Anderson Silva Comments On Conor McGregor’s ‘Clear Flaws’
Reigning UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor is one of the very best knockout artists in the sport, as his left hand has become a staple in his arsenal on his way to superstardom. Despite McGregor’s success thus far, he has received some criticism regarding his grappling skills.
He was taken down repeatedly by Chad Mendes in July 2015, although he ended up scoring a second round knockout victory over “Money”, and he was submitted by Nate Diaz in March 2016, although he avenged that loss at UFC 202 this past August.
One former champion to recently comment on McGregor’s skill set is former longtime middleweight kingpin Anderson “The Spider” Silva, who said that the Irishman has ‘clear flaws’ in his game:
“He has flaws. We all have flaws. And his flaws are clear,” Silva told Combate News (Via MMAFighting.com). “He defends well, but he doesn’t have jiu-jitsu. The main thing is that he uses his movement and his opponent’s movement in his advantage.
“He never puts himself in uncomfortable positions. Everyone who fought him put themselves in uncomfortable positions and weren’t able to get back to comfortable positions again.”
Like McGregor, Silva is a lethal striker and perhaps one of the very best strikers in the history of the sport. “The Spider”, at times, has had issues dealing with wrestlers, however, although he does possess a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. While Silva always has a submission up his sleeve if needed, McGregor has rarely shown this side of his game.
If he continues to knock fighters out with his boxing though, McGregor’s submission skills likely won’t matter.
Speaking of his boxing skills, the “Notorious” one is often linked to a potential boxing match with retired former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather.
Silva believes this is a fight McGregor ‘should’ take:
“I think everybody has a chance,” Silva said. “When you step inside (the ring) to fight, you have a chance. Of course that if you’re fighting Mayweather, people would say ‘oh, McGregor won’t last a round,’ but we never know.”
“The movement is different, how you have your feet on the ground is different, the timing is different boxing,” he continued. “The only way to see is putting them to fight. He would have to stop at least a year to be able to do a close fight, and I believe he should do it.”
What do you make of “The Spider’s” comments?
