Caption: Could Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami be fighting sooner rather then later?
How do you make Ultimate 2008 “over the top” Ultimate? Try adding Anderson Silva to the fight card. After his recent performance against Patrick Cote, at UFC 90, fans were let down to say the least.
UfC President Dana White acknowledged disappointment in the way the fight turned out, adding, "The crowd was flat at the end. ... I felt like I was in a f---ing alternate universe."
Dana White told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Silva wanted to get right back on the horse:
"He's flipping out. He wants to fight again, like, on Nov 15. He's upset about his performance and he wants to fight again immediately."
In a previous article it was reported that Silva could fight as early as UFC 91 but that’s obviously not happening. A free fight for the fans on Spike’s “Fight for the Troops” seemed like a great idea, but with the fight card recently solidified, and the event a month out, that looks doubtful.
So what has happened to all the Anderson Silva talk? What is ironic is that even before the UFC 90 misfortune there was talk of Silva fighting at UFC 92.
"If Silva finishes Cote in the way he normally finishes opponents, he could fight again in two months," UFC president Dana White told The Sun.
White also mentioned that Silva fighting Georges St. Pierre is a possibility.
"If GSP beats BJ [Penn] then you’ll see Silva vs. GSP—possibly at a catch weight," White said.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I am more intrigued by the possibility of Silva fighting at UFC 92 as of now.
Dana White also told USA Today, "If Anderson wins this fight on Saturday night, I think we'll look for another fight for him at 205 (light heavyweight), then we'll figure out in the 185-pound (middleweight) division what's next," White says.
So if Silva does fight at Ultimate 2008, does he fight at light heavyweight or middleweight?
It is worth nothing that Yuskin Okami, who was replaced by Cote due to injury, will be fighting Dean Lister at UFC 92. Some have expressed they would like to see Lister replaced with Silva.
Fellow B/R writer Todd Jackson discussed the idea in a previous article of his and I for one think that’s an intriguing idea.
I am sure Okami would love to get back the title shot he lost due to injury. The only person I see being upset is Dean Lister, but I am sure the UFC can find ways to compensate him.
Other then Okami, the only other top-level middleweight opponent available to fight on such short notice would be Nate Marquardt. He destroyed Martin Kampmann back at UFC 88 in September. I am sure he would love to step in and get a rematch of his loss back at UFC 73.
Other then those options, it leaves Silva to fight at light heavyweight. Fellow B/R writer Jeremy Botter talked about the possibility of a matchup between Anderson Silva vs. Chuck Liddell in one of his article, “The Five Biggest Potential UFC Fights.”
I am sure the UFC will do the right thing when it comes to placing Silva on an upcoming fight card. They want to market one of their best commodities correctly and while the fans, and Silva, are ready for a fight, sooner rather then later, I don’t expect the UFC to rush things.
That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dana White bombshells us all with a fight out of nowhere. How great would it be to see Anderson Silva fighting at Ultimate 2008?!
Let just hope that, whenever he does fight again, he is back to his old spider ways.
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Brian Oswald is a new staff writer for Inside Fights. For all the latest in MMA news please check out the site!
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about 1 month ago
Did you republish a previous article? This is reads like some serious kind of deja vu.
from about 1 month ago
Its a continuation of the first article. I actually linked the first article to this one. There was all the hype right after UFC 90 that Silva may fight at UFC 91 which didn't happen. So I am keeping the hype going until we know where Silva lands. I figured it was a story worth staying on top of.
But I can see how it may feel a bit like deja vu. Especially since we both wrote essentially the same article when that news hit. Although yours was better written =)
from about 1 month ago
I also wrote an article suggesting Silva and Okami should fight and move Lister up one or two cards with due compensation. Its a great idea folks, great minds...........
from about 1 month ago
Yeah I forgot to plug you Todd. You were the one that sold me on the idea.
When I said "Some have expressed they would like to see Lister replaced with Silva and I for one think that’s an intriguing idea." That was me saying Todd inspired me to think its a good idea =)
Also, Frankie Sanchez mentioned it around the same time. Kudos to both of yall for suggesting it. If it actually happens that would be great...
about 1 month ago
Nice article Brian,
I agree that it's stupid to make Okami fight Lister at UFC 92, Okami deserves a title shot against Silva as soon as possible and a fight between the two for UFC 92 would be very interesting but I doubt it happens.
i think Silva's probably gonna fight at UFC 95, I doubt he fights before that, the other cards are already pretty much decided.
from about 1 month ago
Yeah I think thats part of the problem with Silva fighting any sooner. All the fight cards are all pretty stacked. I am torn as to whether Dana will make them more stacked to get Silva a fight sooner rather then later. Do you think that his next fight will be at LHW?
from about 1 month ago
For some reason, yeah I'm 100% sure his next fight will be at light-heavyweight, but I honestly doubt he gets Liddell, it's just not a good fight for Chuck and he's already lost his last fight and losing another one would probably be fatal. I think Chuck's next fight will be against an easier opponent.
As for Mr. Silva, I would think he would fight a light-heavyweight such as Luiz Cane or Keith Jardine, a tough fighter but a guy Silva can beat.
from about 1 month ago
Cane would be interesting, as would Jardine. Cane could be very dangerous, and much harder for Silva to KO, then his MW foes. He laid Sok out. I get a feeling they might make Cane fight Jardine though. I have heard a few whispers about that....
from about 1 month ago
Cane vs Jardine would be very interesting, if it does happen and Cane wins then he's gonna start having some tough fights this guy is really starting to impress me.
about 1 month ago
I would love to see Silva fight Okami, I for one hate Dean Lister fights the guy is very boring and it seems like it takes forever for the guy to ever get around to submitting someone. Perhaps the one Dean Lister fight that sticks out the most in my mind is Dean Lister vs. Amar Suloev very very boring and I consider myself a Suloev fan. I think it is within the UFC's best interest to keep that guy away from any main card as much as possible and simply keep him on the the untelevised under card fights.
about 1 month ago
I would love to see Silva fight Okami, I for one hate Dean Lister fights the guy is very boring and it seems like it takes forever for the guy to ever get around to submitting someone. Perhaps the one Dean Lister fight that sticks out the most in my mind is Dean Lister vs. Amar Suloev very very boring and I consider myself a Suloev fan. I think it is within the UFC's best interest to keep that guy away from any main card as much as possible and simply keep him on the the untelevised under card fights.
from about 1 month ago
Ha, thats funny. I haven't heard someone express so much dislike for Lister before. Not because I disagree but because Lister is a much lesser know fighter. You are a true MMA fan my friend!
I think it would be great if the UFC could magically swap out Lister and put in Silva. But they are probably set on having him fight at LHW next. When do you see Silva fighting next?
about 1 month ago
I don't really know I mean he is ready to go. That fight with Cote left undamaged, I think I need to look ahead on the UFC rumor mill to find out what is looking to have the weakest card. I believe whatever has the weakest card is the next show he will fight on because they will want to boost sales.
about 1 month ago
UFC 93 Needs a little Beefing up to get a PPV buys,so i think he'll throw Silva V.S. Marquardt 2 in there. But if he does Fight at UFC 92...I'll Probably S#!t myself,and then order it twice!!! I hope your right Brian..
from about 1 month ago
lol Great comment Sean. I have always been intrigued by a Marquardt rematch. He looks so much better since his most recent fight. He seems to have put it all together and am looking forward to his next fight.
about 1 month ago
I think that Silva should wait until he can get a shot a GSP, Rampage or Rashaad Evans. Anything else would be a waste of time for him and the fans as well.
from about 1 month ago
Interesting perspective Omar. I guess the soonest he could fight Rampage or Rashad would be if they both lost at UFC 92. So a fight could happen in March maybe. Not sure if the UFC wants to wait 4 1/2 months for Silva to fight again. GSP would be longer because he has to beat Penn and then defend his WW tittle against Alves. Even if he lost it would be probably April or May before he could fight Silva.
I like where your going with your though, save the best opponents for Silva. I just think he will end up fighting someone else before, because of the timing of it all. Thanks for your comment Omar
about 1 month ago
okami does not deserve a title fight anyways- franklin dominated him. there is no one at middleweight, until damian moria gets more experience, for silva to fight. Bishop maybe? But I dont see him lasting more than a round.
He needs to fight gsp and then rock the lh division. jackson, evans, even tho liddel is done it would be a big hype fight, forrest, vanderlie always makes exciting fights. Who really wants to see him fight Okami? Not a great idea- aterrible idea. Lets see the best fight fight the best! And the best is gsp and are not in the middleweight division.
from about 1 month ago
Andrew your crazy. Okami should have got the decision over Franklin. Just Kidding! I 100% agree with you. While I remained objective in the article all my comments on other articles, since going back over Okami's record, have caused me to realize he doesn't deserve a title shot. The only reason people want to give him one is because he got that DQ win over Silva before the UFC.
Not only did he not beat Franklin, but I dont think he has beat one legitimate Top !0 MW. The win over Mike Swick was probably his best. Also, he doesn't finish fights; rather he gets decisions. I am glad someone actually sees its the same. I definitely agree that he needs to leave the MW division behind and go straight to the LHW division. And if the timing for a GSP fight happen then sure.
Check out my other article "Anderson Silva has 5 fights left" to get a sense for that. Thanks for signing up to Bleacher to leave a comment. Hope you decide to stick around.
about 1 month ago
Just wondering if BJ Penn and Anderson Silva would ever fight?
from about 1 month ago
Interesting question. Dana said that if GSP beats BJ Penn a superfight between GSP/Silva is definitely possible. But White said that there is no way that he would let Penn fight Silva.
We shall see. If BJ can beat GSP then I think he would certainly deserve consideration. If BJ can go toe-to-toe with Lyoto Machida then he can certainly go at it with Silva.
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