A very long analytical analysis of striking techniques performed by Fedor and Silva
By Avishai Abrahami, Editor:Why I made this analysis:
Watching Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko videos, I was becoming increasingly curious about their style, not what they said is their style, but what they actually did. What sparked my interest was that I was convinced, they are not using boxing or kickboxing moves for the most important parts of their fights. It seems there was a big gap between what their "school of martial art" was to what "martial art" they had actually been doing. So I started to investigate.
About the author:
I practiced martial arts for 40 years, during which I trained for multiple years in each of the following styles: kickboxing, Muay Thai, Judo, two forms of Karate, Ninjutsu, mainly in AKBAN, Capoeira.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and White Crane Kung Fu are the exceptions; I only practiced each for a total of almost a year.
The rules I used for creating this analysis
So I took all their videos of their fights that I could find.
I cut short video clips of all their movements.
I sorted the new videos by technique.
- I only included and analyzed videos of striking, as I don't have the skills to analyze grappling.
- I only included videos of the fights where both fighters were in their prime (before their late 30's, as it seems no matter how good you are, old age always wins).
- I did not include videos of strikes where the opponent could hardly function anymore, These are not included. This is mostly important for Silva, who, once the opponent was slowed by knockouts, moved to a very different style and started to play with his opponent instead of finishing the fights, and for Fedor, who just keeps hitting stunned opponents until they drop.
- Some single move strikes are not included. It is a very small number and I don't think they matter.
- At the end of the videos are a few strikes that I could not assign to techniques and clips I just kept.
The resulting video are linked and embedded in each section https://vimeo.com/1066952216 (recommended to watch in slow motion, and feel free to download).
The videos include 100% of all the strikes done in all fights by both fighters and almost all their defensive moves.
* Ok, so probably not 100%; I did try, but I am sure I missed a few strikes and defensive moves.
Why Silva?
Muay Thai, boxing, taekwondo, Krav Maga, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt.
In his prime (before mid 30's) he was almost undefeated.
His record: 33 wins and 4 losses.
The 4 fights that he lost are: one by disqualification, one from flying scissor heel hook in a fight Silva dominated 99% of the time, and one in an early fight in Brazil with the local champion, where Silva kicked his ass, but lost by referee decision.
In all of his first 37 fights in his prime, it looked like none of his opponents could provide any challenge while striking and not grappling. He dominated every aspect of a striking fight, while being very aggressive and looking untouchable in striking.
How incredible Silva is can be explained with two simple facts:
- In most of his fights, the opponent never lands even one strike.
- In the UFC, he maintained a striking accuracy of 60%, attempting 1,300 strikes and landing 779 – which is insane.
My personal observation, is that as a striker, Silva is probably the most impressive and efficient fighter ever (or the second best).
Why Fedor?
Combat Sambo, Judo, and kickboxing and Savate.
In his prime (before mid 30's) Fedor was undefeated.
His record: 31 wins and 1 loss.
His only loss is from a doctor stoppage from a cut done by an accidental elbow to his forehead in a fight where elbow strikes were illegal.
In his first 31 fights, the average length of the fight was 3.2 minutes, with a median of 2:50 (just below 3 minutes).
This incredible achievement is even more enhanced if you consider that Fedor is a small guy.
At 183 centimeters tall he could easily cut weight and be a middleweight fighter, or even welterweight, but he was fighting at heavyweight, facing opponents that were 2, 3, 4 sizes bigger than him (the average height of his opponents is probably around 193 centimeters).
Most MMA champions fight only MMA fighters, most of those contenders struggle to get a shot at the title, and the big majority are ok fighters. Fedor mostly fought champions that have proven themselves as incredible fighters.
In addition, Fedor not only fought MMA fighters, he fought world champions of many skills, and most of the time, defeated them in their stronger area:
- Pretty much every UFC/MMA heavyweight champion.
- Wrestling & Judo champions (including Olympic medalists).
- Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu masters (including Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, who was Silva's teacher).
- 3 kickboxing K-1 world champions.
In my mind the most incredible achievement by far, is that this small guy fighting all those huge guys, winning so quickly, but in all 31 fights as far as I remember, he only has been hit twice with a significant strike.
It's so incredible it is worth repeating: 31 fights, a small guy against the best world champions in every field, was only hit twice while knocking/submitting them in about 3 minutes on average.