Dana White: Anderson Silva could fight three or four more times in 2008

by MMAmania.com on Jul 4, 2008 12:33 PM EDT Comment 53 comments

Quoteworthy:

"Anderson Silva, being the monster that he is, you all know is going to move up to 205 on July 19. He's going to fight at 205. If everything goes well, he wants to move back to 185 and fight Sept. 6 in Atlanta, probably against Yushin Okami, then he wants to fight again two months later.... When I talk about real fighter, this is the kind of guy I'm talking about. 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. He wants to fight (July) 19. He wants to fight again Sept. 6 (at UFC 88), back down to 185 (pounds); he wants to defend his title, then again two months later. Anderson Silva might fight three or four more times this year. He might fight three or four more times this year and it's almost August!"

UFC President Dana White heaps praise on his UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva, saying that the Brazilian is such a game fighter that he wants to compete several more times before 2008 expires. "The Spider" will move up to light heavyweight to fight James Irvin at UFC Fight Night 14 on July 19 and then if he escapes that bout injury-free he'll put his 185-pound belt on the line against Yushin Okami at UFC 88: "Breakthrough" on September 6. And then after that he could soon take on the winner of the middleweight showdown between Ricardo Almeida and Patrick Cote, which takes place tomorrow night at UFC 86: "Jackson vs. Griffin." He's a busy bee.

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Anderson Silva is the Roy Jones Jr. of MMA. Everything from here on out is a set up to Rampage v Anderson.

by EazyEismydad on Jul 4, 2008 12:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

all I got to say is wow. I truly wish more fighters had this mentality. I fight for a living, so put me in thee. Not I want to fight twice a year for a million a fight!

by kevin on Jul 4, 2008 1:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He is a true champion, but I dont think he will ever hold the 205 lbs title. Rampage is not giving it up anytime soon to ANYONE!!!

Defending 2 belts in just crazy. We complaion about divisions being held up and not seeing enough title fights. Could u imaginge if Bj Penn held the lightweight and Welterweight titles, silva held middlweight and Light Heavyweight, and Nogueira had the heavyweight title? Thats 3 champions in 5 divisions, each title would be defended like once a year!

This is a horrible idea! I want to see Anderson fight top guys at 205 as much as everyone else, but IMO if he were to win the LIght Heavyweight title, we could all acknowledge him as the 1st ever holder of 2 titles at the same time in the UFC, but he would than have to relinquish one of his titles. THats just my thought.

by john on Jul 4, 2008 2:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i would have to disagree if anderson fights four to five times a year then each belt wil beable to be defended twice a year. he clearly wants to fight alot more. bj i’m sure will give up one of his belts though. he just wants to win belts then move on i can’t see him beating too many top level guys above 170. but all in all anderson is my fave fighter ever and i love bj too. but anderson takes my breath away.

by doomdoom on Jul 4, 2008 5:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Anderson is a champion’s..champ.

by PhilQNY on Jul 4, 2008 5:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hey Kev! I didn’t know you also fought for a livin’! Cool!….Well anyway, I guess you’re right. All fighters should have this mentality. So we don’t get to see anyone ducking anyone anymore[calling all tose Machida duckers out there

by TheNegation on Jul 5, 2008 5:48 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree with Sylva, not only does the UFC not fight him enough, they don’t fight ANY of their champions enough.

by chefdaddy on Jul 4, 2008 3:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

And when did Randy Couture last fight? Almost a year ago vs. Gonzaga?

by TabascoSAUCE on Jul 4, 2008 5:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ah… and I like him too! This guy is the epitome of a champion. Someone who actually wants to get in there and risk his title (not that there has been much risk thus far). Even if he does take a loss and his aura of invincibility fades a little, he will still be a huge draw for the true MMA fans. He’ll continue to be exciting and dynamic each and every time. However, I don’t see a loss coming any time soon…

by JRK on Jul 4, 2008 12:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I predict Silva’s 1st loss in a long time will come either in 2010 or 2011[in the 185 lb class that is].

by TheNegation on Jul 5, 2008 5:51 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Everyone in the 205 division just got a serious wake up call. Anderson is a huge 185 lb. fighter and will not give up any size and/or strength taking on the guys in the 205 division. When he fought Hendo and they were in the middle of the ring he made him look small. Rich Franklin said that is was like clinching with Tim Sylvia. I think some light heavyweights are going to get smashed.

by Adam on Jul 4, 2008 12:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

You gotta respect the hell out of this guy for actually wanting to fight all the time. Some of these fighters just wanna get their 2 or 3 fights in a year and move on but Silva wanting to fight this often just shows that he is the most dedicated man in MMA

by The Chosen 1 on Jul 4, 2008 12:40 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yea he is definitely stronger than his frame would suggest as well, I don’t think he will have any trouble at 205 unless fighting the very top tier guys, I think someone like Rampage would give him problems based on his strength and wrestling ability.

by Ballam on Jul 4, 2008 12:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

dan henderson had a realy hard time taking anderson down in the 2nd round. so i think that anderson can hang with rampage.

by doomdoom on Jul 4, 2008 5:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If I was in 205 I would be shaking in my boots the dude is the best fighter in the world. He has cleaned out the middleweight division not including Okami. Once he beats him I would love to see him in with Chuck Liddell or the loser of the Rampage vs Griffin fight.

by Tim on Jul 4, 2008 12:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I want to see him against Machida… but I’m dreaming

by chris on Jul 4, 2008 1:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

yea you are but so am i. i would like to see machida get the light heavy belt then black house or what ever their camp is called would have three champions in three divisions in the ufc they would be the most dominat camp in the ufc

by doomdoom on Jul 4, 2008 5:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Awesome

by Haze on Jul 4, 2008 12:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

dana also went on to say that he thinks going up and down in weight divisions back and forth like this is stupid and wouldnt let any other fighter do it……..except a.silva. he’s that good.

by b.w on Jul 4, 2008 12:58 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I would add Penn and possibly St. Pierre to that exclusive list. For sure Penn.

by Adam on Jul 4, 2008 1:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

right on! me too! gsp could wreak havoc on the lhws as well but couldnt make lw. b.j. could be a force at all 3 weights. he already has been champ in 2 weight classes and i think he will be the first to be champ in 3.

by b.w on Jul 4, 2008 1:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oh man, I am against someone holding two weight titles, even a. silva (the best fighter in MMA IMHO). I wish he’d just stick to one weight class, either MW or LHW. This is just going to take too much out of Anderson, fighting so constantly is such a bad decision IMO, but what you gonna do right? Gotta give respect where it is due. Anderson will be a very busy fighter from here on out specially if he captures both titles(which I think if anyone can do it, it is the spider). Hendo got lucky in a way because he got both titles in Pride when Pride was going out of business, but Anderson will have to defend his titles… I wonder how Machida feels right about now LOL, Anderson will probably get a title shot at LHW before the dragon.

by linx on Jul 4, 2008 1:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Who is Anderson going to defend his middleweight title with. I’m going to have to turn away from the big screen when he beats the sh*t out of Okami. And could you imagine Cote standing with Anderson. Please. Somebody reserve a hospital bed for Patty.

by Adam on Jul 4, 2008 1:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hey I can’t see anyone at 185 coming close to beat Anderson either, but he can just stick with 205 if he wants to and leave the MW division.

by linx on Jul 4, 2008 1:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

lmao. seriously

by Anthony on Jul 4, 2008 3:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

This guy is THE BEST MMA fighter out there

by WickedAwesome on Jul 4, 2008 1:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

He better fight in Atlanta, I’ll be there (here)!!!

by dieGo[atL] on Jul 4, 2008 1:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The Spider will dominate Irvin, brutalize Okami, will handle Machida, will destroy both Almeida and Cote. Bring on Rampage or Griffin or Liddell at LHW or have GSP move up to MW.

by Harrison on Jul 4, 2008 1:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

he won’t be fighting machida anytime soon. same camp.

by doomdoom on Jul 4, 2008 5:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

This guy is an animal. I wonder who his 3rd fight would be against? There’s nobody left at middleweight seeing as how he’s going to fight Okami second. Nothing but respect and this guy is the definition of a champion.

by Shadyone33 on Jul 4, 2008 1:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

War silva mw and lhw cham
pion

by shawnizzle on Jul 4, 2008 1:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

three more times would be 4 fights. that isn’t that impressive. in previous years some would fight 3-4 times, then beat on 2 cans. silva’s next fight is vs a guy who he is overwhelmingly a favorite. the ufc likes to sit on fighters, and the win or get cut mentality also causes fighters to dodge good fights as long as possible

by aa on Jul 4, 2008 1:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

three fights in the ufc against top fighters in 5 months is a big deal. if they were fighting him like that all year then he would have had about 5 or 6 fights this year.

by doomdoom on Jul 4, 2008 5:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

his 4th fight could be a rematch with Hendo!

by DeMo on Jul 4, 2008 2:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Now thats what I’m fucking talking about!! This is what they need to do with Rampage too. Although, Rampage is in a tougher division and has opponents like Machida and Shogun and Wanderlei who could need more preparation time, Rampage needs to be fighting every 3 months minimum. I love it! Go Anderson!

by Anthony on Jul 4, 2008 3:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I hope Irvin knocks him silly first round and ends this hype train

by brendan on Jul 4, 2008 4:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hardly a hype train… what else does he have to do to prove himself to you? Hype is when you build a fighter up to be good, but he hasn’t fought anybody yet… Anderson has not only fought everybody, he has destroyed them all, and he will destroy Irvin too, so keep hoping there pal.

by Harrison on Jul 4, 2008 4:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

he’s just saying that to get attention and to be the oppisit of every one else. it’s hard to argue about anderson silva in these post so all that kid could think of is saying something completely silly to try to start crap.

by doomdoom on Jul 4, 2008 5:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

hype train? you gotta be kidding. Anderson has proved himself enough i would say!!

Brock Lesnar might be on a hype train…

by LiFT on Jul 4, 2008 5:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bisping is coming for you silva! you better stay at light heavy punk!

by Tony on Jul 4, 2008 4:31 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

what?! realy? oh wait are you saying anderson better stay at light heavy so that way he won’t hurt bisping? because name one thing bisping is better than anderson at.

by doomdoom on Jul 4, 2008 5:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

English.

by PJJ on Jul 4, 2008 8:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not by much.

by chefdaddy on Jul 4, 2008 10:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

LOL yeah i can never understand what the hell bisping is saying in his post fight interviews

by Metalnick on Jul 5, 2008 5:28 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’m not a Anderson fan, but I do give him the respect he deserves. A true fighter in all aspects and could be a force at 205.

by Rubberman on Jul 4, 2008 5:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Gotta love Anderson. he’s willing to test himself in the most dangerous division in the UFC: LHW. Although i’m a huge Anderson fan, 4-5 fights a year is a bit much. Think about it…more fights mean more chances of injury…anything could happen.

ok i’m going to punch myself for arguing AGAINST more Anderson fights.

by LiFT on Jul 4, 2008 5:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It’s not like Anderson fights in wars. He’s usually been dominant and rarely gets a medical suspension. Plus, he’s always in great shape and needs little motivation to fight.

by Pat on Jul 21, 2008 1:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’m sure most people believe there is no shot of this happening, but, where would Anderson’s legacy be IF HE LOST to Okami?

Just think about that for a second. Yushin Okami UFC Middle Weight Champ.

That would be horrible.

by TabascoSAUCE on Jul 4, 2008 5:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I am going to qualify my following statement by saying it is really geeky. We all know A.Silva is a Spider-Man fan, I am as well, to the point of having a big japanese style back tattoo of spidey & hobgoblin, anyway, I think the guy just wants to be like his hero. He wants to use and showcase his talents as much as possble and ‘be a hero to people’ if he can. We would be so lucky if all athletes pushed themselves to their furthest to show us what they can accomplish.

by sycboi on Jul 4, 2008 9:31 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs