Anderson Silva reigns supreme with win over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Anderson Silva won a split decision opposite Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. last night. At 46 years old he moved well against a former boxing world champion in Chavez Jr.

Silva is a life long martial artist, not to be a bit hyperbolic but he also a pure mixed martial artist. Now, most martial arts live next door and they borrow one another’s sugar so techniques do appear across the board in most styles. Doing the same thing, day in and day out can get a bit stale so branching out and cross training in a few styles helps to keep things fresh. Silva used his boxing too, you can’t really make a tasty dish without a handful of ingredients at least.

Silva really has done it all, competing in MMA, Kickboxing, and Boxing at the professional level. He has earned two black belts, a 3rd degree in BJJ from the Nogueiras and a 5th degree in Tae Kwon Do. He’s even done a bit of Capoeira here and there and later on in his career he had Wing Chun and Jeet Kune Do to his repertoire.

Silva showed his boxing, solid footwork, a nice jab, he has his tendencies and they’d naturally follow from the cage into the ring. When ever Silva got his back against the cage in MMA, he would start to do what is essentially the pop and lock. In his younger days he’d do this as a form of “clowning” to make fun of his opponents who wouldn’t engage with the famous counter puncher and he started to really take it serious on the tail end of his career as his reflexes slowed down.

Elbows are the key

There is something to Silva’s dance moves if you think about it, MMA gloves are a lot smaller than boxing gloves, so covering up or parrying is a bit trickier. You take Mayweather out of his boxing gloves, give him the 4oz gloves and if he does not immediately get double legged you will see a change in his approach to defense. Bobby Green has a solid understanding of how the “Philly shell”, Mayweather’s defensive posture, works and punches do slip through just because MMA gloves just don’t cover the same surface level.

Silva’s Electric Slide is confusing because he’s looking for opponents to throw their hands and intercept them with his elbows. He might tie them up or he might decide to turn into a flurry to get himself out of danger. He doesn’t do it for the sake of its self, there is method behind why he does this.

Writing about it only does so much justice, here is a video essay on Silva’s extsensive use of Wing Chun. Enjoy: