Anderson Silva wants to fight ... a lot
MMAWeekly.com has an interesting news item on Anderson Silva. During the UFC 86 news conference, president Dana White claimed that the winner of the Patrick Cote-Ricardo Almeida fight would be in line to take on middleweight champion Anderson Silva in the near future. MMAWeekly.com followed up with White, who said the fight could actually happen this year. So, if you’re scoring at home, Silva moves up to 205 to fight James Irvin on July 19. Then, Silva plans to defend his middleweight championship in early September (potentially) against Yushin Okami. After Irvin and Okami, provided he’s healthy, Silva wants to defend his belt again two months later, which would mean the Cote-Almeida winner would get a title shot in November. After that fight, Silva wants to move back to 205 to continue his quest to hold both championships. Dana White seems to be in favor of Silva’s plan.
“When I talk about real fighter, this is the kind of guy I'm talking about," White told MMAWeekly.com. "This guy sat down in a meeting with us, literally, two months ago and said you're not fighting me enough, I want to fight more. And he wants to keep proving himself. He's one of these guys that said my window is this big and I want to get everything in before this window closes.”
I love watching Silva fight and he is the top fighter in the world right now. But, this is a pretty ambitious plan. Neither of the middleweight fights should concern him too much but his debut at 205 will be interesting. I don’t know if he could make a realistic run at holding both titles like he plans. This would be different if he wanted to cut down to welterweight because light heavyweight is the deepest division in the UFC right now. At welterweight he’d have Georges St. Pierre, possibly B.J. Penn and a few other challenges but it would be easier than blazing through the light heavyweight ranks while also defending the middleweight championship.
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Comments
He won't have to go through many in LHW before he gets a title-shot. He will fight Irvin to get accustomed to the new weight class, then fight a more credible opponoent, then it would be title-shot. 3rd or 4th fight at LHW.. maximum! He is the recognised P4P No. 1 in UFC (if not all mma).
Two belts simultaneously:
Optomistic.. undoubtably
Possible.. very
However he is the Michael Jordan, the Tiger Woods, the Roger Federer.
These sort of people have much more potential then the average. They do GREAT things.
Watch.
Posted by: Jordan | July 6, 2008 4:11 PM
I am impressed by Anderson Silva, not just as a fighter, but also by his personality. He is confident, yet not cocky. He seems to be one of those few fighters who know anything can happen in a fight and the best way to win is to be better prepared mentally and physically. His fighting prowess at this time is untouched by anyone in any weight class. I say this because most fighters have an obvious weakness, or are more comfortable standing up or on the ground, whether or not the individual fighter admits or not. But, it seems every time you talk about Silva losing, people talk about him beating himself or having not to be at the top of his game. I look forward to this ambitious endeavor and wish him well. He continues to set the bar in UFC and though the time is far away, my only wish is that he has the ability to walk away graciously when it is time.
Posted by: ROBO | July 7, 2008 5:40 PM