Author: Jeremy Botter

Dana White Listens to Fans Once Again, Yanks Away Vera’s Short-Lived Dream

Never let it be said that Dana White doesn’t listen to the fans. Well, the fans on Twitter, anyway. For some reason, White considers Twitter a separate portion of the internet. To him, it’s not the same as visiting The Underground or any of the do…

Never let it be said that Dana White doesn’t listen to the fans. 

Well, the fans on Twitter, anyway. For some reason, White considers Twitter a separate portion of the internet. To him, it’s not the same as visiting The Underground or any of the dozens of digital domains where hardcore MMA geeks reside.

This is ludicrous, of course. But that’s okay, because Twitter still provides you, the average mixed martial arts fan, with a way to voice your opinion that will most definitely be heard by the UFC President.

Witness the recent Tim Sylvia signing-and-then-non-signing by Strikeforce. According to sources close to the situation, that was a deal killed entirely by fan backlash to the news on Twitter. News of Sylvia’s signing leaked out, the fans reacted in great volume on Twitter and White put the kibosh on the whole deal before it could be completed.

And now, we have yet another example of Twitter’s power. Remember yesterday when White announced, much to the confusion of everyone in the entire world, that the winner of Saturday’s UFC on FOX bout between Mauricio Rua and Brandon Vera was going to receive the next shot at the light heavyweight title? 

Well, that’s over. And you can once again blame—or thank, depending on your point of view—Twitter for the change. From MMAJunkie.com:

“Whoever wins the most impressively on Saturday night gets the shot at the title,” White said.

White’s decision comes after a rash of fan backlash following his original announcement. UFC’s social-media-savvy fanbase immediately took to Twitter to protest the decision while citing Rua’s recent losses to both current champion Jon Jones and the champ’s UFC 151 opponent, Dan Henderson – as well as Vera’s current run of just one win in four appearances – as reasons why the bout did not deserve to be considered a No. 1 contender’s contest.

White said he listened to the complaints, and he’s making a change.

“I put together the fights that fans want to see,” White said. “The fans didn’t like the Rua and Vera choice, so here it is: The guy that wins most impressively on Saturday night out of the co-main event and the main event will get the shot at the winner of Jon Jones vs. Dan Henderson.”

Sure, this sucks for Vera. But let’s do some real talk for a second: Vera shouldn’t be in consideration for a title shot here anyway. Even if he pulls off the craziest and most violent knockout in UFC history—think Anderson Silva footing Vitor Belfort’s chin through the roof—Vera should still, by all logical standards, be at least two fights from getting into the title picture.

With this new setup, he still has a chance.

And in reality, his goal shouldn’t change in the slightest. Each of these four men should have been going out looking for an utterly dominant win and a great performance in the first place, because we all know how these types of proclamations can change on the fly.

Just witness the past 24 hours for a perfect example. 

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Jose Aldo Might Move to Lightweight? Sign Me Up, Please

Jose Aldo is getting dangerously close to cleaning out the featherweight division.Part of that is due to Aldo’s utter dominance, of course. But it’s also due to the lack of big-name opponents available for the featherweight champion. Ricardo Lamas is p…

Jose Aldo is getting dangerously close to cleaning out the featherweight division.

Part of that is due to Aldo’s utter dominance, of course. But it’s also due to the lack of big-name opponents available for the featherweight champion. Ricardo Lamas is putting together a case for a title shot, but I can’t imagine that you’d be willing to throw down $60 to see that main event. The same goes for a potential rematch with Chad Mendes—we’ve already seen that dance once, and it didn’t end well the first time.

Chan Sung Jung is, at the moment, the most marketable opponent available for Aldo. But after that, what’s left? Not much, by my reckoning. 

That leaves one major question: How would Aldo feel about moving up to lightweight?

[Lightweight] was a big chance once (rumor), but now I’m focused on my division. Andre (Pederneiras) is the one to make this call, him along with Dana White and Joe Silva. If they think it’s best for me to fight on the lightweight division, I will. Otherwise, I will keep fighting here, where I’m the champion.

The thought of Aldo moving up to face the best at 155 pounds leaves me positively giddy.

Aldo vs. Benson Henderson? Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar? Aldo vs. Donald Cerrone? Or even Aldo vs. Nate Diaz? These are all fights that make the hardcore fan inside me scream out with excitement.

Aldo still has a bit of work to do at featherweight. He’ll face Erik Koch in the fall, and then perhaps a fight with Jung is up for discussion. But should Aldo win both of those fights, there just isn’t much left that’s all that appealing for him at featherweight.

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UFC: The 10 Fighters You Don’t Want to Meet in a Dark Alley

Let’s face it: there really aren’t any UFC fighters that you’d want to meet in a dark alley.Not if you have bad intentions on your mind, anyway. You’d go from being the aggressor to testing out your speed in a foot race in a blink of an eye. That’s als…

Let’s face it: there really aren’t any UFC fighters that you’d want to meet in a dark alley.

Not if you have bad intentions on your mind, anyway. You’d go from being the aggressor to testing out your speed in a foot race in a blink of an eye. That’s also a fight you probably wouldn’t win. 

But there are certain guys on the UFC roster that instill a little more fear than the rest. Or, I should say, the thought of running into these guys in anywhere but an absolutely public place puts the fear of God into me.

Let me state, for the record, that all of the guys I’ve included on this list are incredibly nice human beings. We’re not talking about Mike Tyson in the ’80s or ’90s here, folks. All of these fighters would be more inclined to take you out for a beer than bash the ever-loving stuffing out of you.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at 10 of the scariest fighters in the UFC.

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Tim Sylvia Doesn’t Understand Why the UFC Picked Frank Mir to Face Cormier

I feel bad for Tim Sylvia. I really do.He’ll forever be known as the guy who was knocked out by Ray Mercer in nine seconds. That’s a tough one to forget. But before that, back before he decided to leave the UFC for a giant payday from the now-defunct A…

I feel bad for Tim Sylvia. I really do.

He’ll forever be known as the guy who was knocked out by Ray Mercer in nine seconds. That’s a tough one to forget. But before that, back before he decided to leave the UFC for a giant payday from the now-defunct Affliction promotion, Sylvia was one of the best heavyweights in the world.

Granted, the UFC’s heavyweight division wasn’t very good when Big Timmy ruled it with a doughy fist. Most of the top heavyweights in the world were contracted to PRIDE at the time. But he did the best he could with the cards he was given, putting together a decent—if almost entirely forgettable—run. 

But now, Sylvia is on the outside looking in. Despite winning seven of his last eight fights, Big Tim still can’t get a crack at the UFC. Even after offering to fight for free, the UFC isn’t ringing his cell phone. 

Well, they actually did. He was considered for a bout with Daniel Cormier in Strikeforce. It’s not the UFC, but it’s also a world apart from the minor league shows Sylvia’s been inhabiting for the better part of two years. But once the news of Sylvia’s return to the big show leaked out, the vicious public outcry over the signing forced Dana White and the UFC to reconsider their offer. The contract that was offered to Sylvia was pulled before being executed by both sides, and Tim found himself without a home yet again.

Sylvia took to the Underground to apologize to everyone who wanted to see him back in the spotlight:

Sorry to all my fans hoping to see me back in the big show. We were talking to the UFC about the dc fight in sf and agreed to it. But for some reason they picked mir instead. It is what it is at least I was considered so maybe in the near future I will be back thanks for all of your support.

Tim seems to be wondering why in the world Zuffa would pick Mir over him. I think I can answer that question, if you’ll let me.

Zuffa picked Mir because beating him means more to Daniel Cormier than beating Sylvia would. Cormier is a potential heavyweight title challenger, and his next win needs to be important enough to legitimately vault him into the upper tier of the UFC’s heavyweight division. Beating Mir accomplishes that because he’s been in the limelight often enough to be a major and enduring star for the company.

Sylvia is the guy who lost to Ray Mercer in nine seconds.

Sure, he’s a former UFC heavyweight champion. And again, he’s won seven of his last eight fights.

But folks only remember the losses to Mercer, to Emelianenko and to Abe Wagner. They remember Sylvia showing up for fights at 320 pounds, a ballooned and cartooned version of the fighter he used to be. They remember all of the times he whined about the lack of respect he gets from the fans and the media.

They remember all of the times that Dana White went out of his way to make sure the fans knew that Sylvia sucked.

UFC fans have long-lasting and specific memories, which is to say that they remember what they want and ignore the rest of the evidence. And Sylvia is a victim of those memories, but he’s also a victim of his own doing. 

Do I think Sylvia deserves another chance at the UFC? Sure. Why not? You’ll never convince me that he hasn’t earned a chance to show up on a preliminary card and face another middling heavyweight. 

But I also understand why he’s frozen out of the company he so desperately seeks approval from.

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July 2012 MMA Rankings: The 10 Best in Each Division

Once per month, I put together a list of rankings in each weight class, from heavyweight down to flyweight, for the USA Today consensus MMA rankings.I’m going to begin sharing those rankings with you, starting with my latest ballot.These rankings are m…

Once per month, I put together a list of rankings in each weight class, from heavyweight down to flyweight, for the USA Today consensus MMA rankings.

I’m going to begin sharing those rankings with you, starting with my latest ballot.

These rankings are my own. They are not affiliated with the official Bleacher Report MMA rankings and should not be considered the consensus view of anyone else on the Caged In or Bleacher Report staff.

With that disclaimer out of the way, let’s get started with the big boys at heavyweight. 

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Anderson Silva Really Only Wants to Fight Georges St-Pierre

What’s next for Anderson Silva? That’s been the burning question of the moment, ever since he finished Chael Sonnen in the second round at UFC 148 to put an emphatic end to their rivalry.To many, the middleweight division has never been more stack…

What’s next for Anderson Silva? 

That’s been the burning question of the moment, ever since he finished Chael Sonnen in the second round at UFC 148 to put an emphatic end to their rivalry.

To many, the middleweight division has never been more stacked than it is right now. Chris Weidman, Michael Bisping, Brian Stann and Tim Boetsch have all emerged as potential contenders to the middleweight throne, with Weidman seemingly the odds-on favorite to be the next guy in line to score a title shot.

But Silva doesn’t want to fight Weidman. As a matter of fact, he doesn’t really want to fight anyone else at middleweight, either. Silva’s manager Jorge Guimaraes spoke to Brazilian outlet Tatame about the swirling rumors concerning The Spider and his next opponent:

“That’s a big joke,” said Guimaraes. “Everybody saw that it worked for Chael, and he got really famous with that, and now everybody wants to be on the spotlight.”

“No opponent makes sense for Anderson at this moment. Unless we do a catchweight against Georges St. Pierre. They didn’t offer the fight, but he’s the only one that could do a super fight. Anderson has the biggest paycheck in the UFC, and you can’t promote an event with these amateur kids that are coming up now”.

First and foremost, let me state that I’m still very interested in seeing Silva vs. St-Pierre. If that’s the route Silva wants to go, and if St-Pierre is willing to jump up a few pounds for a catchweight bout, I’d be excited to see it.

But the reality is this: It’s probably not going to happen.

St-Pierre has been extremely hesitant in the past when answering questions about a move to middleweight. And the UFC believes—rightly so, I must add—that there are still plenty of worthy contenders in both divisions for each guy to defend their respective belts against.

But it seems like Silva doesn’t really see it that way. Sure, this was Guimaraes speaking and not Silva, but calling Weidman and the rest of the group “amateurs” is a tad bit silly. They’re legitimate contenders, whether Silva’s camp believes they are or not, and it doesn’t really matter if they believe Silva would have little trouble defeating any of them.

The purpose of mixed martial arts is to find out who the better fighter in the cage is by, well, putting them in the cage and letting them fight. You can say Weidman, Boetsch and the others would be significant underdogs going into a bout with Silva, and you’d be correct.

But you can’t say they’re amateurs. And you can’t say they have no chance at all, because anything can happen in mixed martial arts. This simply reeks of arrogance, and I’m a little surprised that Silva is allowing this kind of language to come out of his camp.

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