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[Sniggles]

Purple Rain: Anderson Silva's Confounding Talent

Last night I had a friend over and we watched Purple Rain. I'm sure you are wondering why I'm leading into a story about Anderson Silva by mentioning Prince's egotistical centerpiece of his career. It was the film vehicle for himself which helped continue his ascent into a god-like status among fans and moved him to a whole new level. Purple Rain was a landmark for the musician; he proved that his music can transcend traditions and move on to another level. Fans, though, were disappointed when "Around the World in a Day" came out, followed by yet another film, "Under the Cherry Moon" which did not meet any expectations as the follow-up to Purple Rain. The soundtrack was brilliant, but the film was moody, darker and wasn't essentially a long music video with the same attitude and style as Purple Rain. Most of the 90's were spent with Prince doing his best to upset his record company, whom he felt were "enslaving" him and holding him back. He continued to insult and butt heads with his record label until he was done with his contract and went on to do whatever he wished with his name, career and music.

Does this sound familiar to anybody? To the average person, to see somebody with incredible talent, the belief is that they will continue to live up to their expectations and will be happy to please other people. In Prince's case, he outgrew the style of music associated with Purple Rain and eventually outgrew his backup band, The Revolution. When an artist decides that they want to move on, it is best to let them move on, as to force them to continue on the path that made them fame and fortune is to expect them to bite back, hard. Prince bit back hard, changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol and released a rapid-succession of albums to get him out of his contract, none of them really engaging to a large audience.

Anderson Silva is in a strange position, as no one within the fight industry outside of possibly Roy Jones, Jr. have been an artist in the ring. In UFC especially, fans are endeared to the hard-working fighters with the nice guy demeanor like Randy Couture, Forrest Griffin and Georges St. Pierre. Win or lose, the fans will always love Randy Couture. It doesn't matter if his personal life is always a mess and he is by all means a womanizer, what matters is in public he comes across like a swell guy. The same can be said for Forrest Griffin, a man that the casual fans love and that journalists describe as nothing short of a massive dick. But like I said, none have the artist mentality, so a fighter like Anderson Silva will always have a hard time being a fan favorite and a PPV draw like Couture or Griffin.

UFC 112 was a perfect example of this. Anderson spent most of the fight just absolutely clowning on Demian Maia, much to the consternation of Dana White, as well as most MMA fans and bloggers. The overwhelming commentary that I heard coming out of this fight was, "if you are so good, why not just finish the fight?" The other big term being tossed around was "disrespectful." To be blunt, Anderson Silva is very bored in his current disposition in life. Going into this fight, he knew that Maia posed no threat to him at all. Imagine being in school and being so brilliant that you are able to skip three grades, and then imagine the frustration when for the next three years you are told to stay in the same grade because that is what people want to see and you are just so great at it. This is really no different, and this is not to take away from Maia at all, who is a great fighter, he simply is not anywhere near the level of Anderson Silva.

A fighter like GSP might be content to dominate his weight class, show up in a well-tailored suit and talk up every mediocre opponent like they are a great challenge and that will endear him to the fans and to Dana White. What that means for GSP is that he will without a doubt be more successful, in the traditional sense, than Anderson Silva will ever be. Fans value hard work and modesty and see talents like Silva as confusing and irritating. Anderson really didn't even need to train for this fight, and honestly, with him slowing down like he did, I doubt he really did train very hard for this fight. Does it matter? He still easily dominated one of the top fighters in his weight class with no challenges in the Middleweight Division on the horizon anytime soon that will motivate him.

Anderson wanted to fight Roy Jones, Jr., something that he saw as a challenge for himself, but White found it ridiculous and too much of a risk and it was shot down. The concessions made were to allow him to jump up in weight a few times to fight Light Heavyweights like James Irvin (now down to Middleweight) and a legitimate challenge in Forrest Griffin. Griffin was easily (and I mean easily) picked apart, proving that there wouldn't be much of a challenge in the UFC anytime soon for Anderson, at least in his mind.

I'm not really sure what it means to be disrespectful to an industry of men who hit each other inside of a cage. I don't mean that as an insult, as I love MMA and have been watching it since I knew what it was when I was a kid. What I'm saying is that people need to take a step back and realize that they are watching an incredibly talented man who is incredibly troubled with how to handle his career in an industry that he simply doesn't fit in with but can easily dominate. Much like Prince, most people will consider Anderson Silva an arrogant, egotistical and unapproachable jerk on an unparalleled level. They'll revere his smash hits and pine over what could have been while all Silva will want is to forget they ever happened and move on to a new challenge.

Anderson Silva will never be what you want him to be and chances are, you can't understand what goes on in his head. Don't bother trying.

Purple Rain: Anderson Silva's Confounding Talent - Head Kick Legend

Yeah I stole this from the Spot. Maybe it will make some morons use their brain for something other than diddling themselves while expressing how much they hate Anderson.

[TBEAR]

Are you saying that we have to say "The fighter formally know as Anderson" or rename him a symbol?

[FEDOR_OWNS_MMA]

Being too talented is a very lame excuse

[Xanatos]

Originally Posted by FEDOR_OWNS_MMA

Being too talented is a very lame excuse

Why? that's why I don't fight mma. I think it would be rude to crush Silva, and end Fedor's win streak so easily. I couldn't damage their reputation. It's not easy being this gifted.

[bobafett]

anderson is the champion , dont plan on signing the contract if
u dont plan on going after him , demain was scared of being k.o'd
only in the end he realized his mistake and paid for it

[likebutta]

This is MMA. Sure, his ability in the ring may be akin to art work but that's where the comparison stops. And yes, he may be displeased with his contract, etc but I am sure he has some say about the way things go. His antics do no service to himself, his fans or the general customer base, if you will. Nor does it do anything to please the company he decided to work for (unless you're telling me he was forced to sign the contract). If his mission objective is to get released from his contract, well, he might well obtain that but it's silly considering how many purported matches he has left. And what kind of light would have potentially leave him in with other employers?

It's still not an excuse though. I'm not saying I will fully ever understand what is "going on in his head" but he has an obligation. If he agrees to a bloody fight, then do what needs to be done. Why accept it in the first place if you aren't happy with it?

But I guess arguing stuff like this eventually becomes just like , from either side of it.