Considered by many the reigning pound-for-pound king in mixed martial arts, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has been imagined in many fascinating scenarios. Some have envisioned him fighting welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre at a catch weight (Silva himself once suggested the possibility of fighting at welterweight). A permament move up one division to light-heavyweight has also been mentioned, and UFC President Dana White has voiced a belief that he's big enough and talented enough to fight some UFC heavyweights.Well, put all those dream bookings on hold. The mercurial star now says that he's perfectly content ruling over the 185-pound weight class, and that he plans to stay there for the remainder of his career.
"If you want to beat me up, make weight and come fight me in my category, my division," Silva said through his manager and interpreter Ed Soares.
Silva is in the midst of a historic run in the sport. At 26-4 overall, he is the holder of 11 straight victories in the octagon, a UFC record. He next defends the championship against No. 1 contender Chael Sonnen at UFC 117 on August 7.
Despite his astounding success, he's faced some backlash from critics who thought several of his recent performances have been uninspired. He was booed soundly at the end of his last fight, a UFC 112 unanimous decision over Demian Maia, in which many people believed he could have finished Maia early on. It's caused many to suggest that Silva is no longer interested in facing middleweights, but he denied that was the case.
"I haven't gotten bored," he said. "I like my sport. I like my weight division that I fight in, and I'm prepared to stay in my weight division."
Moments later, Silva emphasized that not only was he not bored, but that he planned to be at middleweight for a long time to come.
"He said that I didn't translate it exactly. He said he wants to retire fighting in his weight category," Soares said.
Comments (Page 1 of 2)
The whole "pound-for-pound king" thing was hyped by the ufc while they couldn't claim to own the "baddest man on the planet" moniker. Now that they have the #1 ranked HW, all the pound-for-pound bs will become a marketing liability since Silva & GSP are too afraid to lose.
the only reason silva fought at mw was because he wasnt near the fighter shogun or wanderlei were. that anderson silva, who seems to completely ignore a ground game, is mentioned as a #4# is laughable.
silva wants no part of shogun. he's had his az handed to him enough by Shogun to know that.
Didn't Franklin beat Wandy, and Forrest beat Shogun? Yet he is nowhere near as good a fighter?
The only thing laughable is this bogus analysis of yours.
Shogun hadnt trained for six months when he got that call to fight forrest. dana gave shogun the choice to either take the fight or never get another call.
so let me see if i understand, a good analysis is beating Wanderlei at the end of his career means shogun isnt up for forrest? that probably works for you. doesnt make any sense to me.
"so let me see if i understand, a good analysis is beating Wanderlei at the end of his career means shogun isnt up for forrest?". I'm not even sure what you're trying to imply here sir.
I'm not saying because Griffen beat shogun and etc.. that that makes silva the more qualified fighter, but you immediately discrediting him as not being as good a fighters as they "were" (so are they both at the end of their careers there? Wandy is only 34) seems a bit far-fetched.
As for Shogun already handing Silva his ass (or Az for you children), did I miss this fight? What in the hell are you talking about
@mycul 2 times Wandy won that fight IMO. Garbage MMA judging coming into play yet again.
Silva is an over-rated clown. He should be on dancing with the stars.
LOL @ using MMAth to show why Silva is better than Shogun. Silva has a loss to Ryo Chonan, should we now assume TJ Grant is better than Anderson?
Seriously, if you want to talk "ANALYSIS" don't blindly use MMA math. Yes Shogun lost to Forrest, but as EVERY MMA FAN knows, Shogun was coming off an injury. It's ridiculous how ignorant some fans are when trying to make a point. Be objective, for god's sakes.
I love it. Call it what you will, but no smart athlete is going to put himself in an un-advantageous situation. Silva, after defeating Sonnen, will have dominated and owned the Middleweight Division. Why would a king leave his kingdom? When he stepped up to light-heavyweight, it was because they had no one to offer him at Middleweight and, let's face it, Silva needed to collect a paycheck. If Shogun and GSP want to prove themselves, they should meet him on his terms. It's Silva who has set the bar, and it's up to Shogun and GSP to try to hurdle it. Not the other way around.
Silva has set the bar? How do you figure that? GSP's record is far more impressive? He has fought guys who can finish fights and are elite in their areas of MMA. Beating Thales Leitas, Patrick Cote, Damien Maia, Marquart, Sonnen, James Irvin, Forrest.... how is this setting the bar? Silva goes to 205 and then is terrified to go back because he knows he would be dominated by elite wrestlers......
Look at what Sonnen did to him!!! Imagine Rashad Evans who is much bigger and stronger than Sonnen fighting against Silva, he would take him down AT EASE and finish him, because unlike Sonnen he can finish fights. Silva also wants nothing to do with Jon Jones, Machida or Shogun.
Shogun and GSP do not need to prove themselves because their divisions are much more talented than Silva's. Shogun had to face Rashad, Ryan Bader and Jon Jones, while Silva has garbage fighters like Leitas who isn't even in the UFC anymore!!!
Silva is a joke and nowhere near the P4P
Shogun should drop over 35 pounds to fight him at Welterweight What? Anderson walks around at at least 190 pounds for them to even say that is so incredibly ridiculous I can't even put it into words.Gsp should fight him at 185 no question. --Don't get me wrong Anderson is a very impressive fighter but if you look at his record his only top tier wins in the UFC come from Rich Franklin x2,Hendo,Marquardt,and Griffin,not that the others he faced weren't any good but they where mostly one dimensional fighters in one way or another. When they are throwing guys who primarily strike like James Irvin,Chris Leben,Patric and Cote then guys like Lutter,Maia,and Leites who only have BJJ WELL what the heck do they think will happen. And even though they where good enough to be fighting Anderson Silva for the Welterweight title Lutter and Leites got cut after losing.Is that what you would do to a true #1 contender after losing a championship fight?Kind of makes you think that they really shouldn't have been in the title fight to begin with?
Simple answer just meet at a catch weight and have at it. Doesn't need to be for a title. It would be a huge payday, and many ppv buys. Rua vs Silva at 195...GSP vs. Silva 177.5
Sorry, I wrote Welterweight in place of Middleweight. --- Catch weight bouts would be the perfect way to have all three fights without having to put the titles on the line. Although I think it would be very interesting to have one man holding two belts . it could be possible for example a B.j.Penn who is a natural 170 pounder to go from 155-170-185 fairly easily only having to go up or down 15 pounds. It would be even more likely for somebody like Aldo or Miguel Torres to do it at 135-145-155. The only problem is Zuffa usually only lets their Champs fight about twice a year.
St P. walks around at 198, they talked about it in his last prefight, he doesnt need to drop any weight, he already belongs in the 185 class. St P. is extrememly talented but his fights have become a lay on someone thats too small to push you off and bore everyone till the 5th round ends. They should fight at 185, but regardless Silva offered a catch weight in the past, St P. wanted no part in it. He claimed they were too good of friends to fight. Its nice the guy above thinks Silva is a clown, but someone like St P. obviously thinks very differently...
The problem with the catch weight scenario is that Silva doesn't want to fight at a catch weight.
imply, is someone else writting under your name? take a look, you wrote it; and appearantly you've missed quite a bit.
silva was never able to hang with shogun or wanderlei. they were all out of the chute boxe camp. shogun and wanderlei owned silva, thats why he cut so much weight. but you knew that right?
I want to see Silva vs. GSP more than Silva vs. 'Shogun'.
Yes, Rua proved that he is still a dangerous striker but I just think GSP and Silva are the best in the sport right now. Plus, I've been wanting this fight to happen even before Rua was the No. 1 contender.
I'm a big fan of the three of them anyway.. too bad soccer kicks aren't allowed.. that way I would've want to see Silva vs. Rua :p
why would gsp or shogun want to go to 185 to fight this guy? Does he think that they wake up every morning saying "i wish i could fight AS " no i don't think so. He should just concentrate on smashing sonnen or whatever dance moves he's gonna use to tease him for 25 min. I highly doubt gsp or shogun are going to lose any sleep over this, and he doesn't deserve the ppv buys that gsp and shogun can draw anyways. you have to earn the big money fights.
I agree with Silva on this one. If they want to fight him then come to the Kingdom and wage war. However, I just can't see any of them doing it so we can say Silva vd GSP a stale mate
Look bottom line he is not the pound for pound anything, until he figure's out that being an exciting fighter 100% of the time is what makes you a champ. Not when ever you feel like it look this guy like's to humilate people, by punching them in the legs and dancing around the octagon. That's all great but if your so good just finish them that's more humilating than anything. He's a great athlete with knock out power in both hands and deadly accurate, but he's so afraid to lose he does dumb sh*t. I also question his cardio his last fight after the second round he looked tired and scared to engage. Bottom line if he wants to be considered the best he needs to put it all on the line in every fight and quit worrying about the streak and losing. If losing is in the cards then he'll lose no matter how many times he runs laps around the ring. Look I'm not hating on anderson, but he needs to step it up and leave it all the octagon, I wanna see the anderson who floored lebian, and humilated forrest. Not the mambo king of south america who dances all night, or the gold shoe wearing michael johnson who runs a 4.3 40 running laps around the octagon.
I don't see how any of you can consider Silva a clown or an over-rated fighter. Yes, he's been doing some stupid sh*t in fights lately, but the fact that he can absolutely toy with and beat good fighters in "half-assed" fashion speaks to his ability. Yes, we'd all like to see him actually try in every fight, and he'd probably KO everyone within two minutes. He tries against the best fighters he faces, and makes them look like silly amateurs. I'm a big fan of GSP and Shogun, but neither one could deal with Silva's striking. He KO'd and embarassed a tough and game Griffin with a fading jab and made James Irvin curl up into fetal position after one punch, both LHW's at the time I might add. I think it's fair to say that he punches harder than people realize, and I think he could easily capture the LHW belt if he wanted to, given the opportunity.