Anderson Silva's antics were nothing more than a temper tantrum
As any regular reader of this blog knows, I was overjoyed that the UFC was in my town this past week. I told everyone that would listen, even for five seconds, that the main event featured the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and rest assured, he would put on a show for the fans from the Windy City. Anderson Silva's opponents are often immaterial, as he can easily impose his will on them. I hate to quote Joe Rogan, but I agree with his assessment of Silva's fight style: a ballet of violence.
So why did Silva decide to insult his opponent, ticket-buyers in Chicago, pay-per-view buyers, the media and the UFC with his farce of a fight on Saturday at UFC 90? Maybe it was his way of asking the UFC to find him better competition. Maybe he was bored with the idea of fighting Patrick Cote, a clearly inferior opponent. Maybe Silva thinks that the dancing and bows were funny. But when you get down to it, his motives are immaterial.
He is a professional fighter, and needs to do the job. Period. He is paid to fight the person put in front of him. This is not any different from you or me. Can you imagine what would happen if you showed up at work today and decided to not do your job? You might not like the work that you have to do that day, but you still have to do it. It is no different for Silva. I agree that the UFC needs to find better opponents for Silva, but the way for him to cajole his bosses into searching for better fighters is not to throw a childlike tantrum. He needs to destroy his opponents convincingly, and then ask for what he wants like a man.
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