Anderson 'Braddock' Silva was feeling bitter as he went back to his dressing room following the fight with Benjamin Adegbuyi. He had put on probably the best performance of his career in their GLORY 38 CHICAGO heavyweight clash, yet found himself on the receiving end of a loss.
The catalyst was a third-round knockdown call, one which he strongly disputed. Adegbuyi had been working leg kicks throughout the fight when an inside-low to the rear leg caused Silva to fall down. Silva said it was a slip, Adegbuyi and the referee felt differently.
It was a crucial call. Had the referee sided with Silva, he would have come away with a unanimous decision win. Instead, it made the third round a 10-8 and that made the overall result a draw, Silva having been the winner of the first two rounds according to all three judges.
Under GLORY rules a draw means the fight goes to an extra round, much to the delight of the arena crowd. They fought three more minutes and Adegbuyi was able to dominate because he had more gas left in his tank. Thirty seconds into the round he landed an uppercut which forced Silva to take a knee and an eight-count.
From that point, the fight became an all-out war, a close-range grinder as Silva fought desperately to score a knockdown of his own. Huge blows were traded back and forth but neither fighter could find a decisive blow to end things. The seconds ticked away, the round ended and the win went to Adegbuyi.
To say Silva was disappointed would be putting it mildly. He was furious. The first three rounds had been probably his best-ever performance in the GLORY ring and he totally disputed the knockdown call in the third round. Without that knockdown call, the fight would have been a decision win in his favor.
The boxing work from both fighters was excellent but Silva's in particular stood out. His head movement made Adegbuyi miss repeatedly, opening him up for counter-punches. Silva's jab also did good work, finding its mark again and again.
His confidence surged as the fight went on, to the extent that he pulled out some rarely-seen tricks from his arsenal. Highlights included a lead-leg hook kick to the head and a 'Brazilian kick' (also known as a Question-Mark Kick), both of which landed cleanly and had a visible effect on Adegbuyi.
On the flipside, the benefit of Adegbuyi's training with Rico Verhoeven was clear, not only in his deployment of Verhoeven's trademark inside low kick to the rear leg but also in his tighter boxing and diligent low kick work.
It was that work which rewarded him in the third round; Silva's legs were obviously damaged and that may have influenced the referee's decision to give a knockdown call. Certainly it is unusual to low kicks to result in knockdown calls. One fighter who has managed it repeatedly? Rico Verhoeven.
Adegbuyi did his best to finish the fight once Silva beat the count but he couldn't find a way to capitalize. Silva came back strong and had Adegbuyi rocked just before the bell sounded the end of the third round. He thought he had the win in the bag but the knockdown call ruined it for him. Two judges had the fight 28-28 and that made for a majority draw and the extra round which would prove Silva's undoing.
Benjamin Adegbuyi (28-4-0) def. Anderson Silva (40-16-1), Unanimous Decision, R4 3:00
