Sherdog’s Top 10: Fights That Failed to Live Up to Their Hype

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1. Dreaded Trio of Anderson Silva Title Defenses

The flipside of Silva’s unbelievable talent and skill is the sensitive moodiness of the true artiste. His interest comes and goes, and it is difficult to predict precisely which opponents or styles will catch his eye from fight to fight. When his head is in the game, no fighter has ever been able to match his swagger, charisma and penchant for pulling off the unthinkable, but when his attention is elsewhere, the result has historically been a lackluster fight.

That is why it makes sense to treat his three stinkers as a unit. While he is now mostly loved and his greatness appreciated by fans worldwide, that was not always the case, and his title defenses against Patrick Cote, Thales Leites and Demian Maia were largely responsible for the disdain many held toward the mercurial Silva. While Silva flashed moments of his customary greatness in these outings, he did not follow through in any sustained fashion.

Against Cote at UFC 90, for example, Silva threw all of 18 strikes in the first round; that number dropped to 14 against Leites at UFC 97; and after knocking down Maia in the opening frame at UFC 112, Silva was content to cruise to an easy decision. Maia failed to land a single strike in the second round of their fight, while Silva made little effort to capitalize on his hopelessly outmatched opponent.

How could a fighter so great have put on such lackluster performances? According to Silva, he does not like to fight Brazilians, which might explain why he was so unwilling to look for finishes against Leites and Maia. Then again, Silva was perfectly happy to gently place his toes in Vitor Belfort’s grill, so perhaps it is not a satisfactory explanation. We will never know for sure, but “The Spider” simply seemed bored in these outings, his opponents unworthy of his attention. Perhaps it is simply impossible for even a great fighter to remain totally focused all the time.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS: Rashad Evans vs. Jon Jones, Royce Gracie vs. Kazushi Sakuraba 2, Gilbert Yvel vs. Wanderlei Silva, Tim Sylvia-Andrei Arlovski 3, Benson Henderson vs. Donald Cerrone 3

Follow Sherdog.com preview expert Patrick Wyman on Twitter.