On Friday we speculated that Chael Sonnen would not be able to step in for the injured Vitor Belfort at UFC 112; we proceeded to waver on that opinion (yes waffles are one of our favorite breakfast foods), only to receive news that Demian Maia will now face Anderson Silva. Funny how the magical world of the UFC works huh? Silva bombs out Marquardt, Maia works Sonnen, Marquardt bombs out Maia, Sonnen works Marquardt, Silva bombs out…well, we’re getting ahead of ourselves here.
In an interesting story from MMA Junkie, Silva’s manager Ed Soares conceded that the champion was willing to move up to light-heavyweight if need be, in wake of Belfort’s injury; seems like “The Spider” just wants to fight (Nice). Soares also apparently denied having any influence in the UFC’s decision to roll with Maia, after the outspoken manager recently stated that they felt Sonnen should have to avenge his UFC 95 loss to Maia, before getting a title shot (Comments that included the word’s “beat up” and “easily”…). At any rate, according to Soares, Anderson had the following reaction to the news Maia was willing to take the fight:
“I had a message from Lorenzo and from (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva,” Soares said. “I called them both back, and actually I got hold of Joe Silva first. Joe told me that Demian Maia stepped up and was willing to take the fight. I said, ‘Great.’
“I finally got hold of Anderson and I called them back immediately and said, ‘Hey. Anderson said it’s no problem.’”
Cool beans gentlemen. Let’s do this.