Man, getting old truly sucks. Imagine an MMA icon and legend getting knocked down by a Disney kid actor.
I picked Anderson Silva to defeat Jake Paul last weekend, big-time. Turns out my prediction was a big-time flop.
SILVA. The great Anderson Silva needs no introduction. MMA fans recognize him to be one of the best to have ever set foot in a cage.
But while Silva stood alone at the apex of the sport during his heyday a decade ago, he did end his career on three straight losses. There’s a reason why Father Time is undefeated.
By the time Covid-19 hit, Silva was just a shadow of his former self and even lost his last fight via TKO (punches).
Still, many thought (including this Last Rounder) that he still had enough left in that tank to defeat a faux fighter like Paul.
THE FIGHT. It wasn’t much of a fight, actually. Silva showed flashes of his old, slick moves that had audiences mesmerized for years, but unfortunately this time though he couldn’t pull the trigger.
Paul was aggressive enough to bring the fight, but wasn’t good enough to dominate his 47- year-old opponent. There were sequences in the fight where Paul seemingly looked apprehensive as to what Silva might bring, apparently still entertaining the possibility that Silva was just playing possum.
Fortunately for Paul, Silva had no more tricks up his sleeve and was reduced to posing and preening, throwing out the occasional punch with some speed, but nothing much behind it.
The “Spider” didn’t even see the punch that knocked him down — a short right hand thrown without too much torque — that in his prime he could easily have defended against.
Remember this was the same Silva that a couple of years ago, challenged the immortal Roy Jones Jr. to a boxing match. Though nothing much came of it, still — at that time, many were intrigued with the possibility considering that Silva could arguably have been the only MMA fighter with enough boxing skills to challenge Jones.
As for Jake Paul, the jury is still out on this kid who seemingly has made a career out of challenging old MMA fighters or athletes to boxing matches.
Don’t get me wrong. This kid can fight. He has good basics and apparently has decent enough power to keep opponents wary. But unless he challenges a professional boxer in his prime to a proper fight, he will always be fending off doubters and haters who view him as nothing more than a social media creation.
LAST ROUND. It’s on one of my closest friends since we were in short khaki pants — my SHS-B ’89 batchmate, Marcelino Co who recently turned a milestone. Happy birthday and cheers!