‘Anderson Silva was to MMA what Muhammad Ali was to boxing’: Daniel Cormier insists Israel Adesanya ‘has work to do’ to overtake legendary Brazilian as middleweight GOAT
- Israel Adesanya is taking on Robert Whittaker in the main event of UFC 271
- ‘Stylebender’ is trying to further claim that he is the greatest ever middleweight
- But Daniel Cormier believes he still has a long way to go to top Anderson Silva
- He said: ‘Anderson Silva existed, like, I don’t get this recency bias that fans have’
Israel Adesanya has plenty of work to do before he can be considered the greatest UFC middleweight ever, according to Daniel Cormier.
The Nigerian-born Kiwi, who defends his title against Robert Whittaker next Saturday at UFC 271, has never been beaten in the division.
Many believe he is one of the most talented 185-pounders ever seen but Cormier is adamant that Anderson Silva is still out ahead.
Israel Adesanya rematches Robert Whittaker next weekend and even if he wins, has some way to go before overtaking Anderson Silva as the greatest middleweight, says Daniel Cormier
DC insists Silva is the MMA equivalent of Muhammad Ali and hit out at recency bias
He told ESPN: ‘Dude, Anderson Silva existed. Anderson Silva existed, like, I don’t get this recency bias that fans have.
‘Guys, you can’t just—honestly, I think the word GOAT gets thrown around way too easy in fight sports. You’ve got to really—the only person that doesn’t get passed is Muhammad Ali.
‘There have been really impressive fighters, but people recognize what Muhammad Ali was.
‘Anderson Silva was to MMA what Muhammad Ali was to boxing. No, Izzy has some work to do to catch Anderson.’
Silva was one of the most entertaining strikers and went on an incredible run
In his prime, ‘The Spider’ was incredible and between 2006-2013, he won 17 straight fights, successfully defending his UFC title 10 consecutive times.
Adesanya defeated Silva in 2019 but he was in the midst of a serious decline by that point.
Cormier also had the chance to share the octagon with him and admitted he was in awe. He added: ‘I looked across the octagon and I knew that I was fighting Anderson at UFC 200.
‘Stylebender’ has looked untouchable at middlweight and is eyeing another title defence
‘We did the staredowns for the weigh-ins and I was like, “Wow, I’m fighting Anderson Silva.” Then when we got in the octagon I was like “Holy sh*t, that’s Anderson Silva.”
‘It was like, the levels just kept going up in terms of appreciation for who he was to the sport of MMA.
‘Anderson Silva is the MMA, mixed martial arts goat at 185. It’ll be a long time before someone passes him.’