And Michael Jordan. And Wayne Gretzky. Okay, fine. Anderson Silva is a great athlete. He mauled Yushin Okami last weekend at UFC 134. But Ali, Jordan, and Gretzky rolled into one? Come now. Come. Let us not forget that a year ago, Silva was the one getting mauled for five rounds by Chael Sonnen until he conjured a last-ditch triangle armbar from somewhere south of Curitiba.
More interesting is Bloody Elbow's comparison of Silva's sneak jab (similar to the one that turned Forrest Griffin into a stumblebum at UFC 101) to Ali's "Anchor Punch" (the one that felled Sonny Liston and birthed a generation of conspiracy theorists).
UFC 134: Rio Judo Chop - Anderson Silva, Muhammad Ali, and the Anchor Punch [Bloody Elbow]