Yesterday, Jared wrote up a detailed assessment of the UFC’s middleweight contenders in an attempt to bring some clarity to the pecking order at 185, because sometimes we want to be part of the solution instead of the problem. Anderson Silva‘s management is doing the opposite of that — shooting down logical suggestions and casually calling out a guy who can’t even fight Silva, contractually speaking. It’s a bit of a dick move, to be honest. Here’s the current situation, as reported on Fuel TV’s UFC Tonight (via MMAMania):
“One of Anderson Silva’s managers said that one of the issues with Hector Lombard is he thinks he needs at least three more impressive wins* in the UFC. He said that 85 percent** of UFC fans don’t even know who Hector Lombard is, who is of course making his Octagon debut on Saturday night…As for Chris Weidman, he said, ‘Well, there’s another great unknown fighter.’*** He doesn’t see those match ups as being money making pay-per-view events…He did mention Luke Rockhold, who is the Strikeforce middleweight champion. Alas, Rockhold is contractually tied to Strikeforce, so that fight’s not happening.**** We’ll have to wait and see, but right now, the Anderson Silva camp [is] not too excited about the options out there.”*****
* Anderson Silva got his first UFC title shot after a single win over Chris Leben. Just thought that was worth mentioning.
** All percentages provided by Brazil’s National Department of Just Makin’ Shit Up.
*** You know, there was a time when winning five straight fights would automatically get you a middleweight title shot in the UFC. (See: Patrick Cote, Thales Leites.) More importantly, Weidman’s not exactly “unknown” after that hurting he put on Mark Munoz. He’s finally caught the attention of UFC fans, and they want to see more of him.
**** How fucking convenient. YOU’RE NOT FOOLING ANYBODY, ANDY. Besides, that’s kind of a kick in the nuts to Rockhold, who would love the chance to fight Anderson. Maybe you two can just spar on the weekends?
***** “What about meeeeeeee?!” But seriously, remember when Silva used to spend his down-time destroying light-heavyweights? Those were fun days. We all know the middleweight contender ladder is chaotic right now, but it’s not like Silva doesn’t have other options until things clear up, if he really wanted to compete. Unfortunately, that might entail the possibility of losing, which, as any traditional martial artist knows, could bring great dishonor upon one’s endorsement portfolio.
