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Joe Rogan on why Vitor Belfort is Anderson Silva’s toughest UFC challenge to date
By Zach Arnold | February 4, 2011
Before I get to that part of the interview that Mr. Rogan did with the estimable Steve Cofield of Yahoo Sports & Cagewriter.com, I wanted to point out this section of the interview that Smokin’ Dave Cokin (of Jim Feist fame) did with Joe in relation to the evolution of MMA fighters versus the evolution of boxers. The starting point for context was a discussion about Brock Lesnar accepting the June fight with Junior dos Santos and how Brock came into MMA with such a strong amateur wrestling background but hasn’t trained in MMA for his entire career.
SMOKIN’ DAVE COKIN: “It’s reached the point now in terms of legitimacy where guys that are coming from other sports, they may be great athletes and they may be able to get by but they’re not going to be able to flourish against guys who have made this their first sport from day one.”
JOE ROGAN: “Yeah, it’s really kind of freaky to watch it evolve the way it has and, you know, to have seen it really from the very, very early days. It’s, um, the real true Mixed Martial Artists of today are such on a high level as opposed to 1993, I mean that was only, you know, it’s not that long ago, 18 years ago, that’s nothing, you know, as far as sports go to leap. I mean, if you go back to like Marvin Hagler and compare Marvin Hagler with like maybe Chad Dawson, you know, Hagler hangs with these guys, you know what I’m saying? I mean I don’t think there’s a big gap. Sugar Ray Leonard? I think Sugar Ray Leonard, you know, he hangs with Floyd Mayweather. I think he’s one of, if you at like skill-wise, there’s not that much of a variation between the greats of 20+ years ago and the greats of today in boxing.
“But in MMA? It’s a GIANT leap, it’s a Grand Canyon chasm, I mean it’s huge. The guys that you see today and the variations in the styles today, I mean you’ve got like Nick Diaz who’s got this very unorthodox striking style which is, you know, really oddly effective and then you’ve got Alistair Overeem who’s, you know, K-1 Grand Prix champion and also a Strikeforce champion and also a DREAM champion. And then you’ve got, you know, Cain Velasquez, this guy just seems to never get tired, an incredible cardio machine that’s got also an iron chin and, you know, an unbelievable work ethic and you got Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva, who fights like he’s in the Matrix. I mean, really, it’s an amazing time for this sport.”
Which leads us to what Joe had to say about why Anderson Silva is such a reliable, steady fighter and how his opponent in the fight, Vitor Belfort, is someone who presents a tough challenge for Anderson because of the tools he brings to the table. There’s a debate during the interview as to whether or not Vitor should focus on a stand-up fight with Anderson or if he should take it to the ground quickly.
STEVE COFIELD: “So, you mentioned Belfort and how long you go back with him and those of us who’ve watched fighting for a long time know Vitor. I kind of feel in this fight, he’s about a 3-to-1 dog against Anderson Silva, but I kind of feel like he’s under the radar with a lot of the new fans or am I wrong? Does he stand no chance in this fight?”
JOE ROGAN: “Well, I think he’s definitely under the radar with a lot of people just by virtue of the fact that Anderson’s been so dominant. I mean, Anderson hasn’t lost a fight since, I believe, 2006. He’s never lost in the UFC and his highlight-reel performances against like Chris Leben & Rich Franklin & James Irvin & Forrest Griffin, I mean he’s a destroyer. Anderson is the most dynamic, most skilled, most spectacular fighter in any weight class in any division, period, in my opinion.
“But Vitor, if you look at it on paper, he’s got all the tools. I mean he’s been around a long, long time and even though he’s been around a long time, Vitor’s never really taken a beating other than the Randy Couture fight, you know, he’s lost fights but, you know, he’s had a lot of problems in his personal life and you can attribute some of his poor performances to that. It’s very tricky, you know, it’s very tricky when you start getting into a fighter’s mental make-up and, you know, who they are now as opposed to who they were a couple of years ago when they were in the dumps.
“You know, Anderson is very strong and very steady and is very reliable, he’s you know, he’s always there, he’s always trying to win and he showed that in the Chael Sonnen fight. I mean, still trying to win in the fifth round after being dominated for four solid rounds, just getting his ass kicked completely, unable to do anything to Chael Sonnen and then waits his opportunity, BAM, slaps on a triangle and that’s it, he’s always trying to win. He never folds, ever. You might beat him but he will never fold. Vitor has folded, you know, and it’s been a long time, you know, we haven’t seen it in a long time, but it’s in people’s minds. But then you got to think about the fact that his sister was kidnapped and he went through a lot of like serious, serious personal problems and, you know, those contribute to a fighter’s demise and those also make a fighter stronger once they get through it and that’s what Vitor says now that he is because of all of the dilemmas that he’s faced that he’s much stronger, that he has much more character because of it.
“So, I think if you look at it skill-wise, Vitor has maybe the fastest hands maybe in the sport, period. I mean, Melvin Guillard might be the only one who comes close to his hand speed. His, you know, famous combinations that he lands on like, say, like the Tra Telligman fight or Rich Franklin more recently or even Matt Lindland when he fought Matt Lindland in Affliction, I mean he’s a destroyer and he’s a finisher. If he catches you, he swarms on you. He’s a legit Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and he has some serious wrestling skills and that, to me, is an interesting aspect to this fight because if you look at his fight with Chuck Liddell, he’s one of the rare guys who took Chuck Liddell down during his prime. He took Chuck down. If he takes, I mean if he looks at the Chael Sonnen fight he might think that’s the approach to take in this fight, you know, ground ‘n pound, take Anderson down and try to dominate him from the top position. I’m not totally aware of what he’s been doing in his training but if that’s, you know, the approach, I think this could be a very unique fight. And on the feet, he’s as dangerous as anybody.”
STEVE COFIELD: “I think that’s the problem. Here in Vegas we’ve been kind of tracking where he is and he was with Shawn Tompkins who’s more of a striking guy, then he moves over to Couture, then you hear he’s working with other people, he’s bouncing around. So, to me the game plan is the biggest thing. I know he can stand with Silva, but I wouldn’t do that for three, four, and five rounds. If he takes him down, obviously he can win the fight but who knows who’s doing the game planning?”
JOE ROGAN: “I mean, that is true. Shawn Tompkins was with him for a while and Shawn was responsible, you know, in Shawn’s opinion for getting him into a real positive state of mind and he had a bunch of victories in a row with Shawn. I don’t know what happened that lead him to move on, you know, it’s just speculation, but I think stand-up wise I mean I see what you’re saying he doesn’t want to stand with Anderson but I don’t think that’s true. I think Vitor is very, very confident in his hands, you know. I don’t think Vitor has ever shied away from anybody in the stand-up. I mean the only time I can remember shying away from someone in stand-up is when he broke his hand against Sakuraba, but that was, you know, back in the days of his sister being kidnapped. He had a lot of problems back then.”
STEVE COFIELD: “Yeah, I guess I meant if I was a fighter, I wouldn’t want to stand with Silva.”
JOE ROGAN: “Yeah, maybe, but maybe not. I mean, look what happened with Anderson and Chael Sonnen. Chael Sonnen dropped Anderson with a left hand, you know, he connected. If Vitor drops Anderson like that, it’s completely a different story. I mean his punches come legitimately 100% faster, you know, I mean you’re dealing with a guy that’s capable of, you know, incredible flurries. I mean Vitor’s famous for it, the ones he used to knock out Wanderlei Silva, you know, the one that the combinations that he unloaded on Matt Lindland and Rich Franklin. If he hurts guys, he swarms on them, you know, it’s a very, very intriguing fight to me. Vitor is saying all the right things, he seems so at peace, he doesn’t seem nervous, he seems confident and sure of himself and ready to do this and I’m very intrigued. I cannot wait. I’m really, really fired up about this fight. To me I think it’s the most intriguing challenge and the most difficult challenge, at least on paper, in Anderson Silva’s career.”
What isn’t mentioned during this interview but has been (by Dana White) during many others leading to UFC 126 is just how big this fight is in Brazil. There’s a lot of history in the making here.
Topics: Brazil, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
“I think he’s one of, if you at like skill-wise, there’s not that much of a variation between the greats of 20+ years ago and the greats of today in boxing.”
Rogan is about as qualified to comment on the relative skill levels of those guys about as much as I’m qualified to comment on the relative skill levels of Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov.
(I guess I’m just bored. 🙁 )
Who you think takes it Fluyid? Both fighters at their peak: Bernard Hopkins vs. Marvin Hagler.
Recently started listening to Rogan’s podcast. He is slightly a wack job.
…SLIGHTLY?! That’s an understatement. 🙂
He and Eddie Bravo smoke way to much marijuana, among other psychotrophic substances. But he seems like a pretty legit dude otherwise.
On a related note, apparently Scott Coker has been smoking all of Rogan’s entire stash, because they’ve confirmed they’ll be running the rest of 1st round of the HWGP in Japan along with the LWGP opening round in April. *facepalm*
At least they’re doing a smart thing and having it run in the afternoon in Japan so it’s on at night in the U.S.
I want to see how this show looks, Showtime will want the HWGP (as they are paying for it) but HD Net will probably have the rights to the LWGP. Do Showtime let the former Pride guys run the production? and is it held in a cage with Strikeforce rules?.