So you want to be a fighter huh? This is the kind of training that is usually required to reach the highest levels of the sport. These two pull no punches in this sparring video from a ways back. It is interesting to see the contrasting styles these two legends and long-time training partners have.

Anderson Silva tends to keep his hands lower and relies on head movement and evasive techniques to dodge Nog’s attacks. While Big Nog has a more traditional, textbook defense keeping his hands up and blocking Silva’s strikes. Both land their fair share of hard punches and combinations as they both prepare for their matches prior to UFC 73.

Nowadays there’s a different approach to sparring at many high level fight camps. There is less emphasis on this kind of hard sparring and it is more focused on lighter, less often ‘technique’ sparring. It’s hard to say what the more effective strategy is. Although technique sparring helps preserve the fighter’s long term health, does it prepare the fighter for a real fight like this kind of sparring you see here?

Both Anderson and Nog’s careers speaks for themselves but there is an argument to be made that this kind of hard sparring may make the fighter more susceptible to knockouts at the later stage of their careers. However, you could also argue that they would never have reached the pinnacle of the sport without giving it their all in the gym.

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Anderson Silva is former UFC Middleweight Champion and an all-time great MMA fighter. His next fight takes place May 14th against Uriah Hall at UFC 198.

Antonio Rodrigo ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira is former Pride Heavyweight Champion and former UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion. He is now retired and works for the UFC as a UFC Brazil Ambassador.