Those of you who have been clinging to the notion that Anderson Silva’s manager Jorge Guimaraes would change his mind about Chris Weidman being an “amateur kid” can officially let that ship sail. Ariel Helwani caught up with Guimaraes yesterday, and even though he clarified that the “amateur kids” comment was a translation error, he still does not see any value in an Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman fight for the time being. Via MMAFighting:
When specifically asked about the “amateur kids” comment:
JG: Well, there was a little lack of communication. I spoke to Tatame Magazine in Brazil and it got lost in translation. I have a lot of respect for Weidman. He’s a great fighter, but what I meant is that the fight doesn’t make sense. He has nine fights – impressive fights – but it’s half of the number of fights that Anderson has in the UFC. I think he’s just a little not ripe enough, but it’s up to the organization to tell [us] who is a good opponent for Anderson.
Check after the jump for the full quote and interview
Those of you who have been clinging to the notion that Anderson Silva’s manager Jorge Guimaraes would change his mind about Chris Weidman being an “amateur kid” can officially let that ship sail. Ariel Helwani caught up with Guimaraes yesterday, and even though he clarified that the “amateur kids” comment was a translation error, he still does not see any value in an Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman fight for the time being. Via MMAFighting:
When specifically asked about the “amateur kids” comment:
JG: Well, there was a little lack of communication. I spoke to Tatame Magazine in Brazil and it got lost in translation. I have a lot of respect for Weidman. He’s a great fighter, but what I meant is that the fight doesn’t make sense. He has nine fights – impressive fights – but it’s half of the number of fights that Anderson has in the UFC. I think he’s just a little, you know, not ripe enough, but it’s up to the organization to tell [us] who is a good opponent for Anderson.
I think [Silva vs. Weidman] would be hard to promote. Now everyone is coming out after what they saw [with Chael Sonnen]. Chael Sonnen did an excellent job promoting himself and the fight. I guess a lot of people are coming forward; obviously everyone wants a title shot.
AH: Has the UFC asked you or Anderson to fight Chris Weidman next?
JG: Yeah, they mentioned it, but we don’t think it makes sense.
AH: So you’ve turned it down?
JG: Yeah, true.
Skip to the 1:36 mark for the exact quote.
If you’ve been paying attention for the past two weeks, these comments don’t exactly surprise you. Afterwards, Guimaraes continues to rally for a Georges St. Pierre super fight (emphatically confirming that Jon Jones is out of the question) – claiming that The Spider is prepared to sit out the rest of the year to make this happen – and says that “maybe [Anderson Silva] can make 180″ for the proposed catchweight super fight between Silva and GSP. I’m glad that asking Anderson Silva to drop a whole five pounds isn’t out of the question for this super fight you’re rallying for, Jorge.
Perhaps the most confusing comment from this interview was the revelation that Guimaraes thinks that Rashad Evans would make more sense for a middleweight title shot than Chris Weidman. Aside from the fact that Evans is 0-0 at middleweight and coming off of a unanimous decision loss to Jon Jones, Jorge later ruled out Nick Diaz as a challenger because Diaz lost to Carlos Condit – even though he admits that he thought Diaz beat Condit.
I’d try to make sense out of that, but a “Don’t be scared, homie” joke would be way too easy, and you deserve better than that.
So, just to clarify: It’s up to the UFC to decide what’s next for Anderson Silva, but when the organization suggested Chris Weidman – who is not an amateur kid – Silva’s camp declined. Sitting out and waiting for a catchweight super fight against Georges St. Pierre (potentially at 180 lbs) is easily the most logical option, but Rashad Evans is also logical after losing to Jon Jones and flirting with the idea of dropping to middleweight. And even though Guimaraes feels Nick Diaz beat Carlos Condit, he officially lost that fight, so therefore a fight against Diaz makes no sense because he’s coming off of a controversial decision loss instead of a regular unanimous decision loss.
Michael Bisping thinks that Chris Weidman is a weasel. It doesn’t seem to bother the surging title contender too much. The Serra-Longo prodigy recently gave a sound off on Bisping and his upcoming fight with Brian Stann for Fighters…
Michael Bisping thinks that Chris Weidman is a weasel. It doesn’t seem to bother the surging title contender too much. The Serra-Longo prodigy recently gave a sound off on Bisping and his upcoming fight with Brian Stann for FightersOnly.
It’s an interesting fight and I think either Stann knocks him out or Bisping wins the decision. I know he is good and talented and he has faced some good guys but every time he has faced a top ten guy he has lost.
Like with the Chael Sonnen fight he did awesome and a lot of people thought he could have won but he didn’t find the way to win. And I am not knocking him – I think he’s a great fighter, I really do – but I question his mentality against top guys when the pressure is on. Which is pretty much what everyone says about him. He has had chances to fight for the title twice now and he doesn’t come through when the pressure is on.
This backhanded compliment goes to show that Weidman knows how to play the game. He is respectful enough to avoid being put in a scrap with the TUF star, but makes sure to point out that Bisping has failed each time he has been given previous opportunities in the UFC.
Bisping performed admirably against Chael Sonnen in January; however, Weidman has a point. When given the opportunity to step up into the elite, the British star dropped fights to both Sonnen and Dan Henderson. The Count has come up short in bouts with Rashad Evans and Wanderlei Silva too.
Currently scheduled to face Stann in the co-main event of UFC 152, Bisping should try and keep Weidman off of his mind. With a dangerous fight right around the corner, focusing on the task at hand is of the utmost importance.
Supposedly told that he will get the ever-evasive title fight if he defeats Stann, the 16-fight UFC veteran has been looking for this opportunity to arrive since his coaching stint on season nine of The Ultimate Fighter.
Weidman is also under consideration for a title shot after his thrashing of Mark Munoz in the main event of UFC on FUEL 4 in July. With a limited roster of fresh contenders for Anderson Silva, it appears as if the win has pushed Weidman to the front of the line.
Will Bisping choke against Stann and miss out on a title shot once again?
Andrew Saunders is a syndicated writer and featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. Follow him on Twitter for late-breaking news and analysis for all things MMA.
Anderson Silva’s couch is going to be working overtime for the immediate future, and that is a bad thing for the UFC. Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz is out of commission for perhaps a full year. Welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre is going to fig…
Anderson Silva‘s couch is going to be working overtime for the immediate future, and that is a bad thing for the UFC.
Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz is out of commission for perhaps a full year. Welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre is going to fight in November (maybe,) but historically tends to have long layovers between fights. Light heavyweight king Jon Jones has literally beaten every realistic competitor, making any future fights for him questionable from a sales perspective.
Other buy-grabbing fighters not wearing belts are also shelved. Alistair Overeem is in the middle of his suspension for his wacky T/E ratio. Nick Diaz is in the same boat for his wacky tobacky. Matt Hughes may or may not be retired. Frank Mir‘s next fight will be in Strikeforce, where he will face Daniel Cormier (another fighter the UFC wish they had at their disposal.) Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s arm is still on the mend. The same goes for Mark Hunt’s knee.
That is a big headache for UFC matchmaker Joe Silva. While the UFC is through the worst of it, they still need cards that can draw 500,000 buys in a really bad way.
UFC 148 drew over one million buys. Though Silva won in convincing fashion, there was more than a little controversy involved. It started even before the fight, with Silva wiping grease from his face onto his chest. It moved on into the second round with Silva grabbing Sonnen’s shorts to help in his defending of the American Gangster’s takedowns. Finally, the volley of strikes that ended the fight started off with a knee to Sonnen’s chest that simultaneously hit him in the face.
This is not to say that Silva did not earn his win. He was still widely favored and likely would have won the fight without, as it is called in football, “gamesmanship.” Still, if roles were reversed, few would deny that an immediate rematch would already be scheduled.
Anderson Silva’s management team knows there is no real legitimate opponent for him in the middleweight division right now. Though many are excited about 9-0 phenom Chris Weidman, his most-watched fight remains his wheeze-fest against Demian Maia at UFC on Fox 2. His eerily dominating performance against Mark Munoz at UFC on Fuel TV 4 averaged only 211,000 viewers, leaving his drawing power a serious question mark.
The rest of the middleweight top-10 has a similar lack of established success. Alan Belcher and Tim Boetsch are yet to make a serious splash with fans, in spite of solid winning streaks. Everyone else (being Michael Bisping, Brian Stann, Yushin Okami and Vitor Belfort) have all lost to either Sonnen or Silva in the last eighteen months.
Anderson Silva’s management team recently made a push for a fight against Georges St-Pierre. However, the scheduling and welterweight title picture make this unrealistic.
St-Pierre is scheduled to face Carlos Condit at UFC 154 to unify the welterweight belt. Martin Kampmann and Johny Hendricks are slated for a top contender’s match that same night. Both offer a true test for St-Pierre, but even if GSP loses, he has a blockbuster opponent waiting for him in Nick Diaz, who he could fight in Spring 2013.
Making things even worse for Anderson is that the always-discussed move to light heavyweight is no longer a viable option for him. While fights like Silva vs. Rashad Evans or Silva vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua would be excellent draws, champion Jon Jones would be a heavy favorite if the two met, given his serious size, reach and wrestling advantage. The UFC, Silva, and Silva’s management team all know this.
That leaves Chael Sonnen.
While Chael Sonnen became a household name in large part because of his mouth, he has been nothing but a good sport since losing to Silva at UFC 148. At the post-event media conference, Sonnen downplayed the preliminary talk about Silva’s questionable tactics. Since, he has remained quiet on the fight, but acknowledged his reluctance to watch a video of the bout.
While sore losers are not traditionally well-met by sports fans, Sonnen’s popularity grew because of his inability to stomach his first loss to Silva. While Dana White dismissed questions about the legitimacy of Silva’s win, he must also recognize the matchmaking predicament facing one of his few remaining draws. The UFC’s marketing department can easily run promos of Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg questioning if that knee went to the face, or pointing out Silva grabbing Sonnen’s shorts.
This remains a tough fight for Silva. While Sonnen was knocked out at UFC 148, he is still the most likely candidate to beat Silva. The entire first round had Silva on his back, and there is no question as to whether Sonnen still has the slippery takedowns and sheer quickness and keep “the Spider” off his game.
An immediate rematch is out of the question. However, a fight against Weidman would be a viable headline for a UFC on Fox card and, regardless of the outcome, makes for a strong top contender bout that will either set up for Silva vs. Sonnen III, or make Weidman a household name.
That situation is a win-win for the UFC. While neither a Silva vs. Sonnen III, nor a Silva vs. Weidman headline would draw seven-figure buys, having Sonnen and Weidman face off in a top contender fight is by far the best thing the UFC can do to shake out the top of the middleweight division.
It is a very realistic option that should be available to Sonnen. All he needs to do is start running his mouth.
In his own inimitable way, Chris Weidman has overtly slagged off and taunted both Anderson Silva and his co-manager Jorge Guimaraes. Succinctly put, “The All-American” has seriously upped the ante—for the 28-year-old native New Yorker…
In his own inimitable way, Chris Weidman has overtly slagged off and taunted both Anderson Silva and his co-manager Jorge Guimaraes. Succinctly put, “The All-American” has seriously upped the ante—for the 28-year-old native New Yorker, it’s all or nothing, no compromise.
In the rhetoric department, Weidman is no Chael Sonnen—there’s really no comparison, but the way he’s being calling out Silva at every PR-given moment, you’d think otherwise.
Initially, Weidman set the wheels in motion by insinuating he could finish Silva, before adding that he was most deserved of the No. 1 slot.
Guimaraes responded with a hit way below the belt—referring to Weidman, Tim Boetsch and Alan Belcher as “amateur kids” who were just out for fame and glory.
He further suggested that the only viable opponent for Silva from a financial standpoint was 170-pound champ Georges St-Pierre.
On hearing the slight, Weidman went verbally gung-ho. Via MMAWeekly.com:
I read them and it’s kind of crazy. The managers they have no right to start putting down professional athletes. He put me, and (Alan) Belcher and (Tim) Boetsch down and he’s trying to draw attention away from the fact that I’m the No. 1 contender, and then called us amateurs, and we’re all top-10 fighters.
This is what we do for a living and then you have some manager in Brazil who’s calling us amateur fighters and calls me a joke, it’s definitely a little crazy and I know I wouldn’t want my manager speaking about other fighters like that,” Weidman told MMAWeekly.com.
Weidman also believes there are outside forces at work determined to nix a potential showdown with MMA’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter.
That said, the two-time All-American broke down the list of so-called contenders and/or combatants that team Silva would rather have the Brazilian fight, while again staking his claim as the No. 1 contender.
It’s like they’re trying to avoid my name being mentioned at all for the title shot. They’re trying to deflect with other guys’ names so people can start thinking about them as possibilities, but even guys they’re choosing to call out, like GSP or (Nick) Diaz, they’re both welterweights.
I mean GSP, let’s start with him. The guy is coming off ACL surgery, we don’t even know for sure when he’s fighting, and when he does fight he’s fighting Carlos Condit for the welterweight title. You never know what’s going to happen, and best-case scenario he could fight again around May. So if anything, fight me next, if you beat me then you get your shot with GSP. You’re just calling out a 170-pounder coming off ACL surgery.
Then Nick Diaz, he’s another guy he’d have a size advantage over, he’s another good name, but the guy’s not going to be cleared till February. That’s just crazy. Nothing to say about me, who has proven to be the No. 1 contender. I beat two top-five guys in the division in a row, and no one’s come close to doing that, especially in the fashion I did in my last fight against Mark Munoz.
Weidman took another swipe at Silva regarding his realistic chances of locking horns with the aforesaid duo as well as Strikeforce 185-pound titlist Luke Rockhold, who was also brought into the title mix.
The guy’s a champion of 185, he should be fighting the contenders. You don’t call out guys that aren’t going to be able to fight forever and guys that are lighter than you.
Why don’t you call out Jon Jones? That makes sense, I’m sure a lot of people would watch, I’d love to watch too. If you’re not going to fight him, fight me, I’m ready to go.
With regards to his pay-per-view clout, an area team Silva sees as a stumbling block, Weidman is confident UFC President Dana White has enough promotional savvy to get the projected matchup off the ground.
“Dana White’s the best promoter in the world and I have full confidence that he’d be able to promote the fight just fine,” said Weidman. “I’m undefeated, every time I’ve had a full camp I’ve finished my opponent. You’ve got Anderson Silva, the No. 1 guy in the UFC right now, and just him alone is fine, and it just makes no sense what he’s saying. The manager’s not showing enough faith in the UFC and Dana White in the way they can promote the fight.”
Weidman freely admitted he has the utmost respect for his counterpart and firmly believes if it was up to Silva, the fight would go ahead. As has been somewhat customary with Silva, he has yet to say anything on the matter, instead leaving everything in the hands of his management team.
I have nothing but respect for Anderson Silva, and I would expect him to want to fight the best guy and the guy who’s going to give him the toughest challenge. If it was up to him, I think he would want to fight me because I am the toughest challenge. But his managers, I feel like they are trying to keep me away from it and try to make me irrelevant enough in the title picture with Anderson Silva,” Weidman said.
“When you talk to Ed Soares and the other guy, it’s as though I’m not in the picture at all.”
Weidman (9-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) may be convinced of his entitlement as top contender to Silva’s belt, but he’s under no illusions—anything can happen in MMA.
If for some reason he doesn’t get an instantaneous shot, he’s still intent on moving full steam ahead against whomever the UFC puts in his path.
Nevertheless, he still reiterated his current credentials as proof of his No. 1 status.
If the UFC tells me tomorrow that I’m fighting someone else, I have no problem. I fight for the UFC, whatever they tell me to do, I’m going to do. My goal is to be the champion and I feel like I’m in a position where I have the chance to become the champion, it’s me trying to chase my goal.
If the UFC tells me 20 minutes from now that the Anderson Silva fight isn’t going to happen, and I need to fight someone else, I might be upset for a couple of minutes, but I’ll move on. I just feel like I’m the No. 1 contender right now and I feel like the champion should fight the No. 1 contender.
I feel like I’ve made it blatantly obvious with this last fight that I’m ahead of the pack. The champ should want to fight that guy.
If Weidman wanted that publicity, well, he’s got it. If he wants the next shot at Silva’s crown, well, he’s heading in the right direction.
The word on the MMA circuit is he’s not marketable enough, but that may soon change. Also, there’s the small matter of Mark Munoz—some believe he defeated an overrated and underachieving fighter in “The Filipino Wrecking Machine.”
Thus far, only one other fighter has ever been a thorn in the Brazilian’s side, and look what happened to him.
Weidman believes he’s earned his stripes, and as such, he’s determined to get first refusal on Silva.
Furthermore, he seems to have immense self-belief in himself and is utterly convinced he will end the 15-fight winning streak of “The Spider” and in the process capture UFC gold.
Michael “The Count” Bisping is none too pleased with Chris Weidman’s recent remarks regarding his mental fortitude, and, as consequence, “The Count” hit back, referring to “The All-American” as “the Wiesel.” “C…
Michael “The Count” Bisping is none too pleased with Chris Weidman’s recent remarks regarding his mental fortitude, and, as consequence, “The Count” hit back, referring to “The All-American” as “the Wiesel.”
“Chris the Wiesel Weidman saying I fold under pressure. Hahahahaha I needed a good laugh this morning,” (via Fiveouncesofpain.com).
Was he comparing him to Romanian Holocaust survivor and writer Elie Wiesel, or was he equating Weidman with a certain type of meat-eating mammal commonly known as a weasel.
If the latter is the case, and as the phrase weasel is a double-entendre, Bisping could easily have been lumping him in the category of the treacherous and deceitful.
Weidman was asked whether he thought Bisping was overrated or underrated.
Here’ an excerpt from that interview:
I know he is good and talented and he has faced some good guys but every time he has faced a top ten guy he has lost. Like with the Chael Sonnen fight he did awesome and a lot of people thought he could have won but he didn’t find the way to win.
And I am not knocking him – I think he’s a great fighter, I really do – but I question his mentality against top guys when the pressure is on. Which is pretty much what everyone says about him. He has had chances to fight for the title twice now and he doesn’t come through when the pressure is on.
In relation to the pressure Weidman was alluding to, Bisping, on four occasions, has failed to deliver against the division’s upper-echelon combatants—Rashad Evans, Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson (highlight-reel KO) and Chael Sonnen in a title-eliminator bout.
That said, Bisping (22-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) will once again attempt to stake a realistic claim of vying for the title when he locks horns with ex-Marine Brian Stann at UFC 152.
Apropos Weidman, the 28-year-old rising star of the Zuffa-based promotion has been blowing his own trumpet ever since he defeated top Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner Demian Maia, but more so following his decimation of Mark Munoz at UFC on FUEL TV 4.
He’s convinced he can finish any fighter with a full camp behind him, and that includes UFC 185-pound champ Anderson “The Spider” Silva.
The Baldwin, New Yorker is also of the impression that he should be next in line for a tilt at Silva’s crown—a point he’s made by suggesting his two successive victories against the aforementioned combatants (who were ranked top five in the division) is justification enough for an immediate shot.
To date, Weidman (9-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) has scored three submission and three stoppage victories. Two of those five UFC outings garnered him Submission of the Night honors (Jesse Bongfeldt) and Knockout of the Night honors (Munoz).
With the middleweight division being such a gigantic question mark, it may make sense to just ask someone in Anderson Silva’s camp who they’d like to see him fight next. There’s just one small problem: Anderson Silva’s camp are, how should I say this, pricks. Case in point, here’s what Silva’s manager Jorge Guimaraes said about the possibility of Anderson fighting Chris Weidman, Tim Boetsch and Alan Belcher, who have all recently called out “The Spider” (via Tatame):
Anderson Silva, shown modeling for Rolling Stone while showing us his war face.
With the middleweight division being such a gigantic question mark, it may make sense to just ask someone in Anderson Silva’s camp who they’d like to see him fight next. There’s just one small problem: Anderson Silva’s camp are, how should I say this, pricks. Case in point, here’s what Silva’s manager Jorge Guimaraes said about the possibility of Anderson fighting Chris Weidman, Tim Boetsch and Alan Belcher, who have all recently called out “The Spider” (via Tatame):
“That’s a big joke. 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.***”
*Except for, you know, the winners of the fights in the first paragraph that aren’t Le vs. Franklin. Include Weidman and Boetsch on that list, too.
** So, a guy who is undefeated, has won five fights in the UFC’s middleweight division and just destroyed a consensus top middleweight doesn’t make sense, but a welterweight who has been nursing an injury, is booked to unify the UFC Welterweight Championship/Interim Championship in November and will then need time to put on weight for a middleweight fight does. Right, sure, why not? Just tell me, is Chael Sonnen the middleweight champion of this parallel universe you’ve created, or did Travis Lutter manage to knock him out?
Look, the rest of us have given up on this Silva/GSP super fight years ago. With the time it would take for GSP to put on enough weight to fight at 185 – not to mention rehab from an injury in the all-too-likely case he gets hurt in November – it’s safe to assume that ship has sailed. Silva/GSP is pretty much an MMA pipe dream, the same way that Pacquiao vs. Mayweather is one for boxing.
***Didn’t we have this exact same discussion before UFC 117? And then didn’t Chael Sonnen make himself famous by calling out Anderson Silva, like you, you know, just said seconds earlier?
Eh, I give up. If you guys in the comments section have any better ideas for Anderson Silva that don’t involve middleweights, Jon Jones or Georges St. Pierre, let us know.
