UFC President Dana White said on Wednesday that middleweight champion Anderson Silva's next fight will be against Chael Sonnen, and that the UFC will fire Silva if he clowns around against Sonnen the way he did against Demian Maia on Saturday at UFC 112.
"We'll find out in his next fight if I got through to him or not," White said on ESPN's Jim Rome Is Burning. "He's got a real tough fight coming up because his next fight is going to be against Chael Sonnen. And Chael Sonnen is one of these guys who's not going to lay back, not going to do what these other guys did. When he's been in this position when these types of fights have happened, he's been against real good jiu jitsu guys, guys who want to get the fight to the ground. Well, Chael Sonnen is going to want to take this fight to the ground, but he's going to double-leg him and bring him down."
White said he has a hard time understanding why Silva's last two middleweight title defenses have been decisions in which Silva didn't go all-out to finish the fight.
"Anderson Silva absolutely demolished Rich Franklin twice, destroyed Dan Henderson, destroyed Nate Marquardt, then moved up to 205 and destroyed the guys he fought there," White said. "Then you see fights like this and it's just unexplainable."
White then raised the stakes and said he'd cut Silva from the UFC if Silva ever fights like that again.
"Personally I think he was embarrassed by what he did that night," White said. "Maybe he had a mental breakdown -- I don't know what happened in the ring. All I can say is I know his next opponent isn't going to be a guy who's going to lay back. Chael Sonnen is going to take it to him, and hopefully we never see that again. If we do, I'll tell you this: If he ever acts like that again in the ring, I will cut him. I don't care if he's the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, I don't care if he is the middleweight champion. I will cut him, absolutely."
Rome also asked White about a couple of other issues, including lying about the upcoming Chuck Liddell-Rich Franklin fight.
"The people who feel like they've been lied to? Too bad," White said. "Get over it. It's a reality show, and oh, well."
White was also asked about his ongoing efforts to sign Fedor Emelianenko.
"I'm as big or bigger of a fight fan, than anybody that watches mixed martial arts," White said. "So if somebody believes this guy is possibly the best -- which I personally do not think that he is one of the pound-for-pound best in the world -- yes, he is one of the best heavyweights in the world, I want to find out if he is. But it takes two to make a deal."
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"We'll find out in his next fight if I got through to him or not," White said on ESPN's Jim Rome Is Burning. "He's got a real tough fight coming up because his next fight is going to be against Chael Sonnen. And Chael Sonnen is one of these guys who's not going to lay back, not going to do what these other guys did. When he's been in this position when these types of fights have happened, he's been against real good jiu jitsu guys, guys who want to get the fight to the ground. Well, Chael Sonnen is going to want to take this fight to the ground, but he's going to double-leg him and bring him down."
White said he has a hard time understanding why Silva's last two middleweight title defenses have been decisions in which Silva didn't go all-out to finish the fight.
"Anderson Silva absolutely demolished Rich Franklin twice, destroyed Dan Henderson, destroyed Nate Marquardt, then moved up to 205 and destroyed the guys he fought there," White said. "Then you see fights like this and it's just unexplainable."
White then raised the stakes and said he'd cut Silva from the UFC if Silva ever fights like that again.
"Personally I think he was embarrassed by what he did that night," White said. "Maybe he had a mental breakdown -- I don't know what happened in the ring. All I can say is I know his next opponent isn't going to be a guy who's going to lay back. Chael Sonnen is going to take it to him, and hopefully we never see that again. If we do, I'll tell you this: If he ever acts like that again in the ring, I will cut him. I don't care if he's the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, I don't care if he is the middleweight champion. I will cut him, absolutely."
Rome also asked White about a couple of other issues, including lying about the upcoming Chuck Liddell-Rich Franklin fight.
"The people who feel like they've been lied to? Too bad," White said. "Get over it. It's a reality show, and oh, well."
White was also asked about his ongoing efforts to sign Fedor Emelianenko.
"I'm as big or bigger of a fight fan, than anybody that watches mixed martial arts," White said. "So if somebody believes this guy is possibly the best -- which I personally do not think that he is one of the pound-for-pound best in the world -- yes, he is one of the best heavyweights in the world, I want to find out if he is. But it takes two to make a deal."
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