to eat a few of Anderson's at 205. I think Bonnar will make a good fight win or lose...
 
#40 ·
Let's get this straight. Silva lost that first round. If Bonnar can put only two rounds like that one together and doesn't get finished, he wins by UD.

Second, his defense wasn't really all that great. He managed to tie Sonnen up and take very little damage, but he also got mounted like an 10 year old kid fighting his 14 year old brother. 9/10 times giving up the mount and holding on is not going to work, and if you think that counts as good defense off your back you have another think coming.

The more impressive part of Silva's grappling came in round 2 where he managed to stuff a few takedowns. This resulted in Sonnen losing it and throwing perhaps the dumbest spinning back fist ever and tripping over his own feet.

Will that be good enough against a bigger, slower, less technical (as far as wrestling is concerned) fighter in Bonnar? Unknown. But if he does get put on his back, Silva is likely to be in a bad way. His Jitz was not impressive at all in his last fight.
 
#36 ·
Bonnar's best bet would probably be to training as much greco roman wrestling as he can and try to have a gritty fight holding Anderson against the cage. (as long as he can avoid a thai clinch)
 
#38 ·
It would absolutely be his best bet if he actually plans on winning this fight I think. Toe to Toe he has a "puncher's chance" (I'd say it's the longest shot in any fight ever too) and in the clinch he's risking being countered and smashed with knees. Bonnar has always been the kind of guy who's going to give the fans an exciting fight to the best of his ability. I'd hate for this fight to end up being him just draping himself all over Silva until Anderson finally get's bored enough to submit him off his back. I know Bonnar isn't the easiest guy to submit, but Anderson's done it to people with much better top games before.
 
#42 ·
As Sonnen proved, taking Silva down is pretty much the only way to put it to him. But even then you risk getting caught in a triangle. However, it's better than standing and getting your nose crushed like a pepsi can.

Bonnar is a HUGE LHW...in fact he might be the biggest LHW in the UFC. He needs to use his size to his advantage, take Silva down, put his weight on him, control and work the ground & pound.

If this fight stays on the feet Bonnar will inevitably get knocked out.
 
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