 vs
UFC 78: Validation
Saturday November 17 9:00PM (EST)
Houston Alexander vs. Thiago Silva
Silva
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Right now Houston "The Nebraskan Assassin" Alexander (9-1-1) is the poster boy for the new UFC and fans just love him. He has incredible punching power and fans love his ability to go buck wild in the ring and put on a great mixed martial arts fight.
We have only seen him fight a total of 2 minutes in his last two UFC fights. He has not fought top level light heavyweights and the Ko’s that he has in the UFC against Alessio Sakara at UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion and Keith Jardine UFC 71: Liddell vs. Jackson are not against the upper class of UFC fighters in the division. Yes, his wins were great to watch but if you stand back and look at what Alexander has done in MMA, he may or may not be a great fighter. Who are Todd Allee, Jon Murphy, Demian Decorah, Brandon Quigley, Justin Butler, Chuck Purdow and Jamie Webb? These are Alexander’s wins in mixed martial arts, so before UFC fans proclaim him to be the next best thing in MMA, we have to see him fight top level fighters first. Jardine was the closest to being a top level fighter that he has faced and if Jardine had prepared more, he would have KO’ed him.
I’m waiting to see if he can last more than 3 minutes. I say The Nebraskan Assassin will blow his load after the three minute mark. He will be facing Thiago Silva, a very tough and strong Muay Thai fighter who comes from Chute Boxe where Anderson Silva trains. Silva will have insane Muay Thai clinches and knees and Alexander has not faced a fighter with all round striking skills like Thiago Silva before. He will not be able to adapt a fighter who has fundamental striking skills. Sakara was a boxer and Jardine is not a great technical fighter like Silva is and he will be able to pick apart Alexander on pure technique only.
Thiago Silva (11-0) will be the toughest fighter to ever face Alexander and he has all the skills to lay a beating on him. This will be a power puncher versus power puncher but since Silva has kicks in his arsenal and fundamentals, he will be able to pick apart Houston’s wild punches. Houston may be more powerful, but skill will always trump power. Alexander will not be expecting knees and Silva will be able to hold him off with a superior ground game as Silva has a BJJ Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt as well. To me Alexander looks like jail house or bar room brawler. He is a strong and powerful fighter but I don’t think he is a smart fighter.
After Silva waits until Alexander gets tired, he will either shoot in and take top position and then submit him or he will knock him out with knees. 9 out of Silva’s 11 wins have come by KO so he has power as well.
Bottom Line: Thiago Silva is an undefeated fighter that has more skill and fundamentals than Alexander. His pedigree is from the Chute Boxe Academy and he has a black belt in BJJ. Should the fight end up on the ground, he will be able to either sweep Alexander or neutralize his ground and pound.
Don't let the Alexander hype fool you, place your bet on the smarter fighter
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