After being on the wrong end of what he felt was a hometown decision, Anderson Silva is looking to secure a rematch with Michael Bisping on his own home turf.
Silva’s longtime manager and translator Ed Soares took to social media this week to expres…
After being on the wrong end of what he felt was a hometown decision, Anderson Silva is looking to secure a rematch with Michael Bisping on his own home turf.
Silva’s longtime manager and translator Ed Soares took to social media this week to express Team Silva’s interest in another fight with Bisping, this time in Brazil.
“(Bisping) did show a lot of heart. Hats off to him,” Ed Soares wrote on his official Instagram page. “I don’t agree with the decision but tell me what you think of this solution. Rematch in Brazil, if (Silva wins) we have the trilogy in Vegas?”
As noted, Soares claims Silva is down to fight Bisping two more times, once in Brazil so that each fighter will have fought the other on their home turf, and a third fight (presuming Silva wins the rematch) in the even-playing field of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Silva lost to Bisping via controversial judges decision after their epic main event at UFC Fight Night 84 at the O2 Arena in London, England this past Saturday afternoon. For detailed, round-by-round results of their five-round war, click here.
(“No scared, homie. Trust me — no scared.” / Photo via MMAFighting)
On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Anderson Silva‘s manager Ed Soares stated that the former UFC middleweight king is looking to return to competition in early 2015, and Nick Diaz is one of the opponents that Soares has in mind for his next opponent.
“Nick Diaz has said he’s wanted to fight him before,” Soares explained. “You could argue that Nick Diaz and Anderson probably have some of the best boxing in MMA, so we’ll see what happens.”
Due to an existing CagePotato Ban, we decided not to pass along Soares’s statement initially. But the idea is starting to gain some traction. During yesterday’s installment of UFC Tonight, Ariel Helwani reported that Diaz would be willing to come out of retirement to fight Silva, “if the money was right”:
According to Helwani, Diaz said that a bout against Silva is a fight he’s wanted for a long time, and that he considered such a matchup as potentially one of the biggest fights in MMA history.
(“No scared, homie. Trust me — no scared.” / Photo via MMAFighting)
On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Anderson Silva‘s manager Ed Soares stated that the former UFC middleweight king is looking to return to competition in early 2015, and Nick Diaz is one of the opponents that Soares has in mind for his next opponent.
“Nick Diaz has said he’s wanted to fight him before,” Soares explained. “You could argue that Nick Diaz and Anderson probably have some of the best boxing in MMA, so we’ll see what happens.”
Due to an existing CagePotato Ban, we decided not to pass along Soares’s statement initially. But the idea is starting to gain some traction. During yesterday’s installment of UFC Tonight, Ariel Helwani reported that Diaz would be willing to come out of retirement to fight Silva, “if the money was right”:
According to Helwani, Diaz said that a bout against Silva is a fight he’s wanted for a long time, and that he considered such a matchup as potentially one of the biggest fights in MMA history.
You can’t argue with that. Two enigmatic superstars fighting in a gangsterweight attraction would actually give MMA fans something to get excited about. And of course, that’s why it’ll never happen — because the MMA Gods hate us and want us to be miserable.
Still, it’s interesting to see Diaz’s ridiculous “I’ll only come back for a title shot” stance begin to thaw a bit. Apparently, he’ll also come back for a non-title fight if it’s against a beloved superstar and an assload of money’s on the line. That’s progress.
(All the same? Where would someone even *get* such an idea?)
Having logged over 2000 man-hours on GoldenEye for the N64, I can state with confidence that I am something of an expert on Russian culture. For those of you who have not heard of this mythical land, Russia is basically the Florida of Eurasia, a borderline uninhabitable wasteland where only the craziest, meanest, tooth-and-nailiest sonsabitches gather to grow beards and trade fisticuffs. Gaining entrance to Russia requires the exact same right of passage as The Salty Spitoon — no passport is necessary, they just ask you how tough you are and you better have the right goddamn answer.
And the people who actually choose to live there? Stoic, hard-nosed mountain men who chug despair and consume the weak all. Oh, you say you’re celebrating your birthday, 63-year old man? Fuck you, turn down the music or I break your face. These are a people who willingly eat lampreys. Lampreys, you guys.
Having spent a lot of (virtual) time in Russia, I have grown accustomed to the stereotypical light in which Russians are oft regarded by outsiders (*ahem*). So when I found out that Rafael Dos Anjos had only agreed to fight Rustam Khabilov at UFC 170 because he thought Khabilov was the UFC’s other Russian, Khabib Nurmagomedov, I was as outraged as you would imagine.
But that’s what happened, at least according to the Brazilian’s recent interview with Globo:
(All the same? Where would someone even *get* such an idea?)
Having logged over 2000 man-hours on GoldenEye for the N64, I can state with confidence that I am something of an expert on Russian culture. For those of you who have not heard of this mythical land, Russia is basically the Florida of Eurasia, a borderline uninhabitable wasteland where only the craziest, meanest, tooth-and-nailiest sonsabitches gather to grow beards and trade fisticuffs. Gaining entrance to Russia requires the exact same right of passage as The Salty Spitoon – no passport is necessary, they just ask you how tough you are and you better have the right goddamn answer.
And the people who actually choose to live there? Stoic, hard-nosed mountain men who chug despair and consume the weak all. Oh, you say you’re celebrating your birthday, 63-year old man? Fuck you, turn down the music or I break your face. These are a people who willingly eat lampreys. Lampreys, you guys.
Having spent a lot of (virtual) time in Russia, I have grown accustomed to the stereotypical light in which Russians are oft regarded by outsiders (*ahem*). So when I found out that Rafael Dos Anjos had only agreed to fight Rustam Khabilov at UFC 170 because he thought Khabilov was the UFC’s other Russian, Khabib Nurmagomedov, I was as outraged as you would imagine.
But that’s what happened, at least according to the Brazilian’s recent interview with Globo:
My manager Ed Soares, he was telling me, said. ‘The UFC gave you the Russian.’ It was a lack of communication. I thought it was the Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is seventh in the rankings. Even though he was behind me, I thought it was a fight that might make more sense, and I accepted. Only two days later in a publication tagged me on Twitter and I saw it was Rustam Khabilov. Then I saw that something was wrong and called my manager, and he said: ‘Not Khabib (Nurmagomedov).’ But, then I had already accepted the fight. It was lack of communication. He also thought it was Nurmagomedov.
So this whole thing is that shiny-headed worm Ed Soares’ fault, eh? Quick Skeeter, why don’t you tell Ed how we treat the socially ignorant ’round here. Do not. take. kindly.
We can understand that Dos Anjos might be upset to learn that he is actually facing an unranked opponent next, but at the same time, he should probably know by now that the UFC rankings don’t mean jack shit. Khabilov is one of the fiercest up-and-comers in the lightweight division, and while a win over “The Russian” might not earn Dos Anjos a title shot outright, it would surely solidify his place as a top contender in the division. Should he lose, however, I’d like to suggest that both he and Soares be forced to attend a weekly tolerance seminar to help them learn from their mistakes. RUSSIANS ARE PEOPLE TOO, DAMMIT! (just barely, but still)
The last time we saw Anderson Silva’s manager Ed Soares, he was telling Inside MMA — with a straight face! — that Michael Bisping would be a good option for Silva’s next middleweight title defense. After all, it’s Soares’s job to help his client get big fights that the fans want to see. (His response when Bas Rutten suggested that Anderson fight UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones: “AhhhhhhIdunno.”)
So now that Bisping has fallen short in yet another “win this one and you get a title shot” match, Soares finally has to accept the reality that Chris Weidman is the most worthy contender to Silva’s crown, right? Right? RIGHT? Well, if you believe that, then you simply don’t know the enigma that is Ed Soares. He’s got another Plan B in mind, and it’s about as left-field as matchmaking gets. Here’s what he told CageFanatic in an interview last week, as transcribed by MMAMania:
“(Silva’s next fight) is still up in the air man, we don’t know who that is. Unfortunately Bisping lost which was a big thing but I’m not too sure. I’m not too sure who could be next…we want to fight someone who has a little bit of a name, someone that has as big of a name as possible and that’s on a winning record or a winning run right now. Right now it seems like most of the guys with names have had losses very recently. So, when I think about it, like the only thing that comes to mind and I don’t even know if that would be a possible fight is, you know, like Cung Le is coming off of three wins or something like that [Ed. note: Yeah, or something like that.] where he’s got a little bit of a name, but I mean it’s really hard in that division because it’s so evenly matched all the opponents on any given day one of those guys can beat each other, so you know, once again whoever the UFC decided we’re in…
The last time we saw Anderson Silva’s manager Ed Soares, he was telling Inside MMA — with a straight face! — that Michael Bisping would be a good option for Silva’s next middleweight title defense. After all, it’s Soares’s job to help his client get big fights that the fans want to see. (His response when Bas Rutten suggested that Anderson fight UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones: “AhhhhhhIdunno.”)
So now that Bisping has fallen short in yet another “win this one and you get a title shot” match, Soares finally has to accept the reality that Chris Weidman is the most worthy contender to Silva’s crown, right? Right? RIGHT? Well, if you believe that, then you simply don’t know the enigma that is Ed Soares. He’s got another Plan B in mind, and it’s about as left-field as matchmaking gets. Here’s what he told CageFanatic in an interview last week, as transcribed by MMAMania:
“(Silva’s next fight) is still up in the air man, we don’t know who that is. Unfortunately Bisping lost which was a big thing but I’m not too sure. I’m not too sure who could be next…we want to fight someone who has a little bit of a name, someone that has as big of a name as possible and that’s on a winning record or a winning run right now. Right now it seems like most of the guys with names have had losses very recently. So, when I think about it, like the only thing that comes to mind and I don’t even know if that would be a possible fight is, you know, like Cung Le is coming off of three wins or something like that [Ed. note: Yeah, or something like that.] where he’s got a little bit of a name, but I mean it’s really hard in that division because it’s so evenly matched all the opponents on any given day one of those guys can beat each other, so you know, once again whoever the UFC decided we’re in…
Soares went on to reiterate the Silva camp’s old claim that Chris Weidman simply isn’t famous enough to fight Anderson Silva:
“I don’t think Anderson has anything to gain from that fight other than beating a super tough, unknown guy. He’s a phenomenal talent and no disrespect to his fighting abilities, but we would like to fight somebody with a little more recognition and maybe Weidman is maybe a fight or two away, you know what I mean? In hopefully building up that, you know, his following a little bit. What is there to gain from us to beat him? Really, I mean I ask you what is there for us to beat him? He’s going into that fight, most people, the general public are like ‘Oh Anderson is just fighting some guy named Weidman from New York, you know, he’s going to walk through him.’ So, if he doesn’t walk through him, there’s really nothing to gain other than another win and money in his pocket…Ask random people that watch the sport and ask them who Chris Weidman is and see what percentage will know who he is.”
To summarize: Cung Le is the best opponent for Anderson right now because hypothetically he would sell more pay-per-view buys than Chris Weidman, even though, come on, are you fucking serious Ed? You can’t even use the “nobody else asked for it” defense for this one, because Weidman wants this fight badly, and he’ll be ready to go by this spring. Luckily, Dana White has stepped in as the voice of reason:
“This is typical Anderson Silva-Ed Soares craziness. Every (expletive) time there’s a fight. He wants to fight (Demetrious) ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson, then he wants to (expletive) fight this guy and that guy. This is always the same deal, it always happens. ‘I absolutely will not fight Chael Sonnen, he doesn’t deserve the title and I’m not doing this and I’m not doing that.’ This is what we do. We’re waiting on something, we’ll see if this pans out. When we’re ready to announce it, we’ll announce it. He will defend his title; it won’t be a super fight.”
It’s good to know that we’re not the only ones growing weary of Soares’s fun little “suggestions” for who Anderson Silva should beat the crap out of next. But not only are Soares and Jorge Guimaraes‘s public matchmaking attempts frustrating to those of us who want to see the best fight the best — removed from all financial motivations — they also do a disservice to Anderson Silva. When Silva’s managers constantly argue that Chris Weidman isn’t worthy of a title shot, many fans come to the same conclusion: That Silva is scared of Weidman, and is ducking him as a result. It might not be accurate, but it’s public perception nonetheless, and you can blame Soares and Guimaraes for that.
The problem with an MMA manager speaking on behalf of his client is that it’s inevitable that his own agenda will be incorporated into the message. And at times, Ed Soares has blatantly misrepresented Silva. But since Soares is the one speaking to the media most of the time, his message is the one that dominates. So here’s our decree: Anderson Silva’s managers should do all their dealings behind-the-scenes and off-camera, from now on. When Anderson wants to express something to the media, he should do it personally, through an interpreter, if necessary — one who will actually translate what he’s saying. Everything else is just noise.
It’s time to admit to ourselves, once and for all, that Anderson Silva isn’t the kind of champion we’d like him to be. After thoroughly conquering the middleweight division, fans assumed that the logical next step for the Greatest UFC Fighter of All Time would be to take more competitive matches against the elite in the light-heavyweight division. Of course, that’s not happening. Silva clearly has an agenda in the final stage of his career, and it doesn’t involve fighting non-superstars, or 205-pound phenoms who actually have a chance of beating him.
As Silva’s manager Ed Soares reiterates in this clip from Inside MMA, Anderson wants to fight UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre next, at a suggested catchweight of 177.5. And after that…well…Michael Bisping, maybe? The idea that Anderson Silva would fight Jon Jones is immediately dismissed by Soares, and the name Chris Weidman — remember him? the UFC’s actual #1 middleweight contender? — isn’t even mentioned.
It’s time to admit to ourselves, once and for all, that Anderson Silva isn’t the kind of champion we’d like him to be. After thoroughly conquering the middleweight division, fans assumed that the logical next step for the Greatest UFC Fighter of All Time would be to take more competitive matches against the elite in the light-heavyweight division. Of course, that’s not happening. Silva clearly has an agenda in the final stage of his career, and it doesn’t involve fighting non-superstars, or 205-pound phenoms who actually have a chance of beating him.
As Silva’s manager Ed Soares reiterates in this clip from Inside MMA, Anderson wants to fight UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre next, at a suggested catchweight of 177.5. And after that…well…Michael Bisping, maybe? The idea that Anderson Silva would fight Jon Jones is immediately dismissed by Soares, and the name Chris Weidman — remember him? the UFC’s actual #1 middleweight contender? — isn’t even mentioned.
Over the weekend, we explained how Michael Bisping’s latest demands for a title shot are, shall we say, a little premature, considering his current one-fight win streak. But we’ve clearly arrived at a new moment in the UFC, where “deserve” ain’t got nothin’ to do with it, and the biggest criteria for booking title fights is short-term profitability.
Bisping is a well-known heel who will obviously create more heat than a soft-spoken up-and-comer. The Count might get his title shot after one more win, or he might get his title shot without one more win, but as long as the Silva camp continues to select opponents with no regard to who’s next in line or what the fans actually want to see, I think we can all start calling Michael Bisping the UFC’s #1 middleweight contender, especially since phrases like “UFC #1 contender” don’t mean shit anymore. God help us.
