If you read the excerpt from an interview with Irvin below, you'll see that he's going into this fight with Silva with something to prove and he feels he can handle what Silva dishes out. Now, I am a fan of Silva and we've all seen what he can do, but he obviously better take this fight with Irvin very seriously. I don't think Irvin is someone who is posed to give the MW champ major problems, but if Silva gets in the pocket with Irvin, he could very well get put out. As the lead in to the interview states, "Of Irvin’s 14 victories, ten have come by way of (T)KO, a staggering 71% - including a record-tying 8-second KO of Houston Alexander at UFC Fight Night 13."
In my opinion, Silva is going to want to stay on the outside, take the fight into the second round or so, and then either pick Irvin apart OR take him down and submit him. Irvin, on the other hand, wants to keep things standing but he'll need to get on the inside and used his muy thai, namely elbows, in combination with clinching and big straights and hooks. This is a fight in which Silva's own clinch game, rock solid or not, is simply not going to be as effective since he's moved up a weight class and will not necessarily be as strong.
Interview excerpt:
Jesse Holland (MMAmania.com): Well you don’t get Rashad Evans but now you’ve got UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
James Irvin: Yeah that’s a pretty big jump, huh? I can’t think of an opponent outside of Rampage or Liddell - maybe even Fedor that would be more shocking. But hey, Dana White seems to repay the people who fight hard for him. We all know about the big bonuses he gives out. I’ve been lucky enough to get three of them. This is my seventh UFC fight and he knows I’m gonna go out and fight hard for him. I’m gonna stand there and trade and I’ll take one to give one. In this case I might have to take two to give one.
Jesse Holland (MMAmania.com): Can you take two from Anderson Silva? Can anyone?
James Irvin: Absolutely. He has one or two tools that are problematic but I know what they are. I think he’s more of a right-handed guy but he stands in a southpaw stance. He likes to lead with that left leg and he’s comfortable now. He’s used to getting guys on the defensive. There’s nothing he can do that I’m afraid of. I’m not afraid of him taking me down - that would be a shame, wouldn’t it? He’s a showman. He moved up to 205 to make a point. Maybe he feels like he ran through the 185 division and now he’s gonna start picking off the 205 guys.
Jesse Holland (MMAmania.com): And you’re not taking that lightly I assume.
James Irvin: No way! If anything I kind of feel like a representative of the light heavyweights division. I want this guy to know there is a reason we have weight classes.
Jesse Holland (MMAmania.com): Just so I have this clear - your intention is to keep this thing standing?
James Irvin: Absolutely. Even though I want to focus on Muay Thai and boxing I am training a ton of jiu-jitsu under Cassio Wernick. He actually knows Anderson and that’s where we wanna use my weight to my advantage. Not to stall him out or anything but to be in a position where I can be safe and punish him from the ground. I just don’t see the fight going there. He’s not going to take me down, I’m not going to try and take him down, but if it gets there I have to be ready.
Anderson Silva
No comments:
Post a Comment