Now, don’t get me wrong. If Silva fought Jonny Bones, I would be going bananas just like all of you, but I also consider it a fight that Silva would be very unlikely to win. Silva’s knees from in the clinch – easily his most devastating strike – would be near impossible to pull off against Bones, since he is both too tall n also among the very best Greco Roman wrestlers in the UFC. Silva’s punch n kick accuracy is another of his main strengths n likely the best chance he would have for winning, because since he greatly prefers to counterstrike than attack preemptively, he might be able to slip a punch or two, throw a couple strikes n return to the outside. That is not at all a safe bet, however, because Jones’ height n reach advantage mean that staying on the outside would leave him open to many more strikes than he would be able to return. He would have a punchers chance if he could stop it from going to the ground, but what seems most likely – not certain, but very likely – is that Bones would force a clinch situation, ragdoll him to the ground n then batter him with punches n elbows from guard, half-guard, and/or side-control.

I may still believe that Anderson Silva is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, but that doesn’t mean he is invincible n the (mostly unspoken (at least in English)) reasons that he has for hesitating to fight Bones are legit. GSP vs. Silva, however, might be a truly awesome match-up.