UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva

By Joshua Molina

Anderson Silva is regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in MMA.

And he just might be. He’s clearly dominant in most of his fights.

But he needs to fight more. And if he can’t find any qualified opponents, he needs to move up in weight.  That’s what all great fighters do.

Think about this: Silva has fought eight times in four years, twice per year.  It’s a fairly safe schedule, considering the best pound-for-pound boxers of all time fought a lot more often, and across multiple weight divisions.

Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao, Oscar de la Hoya, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Thomas “Hitman” Hearns, Evander Holyfield, Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones Jr., Hector “Macho” Camacho, etc., all won titles across multiple weight classes.  And many of them fought a lot more often. Duran, even after his prime, fought seven times in two years. He won titles in five divisions, from lightweight to junior middleweight.

Pacquiao won championships in eight divisions, starting at Flyweight.

The great side-by-side comparison is Marvin Hagler, who was champ from 1980 to 1987. He defended the title 12 consecutive times before he lost a disputed decision to Sugar Ray Leonard.  He didn’t jump weights, but he fought seven times at middleweight in 1977.  He finished his career at 63-3.  Silva is 33-3.

It would be great to see Silva step up his pace and fight three times a year, rather than the late spring/fall tour he’s been on.  Silva doesn’t seem to have the hunger to go out there and dominate the best fighters outside of his division. He seems content knocking around the guys the UFC lines up for him.

At 6 foot 2, he is tall enough to move up.   Silva needs to step out of the bubble and fight more often. Trying to decide whether to fight Luke Rockhold? Cung Le? Fight them both. Fight everybody.

That’s what the best fighters in the world do.