Anderson Silva wants Ed Soares to take his name out of his mouth — at least when talking to reporters about the career decisions of his marquee client.
Silva took exception to Soares’ recent interview with GLOBO recently during which he explained that Silva will likely retire after competing four more times in the Octagon. The usually jovial Brazilian fighter refuted Soares’ assertion and hinted that he may split with his longtime manager as a result his insolence.
“Not true. As one of my coaches, I still have many bottles to sell. I think we keep fighting for another six, seven years. Four years ago, I was a little stressed,” Silva explained in an interview with GLOBO this week. “I decided with my teacher Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira that after another year I would stop. He said he had no reason to, and then I stopped to think, I had one more fight, and then said, ‘I will postpone my retirement for some time.”
(“Do you need a manager?”)
Anderson Silva wants Ed Soares to take his name out of his mouth — at least when talking to reporters about the career decisions of his marquee client.
Silva took exception to Soares’ recent interview with GLOBO recently during which he explained that Silva will likely retire after competing four more times in the Octagon. The usually jovial Brazilian fighter refuted Soares’ assertion and hinted that he may split with his longtime manager as a result his insolence.
“Not true. As one of my coaches, I still have many bottles to sell. I think we keep fighting for another six, seven years. Four years ago, I was a little stressed,” Silva explained in an interview with GLOBO this week. “I decided with my teacher Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira that after another year I would stop. He said he had no reason to, and then I stopped to think, I had one more fight, and then said, ‘I will postpone my retirement for some time.”
Silva also spoke during a television appearance this weekend on Tela Nitida the about the seemingly growing rift with Soares that began to form when the much maligned manager began telling the media that they weren’t interested in a fight with Chael Sonnen in spite of the fact that “The Gangster from America” is the UFC’s top contender at the moment, unless Dan Henderson decides to drop down to middleweight again. Adding to their tension was the fact that Silva took issue with the recent mocking photograph Soares posed for with Sonnen, who in recent weeks has turned up the insults targeted at “The Spider” and his wife.
“Unfortunately my manager is American, he speaks Portuguese but he is American. But I’m putting myself as a Brazilian… Whether you are in the UFC or not, when I’m outside my country i’m going to represent my country well and I think everyone has to position himself in the right way,” Silva explained. “His position was not good, was not cool, as a manager he needed to have a more professional attitude. He was not professional and I don’t know why… I think it was not cool. But everyone knows what’s best, he is a grown man and he is going to deal with the backlash of what he did. First thing is that nobody can talk for me except myself. Second is that I don’t have a contract with anybody, except with Nine9 and my sponsors, so anything can happen.”
It looks like Soares, who was dropped by Junior dos Santos a few months back is about to lose his meal ticket and there’s a pretty good chance that if he does, Silva’s training partners like Nogueira and Jose Aldo will follow suit.
Renato Laranja is back with another one of his instant classic interviews. This time around our hero sits down with M-1 light heavyweight champion Vinny Magalhaes and the interview goes well until the former TUF 8 finalist starts to get a gay vibe from the 27-time Mundials champion. Magalhaes accuses Laranja of becoming “weird” since he moved to the U.S. and hints that he may have picked up some homosexual tendencies — not that there’s anything wrong with that, right Vinny?
First Big Nog’ and now Vinny. What’s next? Is Anderson going to stop wearing pink shirts and dancing with Justin Bieber?
(Video courtesy of YouTube/TwisterEddie)
Renato Laranja is back with another one of his instant classic interviews. This time around our hero sits down with M-1 light heavyweight champion Vinny Magalhaes and the interview goes well until the former TUF 8 finalist starts to get a gay vibe from the 27-time Mundials champion. Magalhaes accuses Laranja of becoming “weird” since he moved to the U.S. and hints that he may have picked up some homosexual tendencies — not that there’s anything wrong with that, right Vinny?
First Big Nog’ and now Vinny. What’s next? Is Anderson going to stop wearing pink shirts and dancing with Justin Bieber?
Renato has some assumptions of his own, backed by hard science.
“It take a one to know one. I’m rubber and you’re glue whatever you say for me, the same go for you. I know that you know that I know that you know.”
He then reveals that Magalhaes should perhaps be questioning his own sexuality and not others.
“You’re the one who influenced me to light some candles and if was not for me you would have me put some incense. Vinny Magalhaes, you asked me to put some Keith Sweat and that girl take away the [sound] system so I can’t play. What was gonna happen? Then next comes some champagne. I’m hip to your game.”
For an extra bonus, go back to the beginning of the vid and watch Matt Horwich explain why he had to choke out a drunken friend on a recent trip back to Oregon.
Filed under: UFCTo Brendan Schaub, it was just an off-hand remark in answer to a common question. While in Los Angeles to talk about the UFC Undisputed video game, he gave an interview where he was asked who he’d like to fight next after his loss to An…
To Brendan Schaub, it was just an off-hand remark in answer to a common question. While in Los Angeles to talk about the UFC Undisputed video game, he gave an interview where he was asked who he’d like to fight next after his loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 134 in Brazil.
“They kept talking about the Strikeforce [heavyweights], the heavyweight division, and I just mentioned that I thought there were bunch of good fights for me,” Schaub told MMA Fighting on Tuesday. “And I said, you know, I think [Fabricio] Werdum would be a fight that the UFC fans might like to see, but who knows?”
That was all it took for Werdum, who apparently saw the interview and was quick to jump on his Twitter to tell Schaub: “I’m ready for you, anytime, anywhere!”
It made for a surprising morning for Schaub, who said he wasn’t expecting such a response from the Brazilian heavyweight.
“I wasn’t calling him out, but man, he got word of that and I guess he just ran with it. I woke up this morning to all these Twitter mentions and text messages and I thought, what’s going on? Sure enough, I come to find out that he’s saying, ‘I’m ready to fight Brendan.’ Hey, I’m all for it, man.”
Ideally, Schaub said, he’d like to get back in the cage in late January or February. He recently got back to training after his knockout loss in Rio, and has been touring different gyms in search of sparring partners and new looks.
Tossing out Werdum’s name in an interview wasn’t an attempt at specifically calling him out, he said, but if Werdum wants to take it that way, Schaub has no objections.
“I don’t really care. To fight a guy like Werdum would be great. Me mentioning his name is nothing disrespectful at all. I’ve got nothing but respect for him. I think he’s ranked number five in the world and he’s one of the biggest names out there. That’s why I brought his name up, and I think he’d be one hell of a challenge for me. Tell me where to sign.”
As for whether the fight could realistically happen in the near future, that’s a different question. There have been all sort of rumors about Werdum negotiating with the UFC for a return to the Octagon, and he certainly wouldn’t be the first Strikeforce heavyweight to make the jump now that the Strikeforce World Heavyweight Grand Prix is down to two remaining finalists.
Werdum may not be back in the fold just yet, but Schaub is optimistic that a little heat behind this match-up could expedite the process.
“I definitely think it’s feasible. The only relevant fight left in Strikeforce as far as the heavyweights go is [Daniel] Cormier and [Josh] Barnett. The rest of them, it seems like they are coming over. I have no idea what kind of situation Werdum’s in with the UFC, but maybe this will kind of speed things up and they can make that happen.”
(Look into my crystal ball Kenny, and ye shall see thine future.)
There is a lot on the line at UFC 136. Not just the two titles and the future title match implications, but a chance for two men to finally capture the gold that has long eluded them. I’m speaking of Kenny Florian and Gray Maynard of course, who’ve both been chasing UFC gold for the better part of their careers, only to fall inches short of the finish line. For Gray, who many people felt deserved a title shot over current champion Frankie Edgar in the first place, it was the resilience of the champ that proved to be his undoing. And for Florian, it was just a terribly unlucky spell when it came to title fights. But come Saturday, both men will have a chance to erase our doubts and finally move up to that deluxe apartment in the sky.
Unfortunately, Florian and Maynard are not the only men who have felt the repercussions of looking directly into the belt. There are a few guys out there who just seem destined to be number 2 in a company that loves to fuck with the number 2. Anyway, we thought we would awkwardly point out six of them, excluding “Kenflo” and “The Bully,” from across the room for your reading pleasure. And we’re going by Brock Lesnar rules here, so interim belts don’t count. Enjoy.
(Look into my crystal ball Kenny, and ye shall see thine future.)
There is a lot on the line at UFC 136. Not just the two titles and the future title match implications, but a chance for two men to finally capture the gold that has long eluded them. I’m speaking of Kenny Florian and Gray Maynard of course, who’ve both been chasing UFC gold for the better part of their careers, only to fall inches short of the finish line. For Gray, who many people felt deserved a title shot over current champion Frankie Edgar in the first place, it was the resilience of the champ that proved to be his undoing. And for Florian, it was just a terribly unlucky spell when it came to title fights. But come Saturday, both men will have a chance to erase our doubts and finally move up to that deluxe apartment in the sky.
Unfortunately, Florian and Maynard are not the only men who have felt the repercussions of looking directly into the belt. There are a few guys out there who just seem destined to be number 2 in a company that loves to fuck with the number 2. Anyway, we thought we would awkwardly point out six of them, excluding “Kenflo” and “The Bully,” from across the room for your reading pleasure. And we’re going by Brock Lesnar rules here, so interim belts don’t count. Enjoy.
6. Jon Fitch
Poor Jon Fitch. Not only did it take the man 8 straight UFC wins to earn his first title shot, but when he finally got there, it got really, really ugly. Following his unanimous decision loss to George St. Pierre at UFC 87: Seek and Destroy, Fitch went on a five fight win streak, scoring wins over Paulo Thiago, Ben Saunders, and Thiago Alves, the latter of which was originally slated to be a number one contender match. After Fitch picked up another lackluster victory, Dana White changed his mind, proving the theory that he is truly a man of smoke and mirrors when it comes to title shots. Fitch’s hopes for another go at GSP were further crushed at UFC 127, when his fight with B.J. Penn went on to a majority draw. A rematch was originally planned to be rescheduled, but instead a match between Penn and Nick Diaz was put together, most likely for a number one contender spot. But if Fitch can impressively (re: finish) get past Johny Hendricks at UFC 141 in December, maybe he’ll finally earn the chance at redemption he deserves. But we won’t be holding our breath, because 15 minutes is an awfully long time to do so.
5. Jim Miller
The story of Jim Miller is not unlike that of Fitch. After dropping a unanimous decision to Gray Maynard at UFC 96, Miller went on a seven fight killing spree, scoring wins over Mark Bocek, Duane Ludwig, and Gleison Tibau, among others. But with the clusterfuck of contendership that is the lightweight division, it seemed that Miller would be passed over due to his lack of name power, despite the fact that he was knocking off every fighter before him in increasingly impressive fashion. It was finally at UFC Live: Lytle vs. Hardy that Miller was given a legit contender in former WEC lightweight champ Ben Henderson, in a bout that had title implications written all over it. Miller came up short however, dropping a bloody unanimous decision to “Smooth” and likely erasing his streak in the eyes of the UFC’s head honchos. Let’s just hope he doesn’t have to win another seven before he’s given another top contender.
4. Joseph Benavidez
Joseph Benavidez is in a tough spot a this point. Both losses in his seventeen fight career have come at the hands of current champ Dominick Cruz, and though he continues to knock off top contenders, it’s hard to believe he’ll be given another shot at the “The Dominator” anytime soon. And it’s a shame, because he arguably gave Cruz his toughest test to date in their battle back at WEC 50, which he lost by split decision. His refusal to fight teammate Urijah Faber only further eliminates any hopes of a clear cut number one contender, so where does Benavidez go from here? The biggest factor in Benavidez’s title hopes is that of his size, and until the UFC decides to add a flyweight class to their roster, Benavidez seems destined to be Team Alpha Male’s other number 2 man. Speaking of which…
3. Urijah Faber
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At one point in time, Urijah Faber seemed so beyond the abilities of the challengers he was facing as the WEC featherweight champion that people were clamoring for “The California Kid” to change divisions and seek another title. He was even given his own day for Christ’s sake. But then, Faber ran face first into the fist of Mike Brown, the impact of which was so devastating that it may have cursed him forever. His rematch against Brown was perhaps even more unsuccessful; not only did he break both his hands in the unanimous decision loss, but in doing so he ended the rumors that Brown’s original victory was a fluke. Things would only get worse, as Jose Aldo would soon become the featherweight champ and inflict the above damage to Urijah’s leg in his second failed attempt to reclaim his title. Faber soon found himself doing the only thing he could do, making the drop to bantamweight. And after a couple nice wins over Takeya Mizugaki and Eddie Wineland, he again found himself running face first into the frail but deadly hands of Dominick Cruz, dropping his third straight unanimous decision title bout. Though Faber (and a lot of us) rallied for an immediate rematch, it looks like Faber will have to get another couple wins before he can give the title another go. Fourth time’s the charm, Urijah.
2. Diego Sanchez
Diego Sanchez is probably in the worst position of any fighter on this list. For a while, he was the assassin of the welterweight division, dismantling the likes of Joe Riggs and Karo Paryisyan. Consecutive losses to Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch effectively killed most of his hype, so after a couple wins against lesser opponents, Diego decided to drop to lightweight, where he picked up quality wins over Joe Stevenson and Clay Guida. The bout with Guida was so epic that Sanzchez was given a shot against B.J. Penn for the title. Sanchez was simply outclassed from the very beginning by Penn, who after dropping “The Dream” in the opening minute, went on to inflict the pictured cut on Sanchez and scare him out of the lightweight division for good. Sanchez packed the pounds back on for his return to welterweight, where he again found himself on the receiving end of a beatdown, this time compliments of John Hathaway. Luckily, Sanchez was able to rebound with victories over top contenders Paulo Thiago and Martin Kampmann, and again finds himself on the cusp of title-hood when he faces Jake Ellenberger at UFC 141. If he is unable to best “The Juggernaut,” then we could be looking at Sanchez’s long awaited return to middleweight in the near future.
And that takes us to number 1…
1. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria
We all know the story of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria, so I’ll make this short. Since winning (and then losing) the very first Pride heavyweight championship, it pains me to say that Nogueria’s career has dwelled on the outskirts of contender-ship. Fedor Emelianenko took Nogueria’s belt in his first defense, and with it he took Big Nog’s thunder for the better part of his career. Nogueria would fall again to Emelianenko in their eventual rematch, and when he came to the UFC, the interim title he choked Tim Sylvia out for was quickly taken away compliments of Frank Mir. A follow up victory over Randy Couture was soundly eradicated by a brutal knockout loss to current champ Cain Velasquez, and it seemed as if we had seen the last of the legend known as “Minotauro.” Well, shame on us. Nogueria was given rising prospect Brendan Schuab for his next challenge, and knocked that sum’ bitch out faster than we could pick the color scheme for his retirement party. Could we be witnessing yet another resurgence of Big Nog, this time capped off with UFC gold? One can only hope.
HOUSTON — MMA Fighting spoke to manager Ed Soares about Thursday’s announcement that his client Lyoto Machida would meet Jon Jones for the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 140 in December. Soares also talked about what’s next for Anderson Silva, whether Jose Aldo would be moving up to 155 pounds and why Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira decided to return in December.
HOUSTON — MMA Fighting spoke to manager Ed Soares about Thursday’s announcement that his client Lyoto Machida would meet Jon Jones for the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 140 in December. Soares also talked about what’s next for Anderson Silva, whether Jose Aldo would be moving up to 155 pounds and why Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira decided to return in December.
*Source: MMA Mania Early betting lines are out for UFC 140‘s Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira II and Mir is the odds on favorite at a whopping (-255), while “Big Nog” is set at.
Early betting lines are out for UFC 140‘s Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira II and Mir is the odds on favorite at a whopping (-255), while “Big Nog” is set at (+205). That’s a good value to lay cash down on Nog in these early betting stages, but should he be the underdog?
Nog has just enjoyed the biggest coup of his career by knocking out the much younger much more odds on favorite, Brendan Schaub in the first round of his hometown UFC Rio co-main event. Yes, Nog did lose to Mir in their first match up at UFC 92 in December of 08, but Nog had suffered a staph infection days before which hospitalized him for 5 days and he incurred a knee injury during that very training camp, which required surgery a few months later.
Frank Mir delivered a second round knock out to Big Nog in that UFC 92 fight, which was the first ever KO loss of Nog’s career, but since then Mir has been plagued with a mix of losses and *”lackluster” (*Dana White‘s word) wins.
Both fighters deserve a tremendous amount of respect for where their careers stand at their mature ages in the fight game so perhaps, the betting field should be a little more even going into this one. Regardless, those who feel there is a definite resurgence in Nog’s game and it wasn’t just a hometown-inspired-fluke-victory over Schaub, should take advantage of the big underdog value in Big Nog now.
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