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Phillipe Nover: The Forgotten "Next Anderson Silva"

Does anyone remember Phillipe Nover, from season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter? The fighter who fainted in episode 1, the fighter who nearly won the entire season, the one that Dana White had predicted on live television just may be the next Anderson Silva? Yes, THAT guy.

Well I would just like to take a moment to talk about Nover, namely how Dana had publicly called him the "next Anderson Silva", and how Nover was cut from the company not long after failing to meet Dana's expectations. Nover could not have been treated any worse. To start, Nover showed tremendous potential on TUF, making it all the way to the finals before losing via decision in the finals to Efrain Escudero. At just 24 years of age at the time, Nover had a bright career ahead of him, and plenty of time to learn and improve.

In Nover's next outing, he lost via TKO to Kyle Bradley at UFC 98, in a fight that absolutely was stopped prematurely by referee Eves Lavigne. A tough and unfair break for Nover, as well as a permanent loss on his MMA record that he didn't deserve.

Finally, at UFC 109, Nover lost his next fight (which would turn out to be his last in UFC) via controversial decision against Rob Emerson, in a fight that many, including sherdog.com believed Nover should have won. Long story short, whether deserved or not, Nover at this point was now 0-3 in the UFC, and was cut. UFC unceremoniously fired him for losing three in a row.... or was that the REAL reason?!?

My strong belief was that Nover was cut because he disappointed Dana, by not living up to his expectations of being the "next Anderson Silva". Dana was looking for the next big thing (pardon the cliché), and was hoping that Nover would be the one to fill that void, but alas, no matter how hard Nover worked, he just didn’t cut it as the next Anderson Silva, and there is nothing wrong with that. After all, those are some HUGE shoes to fill! Bottom line, Nover was treated like dirt on is way out, and did not deserve to be cut from the company. Dana does not like to be disappointed. As for Nover, he went on to win 4 out of his next 6 fights post-UFC, losing only two fights, both by decision.

In closing, for any professional fighter to be dubbed "the next Anderson Silva", "the next GSP", or "The next Jon Jones" is the kiss of death for their careers. Nover’s UFC career was doomed from the moment he got that public plug from Dana.

And by the way…. I am NOT Phillipe Nover.