Liddell-Jackson II Headlines UFC 71 Card
Silva vs. Irvin
May 24, 2007
Thiago
Silva (Pictures) vs. James Irvin (Pictures)
With the PRIDE Fighting Championships now operating under the Zuffa umbrella of organizations, it seems as though the UFC is set to cash in on a wealth of Brazilian talent that, up until now, had been unavailable to them.
One of the first examples of this sudden shift is premier Chute
Boxe prospect Thiago
Silva (Pictures), who will make his UFC debut
against the dangerous James
Irvin (Pictures). For Silva, however, this is more
than just a debut; this fight marks the return of the Chute Boxe
academy to the UFC after an absence of more than seven years.
Just how well Silva responds to being the standard bearer for Chute Boxe in the UFC remains to be seen, but make no mistake, he has at his disposal all the tools he needs to succeed.
Like most young strikers who rack up knockout wins, not much is known about the 24-year-old Silva's ground game. But from what we've seen thus far, Silva does know the basics of takedown defense and ground control. Any deficiencies Silva may have on the ground are masked by his rabid approach to ground-and-pound -- reminiscent of stablemate Mauricio "Shogun" Rua's unorthodox but accurate style, a style that has played no small part in Silva's success thus far.
If Silva's career has been marked by dominance, maddening inconsistency has marked James Irvin (Pictures)'s career. Originally one of the Capital City Fighting Alliance's top heavyweight prospects, Irvin made a name for himself by plowing through the California MMA scene and earning himself a UFC invitation.
That UFC invitation would not serve as a coronation for Irvin. Instead a first-round knockout loss to Mike Kyle (Pictures) at UFC 51 proved to be the impetus for Irvin's move to the light heavyweight division. Despite a spectacular come from behind knockout victory over Terry Martin (Pictures) at UFC 54, Irvin's career soon entered a tailspin, as he suffered back-to-back losses to Stephan Bonnar (Pictures) and Lodune Sincaid (Pictures). The loss to Sincaid was particularly damning, as up until that point Sincaid was best known for his bizarre spin on psychological warfare on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter.
Instead of walking away from the sport, Irvin, now 28, simply went back to the drawing board and made his return to the UFC against Hector Ramirez (Pictures) at UFC 65. A trying first round left Irvin with his back against the wall but he rebounded in the second to notch his second come from behind KO in the UFC.
Against Silva, giving away the first round might leave Irvin (12-3-0, 1 NC) in no shape to mount any sort of comeback. Should Irvin derail Silva's hype, he'll have to do it by taking advantage of his edge in explosiveness while putting pressure on the relatively inexperienced Brazilian.
Conversely, Silva will have to keep himself out of any extended exchanges with Irvin given Silva's habit of standing upright and leaving his chin exposed. Silva's best bet is to crowd Irvin, keep him from landing anything fight changing and wear him out with accurate strikes. Ideally, Silva would take this fight to the ground after wearing out Irvin a bit since the Californian has proven himself to be an easy mark on the ground. Whether or not Silva takes that option is rather unlikely given his style, and that is precisely why Irvin is such a live underdog.
For all the knocks on Irvin -- and there are plenty of them -- he has proven his willingness to take some damage to give some back in return. While Silva has garnered quite a name for himself, let's not forget the lesson we all learned the last time a Chute Boxe prospect emerged seemingly overnight. It wasn't that long ago that many a MMA fan was convinced Helio Dipp would be the next Chute Boxe phenom and as of right now, he rates out as a Sam Bowie on the great Bust-O-Meter.
The key difference here is that Silva (9-0-0) is a more composed fighter than the overtly macho Dipp, who was almost entirely reliant on hulking out and physically overwhelming his opponents.
Silva knows how to pick apart an opponent and Irvin being the slow starter that he is, finds himself at a distinct disadvantage facing a fighter who thrives on dragging opponents into the trenches. Irvin's only real chance for victory here is an all too familiar standby: landing a big strike and ending matters right then and there.
Against Silva that won't be a terribly sound strategy and it will lead to yet another UFC loss for Irvin. Look for Silva to rough up Irvin from the clinch and put him away with knees late in the first round.
With the PRIDE Fighting Championships now operating under the Zuffa umbrella of organizations, it seems as though the UFC is set to cash in on a wealth of Brazilian talent that, up until now, had been unavailable to them.
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Just how well Silva responds to being the standard bearer for Chute Boxe in the UFC remains to be seen, but make no mistake, he has at his disposal all the tools he needs to succeed.
The Department of Obvious Information tells me that Silva has the
eyes of a serial killer and the offense to match. In particular,
Silva has shown a knack for striking not only on the feet, but on
the ground as well. While Silva is lacking in hand speed, he seems
more than content to merely close the gap and bludgeon his
opponents with a steady mix of knees, kicks and punches.
Like most young strikers who rack up knockout wins, not much is known about the 24-year-old Silva's ground game. But from what we've seen thus far, Silva does know the basics of takedown defense and ground control. Any deficiencies Silva may have on the ground are masked by his rabid approach to ground-and-pound -- reminiscent of stablemate Mauricio "Shogun" Rua's unorthodox but accurate style, a style that has played no small part in Silva's success thus far.
If Silva's career has been marked by dominance, maddening inconsistency has marked James Irvin (Pictures)'s career. Originally one of the Capital City Fighting Alliance's top heavyweight prospects, Irvin made a name for himself by plowing through the California MMA scene and earning himself a UFC invitation.
That UFC invitation would not serve as a coronation for Irvin. Instead a first-round knockout loss to Mike Kyle (Pictures) at UFC 51 proved to be the impetus for Irvin's move to the light heavyweight division. Despite a spectacular come from behind knockout victory over Terry Martin (Pictures) at UFC 54, Irvin's career soon entered a tailspin, as he suffered back-to-back losses to Stephan Bonnar (Pictures) and Lodune Sincaid (Pictures). The loss to Sincaid was particularly damning, as up until that point Sincaid was best known for his bizarre spin on psychological warfare on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter.
Instead of walking away from the sport, Irvin, now 28, simply went back to the drawing board and made his return to the UFC against Hector Ramirez (Pictures) at UFC 65. A trying first round left Irvin with his back against the wall but he rebounded in the second to notch his second come from behind KO in the UFC.
Against Silva, giving away the first round might leave Irvin (12-3-0, 1 NC) in no shape to mount any sort of comeback. Should Irvin derail Silva's hype, he'll have to do it by taking advantage of his edge in explosiveness while putting pressure on the relatively inexperienced Brazilian.
Conversely, Silva will have to keep himself out of any extended exchanges with Irvin given Silva's habit of standing upright and leaving his chin exposed. Silva's best bet is to crowd Irvin, keep him from landing anything fight changing and wear him out with accurate strikes. Ideally, Silva would take this fight to the ground after wearing out Irvin a bit since the Californian has proven himself to be an easy mark on the ground. Whether or not Silva takes that option is rather unlikely given his style, and that is precisely why Irvin is such a live underdog.
For all the knocks on Irvin -- and there are plenty of them -- he has proven his willingness to take some damage to give some back in return. While Silva has garnered quite a name for himself, let's not forget the lesson we all learned the last time a Chute Boxe prospect emerged seemingly overnight. It wasn't that long ago that many a MMA fan was convinced Helio Dipp would be the next Chute Boxe phenom and as of right now, he rates out as a Sam Bowie on the great Bust-O-Meter.
The key difference here is that Silva (9-0-0) is a more composed fighter than the overtly macho Dipp, who was almost entirely reliant on hulking out and physically overwhelming his opponents.
Silva knows how to pick apart an opponent and Irvin being the slow starter that he is, finds himself at a distinct disadvantage facing a fighter who thrives on dragging opponents into the trenches. Irvin's only real chance for victory here is an all too familiar standby: landing a big strike and ending matters right then and there.
Against Silva that won't be a terribly sound strategy and it will lead to yet another UFC loss for Irvin. Look for Silva to rough up Irvin from the clinch and put him away with knees late in the first round.
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