OU

I see your points but IMO if Anderson was fighting at LHW he would be just as elusive as Machida with is speed. Also his TDD might not be quite as good as Bisping's but it's not far behind. Remember Anderson had a broken rib going into the 1st Sonnen fight and he looked worse then we have ever seen him. Not the same guy we saw before and after that fight.
I'm not saying Rashad couldn't get some take downs. I just think eventually he gets caught with one of those fast, accurate punches. Especially if it's a 5 round fight.

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aerius

And if I had a bigger dick then Gina and Arianny will send me love letters and hop into bed with me. And let's be honest, the chances of that are at least the same or better than Rashad being relentless enough to avoid getting tagged on the chin by the best striker in MMA.

Let's put it this way, the only person who hasn't hit Rashad clean in the last few years is Phil Davis, everyone else has tagged him or dropped him. And speaking of the Phil Davis fight, that one shows that Rashad's ground game and top control is not nearly as good as it should be for a wrestler with his credentials. I've never seen someone get stuck in the crucifix position for that long and that many times without getting finished, or for that matter even bleeding. And it's not a one-off either considering how little he was able to do to Thiago Silva.

What I'm looking at here is overall technique based on many fights. Rashad has speed & power, but his striking technique, frankly sucks. He lost most of the exchanges against Forrest, same against Chuck Liddell, definitely against Machida & Jones, and he's been knocked down or wobbled by most of his opponents since he won the title. No good striker gets hit that cleanly so often. And he hasn't shown any real signs of improvement or evolution in his style so I have no reason to believe things will be any different if he fights Anderson Silva.

HitOrGetHit

Yeah and he got taken down in the second fight and was taken down by Hendo before Hendo wanted to strike with him and he was taken down by Lutter. Wrestling is obviously his weaker point and that his Rashads best. And Machida isn't a good example because Rashad didn't even try to take him down.

Yeah Rashad gets tagged and Anderson is an elite striker. Silva gets taken down and Rashad is an elite wrestler.

I'm not saying that Rashad goes in there and is just going to rag doll Silva and win for sure. But history has shown that Silva has a problem with good wrestlers and that is exactly what Rashad is.

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aerius

Anderson's wrestling defence is his weak point, but it's also something that he's improved on as was demonstrated in the 2nd round of his rematch against Sonnen. Is it good enough to stop Rashad every time? Of course not. But it's good enough to give him plenty of chances to knock Rashad's head off over the course of a 5 round fight.

Also, Rashad is NOT an elite wrestler. Good, but not elite. Elite is GSP level when you can take anyone down any time with seemingly little effort. Rashad ain't that good, and furthermore as I pointed out earlier, his top control and ability to do damage is lacking.

HitOrGetHit

I would agree. I do think Silva will have chances to end the fight. I think that Rashads best chance would be to grab a decision using his wrestling and he would have to be insanely careful while the fight is standing.

This fight is just interesting because they each seem to have the counter for the other. But I think this fight completely comes down to how long Silva can keep Rashad off of him.

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jonnyg4508

TDs don't finish fights.

Anderson, like in the Chael fights, has 5 rounds to find something. Probably his chin.

Listen, I think Rashad has just as good of a chance as Weidman, maybe more (I actually think Weidman is much bigger than Rashad, and stronger). But if he isn't going to 185 this is all senseless thought. Maybe he wanted to get 1 easy enough win at 205 then challenge ANderson right away. Who knows. He makes little sense, which tells me he himself doesn't feel like getting KO'd. He goes and gets KO'd quick at 185 his career is in jeopardy as far as getting a top fight anytiime soon. He probably wants to accumulate some more wins and hope Bones leaves.

El Bresko

Weidman is HUGE, I just rewatched the prelims for UFC on Fox 6 and when Bader beats Vlady, Chris comes up and stands with Bader and completely dwarfs him. I really wonder how much weight that dude cuts.

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H33LHooK

Just so we're clear:

Some people are seriously picking a guy who has ZERO fights at MW to beat the best MW who has ever lived? A MW who is showing no signs that he's on the decline in terms of skills or ability?

Okay then... carry on.

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K R Y

I'd really like to see a screen of that purely for...

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OU

To be fair Rashad is a former LHW Champion and was even ranked in the top 5 p4p in the past.

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