(Photo via MMAMagazine.)
The only thing that irks Dana White more than his fighters giving “pointless” interviews is when he misses the opportunity to exploit a grudge match between said fighters. Seriously, it keeps him up most nights and sometimes even causes fits of dizziness in the poor fellow. And unfortunately, now that the UFC has finished cashing in on their latest grudge match, there has been a void left behind in the lives of “true” MMA fans. You know, the ones who need fabricated storylines and endless trash-talk in order to find the sport exciting in the first place. People who think Brock Lesnar has obviously earned a spot in the UFC Hall of Fame, in other words.
Although a “much” “anticipated” “grudge match” between Chael Sonnen and Jon Jones is set to transpire any day now, recent events have pretty much dispelled any idea that those two actually hate each other, so no luck there. Enter Anderson Silva vs. Jose Landi-Jons: a bitter rivalry that dates back to the glory days of the Chute Box gym. Sure, most of these “true” fans have likely never heard of Landi-Jons despite his legendary status and longevity in the sport, but when they get ahold of the positively Diazian story involving “Pele” chasing old Andy through the streets of Brazil, you can bet your bottom dollar that the Twitter rally campaigns will be shortly behind (via Portal do Vale Tudo, translation via Sherdog):
Anderson was jogging in the company of a friend when Pelé, who was driving by the location, saw his enemy and decided to go back and confront him about stuff Anderson wrote about Pelé in his book. According to witnesses, the only reason they didn’t fight was because Anderson’s friend stopped them.
Jose: I saw him joggin in the runway, turned around and called him out for a fight. He said he would fight me, but soon came a car full of security guards, saying there would be no fight. Anderson started screaming, calling me a punk. I cursed him a lot as well and told him that he is the champion outside, but in Curitiba he is nothing. He always challenged me, I accepted and beat him twice, now I’m challenging him. I wish him a long life with the UFC belt that brings so much pride to the people of Curitiba, but I think we owe it to Curitiba: Anderson x Pele part 3, maybe in a UFC in Curitiba.
Despite being rivals in the 90s, when they fought twice under Muay Thai rules (with two decisions for Pele), Anderson Silva, Noguchi`s student, became part of Chute Boxe and started to dispute the number one spot in his weight class against Pelé. Both guys always remained rivals inside the Chute Boxe rings. After becoming a UFC champion, Anderson helped Pele in his trainings and, according to what Anderson has told friends, even financially. The quarrel between them happened after Landy read Anderson`s version about an episode in which Pelé splashed water on Anderson and his daughter driving the car over water. After reading the book, Pelé told PVT (the source website) that the story was not true, but Anderson has confirmed it many times.
We can picture it now: Dana White books these two opposite one another on the next season of TUF: Brazil, spends some time telling the media that this fight is the one that fans want to see, a few missed press conferences, talks of Andy “unleashing the dark side,” and BOOM! Pay-per-view dynamite.
The fact that Landi-Jons is coming off a loss should all but seal the deal. Who you like for this one?