deadmanshand

His biggest test in striking. I'll give it that. It wouldn't be his hardest fight though. I have watched Mousasi in kickboxing and mma and I just don't see him ever being at Anderson's level. His skills just do not impress me. Adding to the fact that he is very much not a well rounded mixed martial artist and it gets much worse.

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Don$ukh

Mousasi is now training with elite wrestlers and was gunning for the Dutch Olympic boxing team. He has also hired a strenght and weight cutting coach for the first time in his career.
If your looking at his Jardine fight then you have to remember he outstruck him 136-13.

Glad you accept Mousasi would give Silva the hardest test so far in striking.
Silva would have to solely use his main skill to beat Mousasi and thats striking, something Mousasi would engage in without zero hesitation. This is an area which would fully show us Silva's level of striking.
It would be a great matchup for me and one of the most interesting in MMA.

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above

Jones seems to be dominating the LHW so as unorthodox as this may sound, why not say **** the divisions and split the difference to 195 and have Jones Vs Silva?

AmEagle

I've always wanted to see a fight between Shogun and Anderson. I think that would be a crazy fight.

WarCraved

I feel like Weidman, Boetsch, and Lombard aren't quite ready for Silva. I also think that Bisping, and Munoz would get KO'd fairly early. I think the only people that could beat Anderson are Vitor, and Sonnen. Anderson is definitely the better fighter (as he's shown) but I feel like Sonnen is still his kryptonite. In the Vitor fight, I think he kind of got... cut off. He was getting his groove, but got caught with a sweet move. It would definitely be fun to see a rematch.

dlxrevolution

No striking based fighter is going to beat Silva. He's pretty much miles ahead of everyone in that department. It would take someone with amazing grappling and submission defense to dethrone him.

I'd be interested in seeing Rashad Evans fight silva, though I think he needs a win at MW first, since he's coming off a title shot loss...

arkanoydz

In all honesty - I really don't see anybody in the MW division giving Anderson a 'competitive' fight (Munoz, Bisping, Weidman, Boetsch, etc. etc.) - the only one I'd be happy to see is a rematch with Belfort. Anything else just does not interest me.

Considering the achievements in Silva's career and his utter dominance of the division (numbers couldn't be clearer; no losses, only records), coupled with Jones' meteoric rise + relevance garnered not only within the MMA realm - now is the time to make this superfight happen.

I'd root for Silva. Curious - who'd be the underdog in this one?

above

I think someone was saying in another thread that Silva wouldn't want to fight at 205. Maybe he's doesn't feel comfortable fighting with the added weight?

I would like to see that happen, which is why I suggested earlier to split the difference and fight at 195... Which I don't know if it's something the UFC is willing to do but I personally don't see why not (?).

And yes, Belfort vs Silva II would definitely be a fight I'd like to see although I think Silva will win again.

arkanoydz

The only reason I can fathom for Silva to really refuse a bout with Bones is that he is scared to lose (because of the wrestling / physicality of Bones) - HOWEVER, this to me does not seem likely. On the other hand, I have a feeling that Bones loves the idea of fighting the Spider - I'm sure when he says he 'respects' Silva, he truly means it, but I also believe he would love to have a win over the GOAT.

I hope tptb do give enough of a 'push' to both fighters and things align for this superfight to take place. Much more interesting than Silva vs GSP; even more interesting than Bones vs Cigano (imho).

funkasaurus

Belfort deserves the shot, but I think EVERYONE wants to see Wanderlei Vs Belfort happen.

Munoz/Lombard for next title shot.
Belfort for one following (unless he loses to Wand, then Franklin/Silva 3)