When I saw Steven Seagal with a gi-clad Anderson Silva at UFC 117, I immediately had a bad feeling in my gut. Silva ended up putting on one of the poorest performances of his MMA career at UFC 117; getting dominated by a testosterone fueled Chael Sonnen for four and a half rounds, before pulling off a submission in the final minutes of the fight.
Even though I enjoyed several of Seagal's classics back in the day, I've never been a big fan of traditional martial arts. They seem to be watered down in many dojos around the world, with curriculums more suitable for keyboard warriors trying to get in shape.
However, Silva continues to train with Seagal, and the 60 year-old has been involved with the middleweight champion's preparations for his UFC 148 rematch against Sonnen.
"I have [trained with Silva for this camp]," Seagal said during an interview with Ariel Helwani. "I gave him some stuff that I consider to be very special, and I think it is also stuff that I don't think most people will be expecting. … I've showed him some of those, but I'm not going to talk about what they are. There are things that I think if Anderson decides to use them, they'll be very effective."
Without a doubt, Silva will have his hands full against Sonnen at UFC 148, but he should be fine with or without Seagal's instruction. "The Spider" has been relentlessly working on his takedown defense ever since his UFC 117 encounter against Sonnen, and he should be able to keep the fight standing.
However, the powers that be in the UFC seem to favor Sonnen, so Silva will be wise not to take any chances against the Portland native.
At the end of the day, I expect Silva to emerge victorious, and keep his undefeated streak in the UFC intact.
David is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and boxing practitioner that has watched and studied MMA for the past 7 years. Follow him on twitter @davidkingwriter and check out his blog.
Sources:
Dave Doyle, "Steven Seagal Says Chael Sonnen Had 'Extremely Unfair Advantage' in…"
Fight and fighter information from Sherdog.com
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