Silva vs. Leites headlines UFC 97

Written by Grady Roy   |   Friday, April 17 2009

Anderson Silva was at his most impressive as he dominated Dan Henderson.  Like any fighter, however, he has his weaknessess and Thales Leites has a chance to win.  It won't be easy though...(Photo: Susumu Nagao)

On Saturday, April 18th Thales Leites will challenge Anderson Silva for his middleweight crown at UFC 97 in arguably the greatest city in the world for MMA, Montreal.

Never before in his MMA career has Thales Leites faced such a huge task as he will on Saturday night.  His opponent, Anderson Silva, is considered by many to be the pound for pound best MMA fighter in the world.  Leites has the chance not only to win the UFC middleweight title from Silva, but can also play the part of spoiler.  Silva is trying to become only the third fighter to successfully defend a championship 5 consecutive times.  The only fighters who have achieved that feat are Tito Ortiz and Matt Hughes.  Along with that record, a Silva victory would make him the only fighter to win 9 straight fights inside the octagon.
Another impressive stat is that no one has ever gone the distance against Silva in the UFC.  The closest was Patrick Cote, who did make it to the third round before succumbing to a knee injury.  Silva is known for his uncanny prowess in the cage and fights like a madman while methodically dismantling his opponents.  He shows no emotion and even less remorse.

Leites is also riding a win streak of his own with 5 straight coming into UFC 97.  He may not be the wagering favorite against Silva and it’s difficult to find an area in which he can be considered to have the edge.  Still, he’s definitely a great Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter and a talented submission artist.  3 of his last 5 matches have been won via submission.  

If the fight goes to the ground, it could be a stalemate.  Both fighters are black belts in BJJ and it would most likely be a slow paced chess match as both men battled for position.  The standup game is where the biggest difference in talent is noticeable.  Thales Leites is nowhere near the same league as Anderson Silva when it comes to striking.  Although Leites has a nice jab, his delivery is pretty slow, while his opponent is an ungodly Muay Thai wrecking ball whose most impressive talent seems to lie in his counterstriking ability.

Leites will have to punch and move early in this bout, circling his opponent while allowing himself time to feel out Silva.  He should avoid rushing in too quickly, but instead keep some distance.  This may lull Silva into the showboating tactics he has displayed in previous fights.    At that point is when Thales should make his move, when Silva’s hands are together and leaning forward.  Silva would be out of position to launch a meaningful counter punch, and Leites can take advantage of not getting counterpunched--which is what Silva does best and how he most often ends fights.

Another plan would to time some of Silva’s strikes and attempt to shoot in for a takedown.  At the same time, Leites must avoid leading in with the takedown--a diversion of some sorts would be recommended because Silva has a great takedown defense and is deadly at timing his flying knee to opponents who try to lazily shoot in on him.  Just watch how Silva dealt with Carlos Newton at PRIDE 25:  enough said.  So shooting off one of Silva’s punches would be ideal, and may prove Leites’ most successful course of action.  And once he has Silva down, he needs to be extremely aggressive at getting dominant position so he can attempt submission or work his ground and pound.

While carelessness could be fatal, aggressiveness is the key.  Being too cautious or thinking too much on the mat will prove ineffective since Silva has excellent guard.   Due to Silva’s long legs it is likely that he can easily slap a body triangle on Leites if he isn’t careful.  So that in itself eliminates many chances of passing the guard and minimizes the possibility of a submission.  Ground and pound may be the most viable scenario on the mat against Silva—while it may not be one of his strong suits it but probably offers the best chance of success for Thales Leites.  One other option would be trying to work the side mount.  The Kimura and arms bars are a legit possibility from this position and given Leites’ super submissions skills this could be a viable plan of attack.  Silva also defends the side mount by rolling on his stomach and trying to stand, which would open up his back and presents an opportunity for a rear naked choke.

There are too many scenarios to list, but one thing that is certain is that Thales Leites better throw the kitchen sink at Silva if he wants to even make it past the first round.  Hopefully he has a gameplan that will make this an amazing fight to watch.

Stay tuned for more…and remember folks, we here at SavSci are more savage than an Anderson Silva knee to your chops!  Join us on Saturday for LIVE round by round coverage of UFC 97 starting at 7 PM Pacific/10 PM Eastern

UFC 97 LIVE ROUND BY ROUND COVERAGE @ THE SAVAGE SCIENCE

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