Barring any unexpected defeats or freak injuries, Anderson Silva will fight at least three more times by the year’s end, Dana White said in a press conference held yesterday. First, of course, is his light-heavyweight debut against James Irvin at UFN 14 on July 19th. Said White:
“If everything goes well, he wants to move back to 185 and fight Sept. 6 in Atlanta [at UFC 88], probably against Yushin Okami, then he wants to fight again two months later.”
And who might that next opponent be?
“(Ricardo Almeida) and Patrick Cote are going to fight on Saturday night and see who’s next in line for Anderson Silva’s 185-pound title,” said White.
The long-term plan is for Silva to keep testing the waters at 205, in preparation for an eventual run at the title. And for the first time in the UFC’s history, one of its champions would be allowed to hold two titles at the same time. “Normally I won’t let guys do stuff like that because it’s just…stupid,” White said. “I’ll let Anderson Silva do it.”
Anyway, this has to be bittersweet for Almeida and Cote. The good news is that the winner of their fight is getting an immediate title shot; the bad news, of course, is that the winner is slated to get the worst beating of his life in November. I’m not saying that throwing the fight intentionally and leaving the country for a while would be the best idea, but it’s probably not the worst either.
The UFC’s next “Fight Night” card on SpikeTV will reportedly go down September 17th at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska, and matchups are beginning to be sorted out. TUF 5 winner and Stockton-repper Nate Diaz has agreed to fight Josh “The Dentist” Neer in a lightweight bout on the main card; Diaz has gone 4-0 in the UFC since his reality show stint, including a legendary no-hands triangle choke victory over Kurt Pellegrino at UFN 13, while Neer (24-6-1, 3-3 UFC) last defeated Din Thomas by decision at the same event, and holds notable wins over Joe Stevenson and Melvin Guillard.
Omaha’s own Houston Alexander is also expected to appear, taking on Eric Schafer. The fight marks Schafer’s return to the Octagon after picking up a couple of wins in the Gladiators Fighting Series organization; he’d previously dropped two in a row to Michael Bisping and Stephan Bonnar. A middleweight fight between Ed Herman and Alan Belcher has been rumored as well.
In other UFC news…
— Dana White has denied that his mind-blowing announcement is related to New York MMA regulation. Epic Fail averted, for now.
— BloodyElbow is floating a rumor that Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami could fight in October, at the UFC’s next U.K. show. We’d rather see the Spider in a light-heavyweight super-fight, but sure, why not, clean out the division once and for all.
— French welterweight David Baron has reportedly signed with the UFC. Baron is the former 168-pound champion of Shooto Europe who most recently pulled off a huge upset at Shooto Tradition 1 by submitting Hayato Sakurai in the first round.
“We’re talking to Joe (Silva - UFC Match Maker), and we’re starting to look for a fight. If you win 4 or 5 fights in a row, you’re pretty much guaranteed a title shot, so I figured maybe Okami or Bisping would be a fun fight for me.”
Chris Leben shares some ideas about who he would like to take on next in the 185-pound division with the hopes that he can reel of some more wins and get another crack at UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva. “The Crippler” is on a two fight win streak, recovering from a skid in which he lost three of four bouts, including one losing contest against “The Spider” in 2006.
(Thanks to MMAmania.com contributor “Mr. NC-17″ for the assist.)
Who Anderson Silva should fight next is current debate among MMA fans. Silva himself seems bored with the weak competition and has even got his eye on going toe-to-toe with champion - or ex-champion - boxers. On the MMA side of things, the name that keeps popping up to fight Silva is Yushin Okami, the middleweight that beat The Spider via disqualification a little over two years ago in a Rumble on the Rock tournament. Silva spoke to Sherdog recently - via his manager, Ed Soares - and is non too pleased with the Okami win.
Silva was dominating the fight. When Silva went to his back, Okami got in some of his best strikes of the bout. But an upkick from The Spider connected with Okami’s mug, sending the fighter back. Troy “Rude Boy” Mandaloniz held Silva back from exacting more pain to Okami. Why did “Rude Boy” hold Silva back, you ask? He was the ref for the match. That’ll for sure be a question in Trivial Pursuit: MMA, so remember it. Anyway, Okami couldn’t recover and the DQ gave him the win.
Silva has a different point of view:
“I feel it was a cheap, cowardly way of winning,” a pointed Silva says more than two years after the scrap. “People that were there saw that he was in the condition to come back and keep fighting, and he didn’t.”
Silva says he doesn’t “really think much of anything of Okami,” but the Brazilian was more poised when stuck under Henderson than he is when discussing the Japanese fighter.
“It wasn’t really a fight,” Silva describes the disqualification loss before adding that he doesn’t want to talk about it anymore.
“The last man to own a victory over UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, Japan’s Yushin ‘Thunder’ Okami has won six out of seven UFC fights, putting him firmly in line for a rematch with the champ. At UFC 82 on March 1st, Okami may have been at his most impressive as he knocked out former UFC champion Evan Tanner in the second round.”
The blurb above is for an auction in which the gloves Okami wore against Tanner are up on the block. It reveals that Okami did indeed break his hand against Tanner because the gloves will be signed “with his left hand since he broke his right hand during the fight.”
Here’s how the first fight went down for those interested:
(Thanks to MMAmania.com reader “Toga” for the assist.)
“… I have to go out there and keep him from fighting his fight, but I don’t have a clue what’s really going to happen. I think I do better in anything I do when I’m really not sure what’s around the next corner. I just kind of go off and explore on my own…. I’m going to get in there and figure it out as we go. I don’t have a clue if I’ll win. I just know it’s fun again.”
Eccentric former middleweight champion, Evan Tanner, talks about his latest adventure that is set to take place inside the Octagon against Yushin Okami at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” this Saturday, March 1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. He hasn’t competed in a professional mixed martial arts bout in more than two years and will be up against one of the top contenders in the 185-pound category right out of the gate. Interesting definition of fun … can’t wait. To check out his physical transformation click here.
“I stepped up into the Octagon, under the lights, the canvas cool against the soles of my feet, the quiet of the arena echoing off row after row of empty seats. I stood there in silence, honoring all of the warriors who have stood that ground, and offering a silent prayer for those who will stand there in the future. I paid my respects to whatever gods of war may be, knowing that I would soon be standing this field again, heart pumping, blood coursing, lungs burning, ……battle raging.”
He’ll do it for real when he returns to fight Yushin Okami at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” on March 1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Fitting title for the former 185-pound titleholder.
It sure sounds like it:
