Anderson Silva Could Give Up Title and Remain at Light Heavyweight
UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva (pictured) could soon relinquish the 185-pound title he currently holds to remain at light heavyweight, where he’s 2-0 with back-to-back first-round knockouts of James Irvin and Forrest Griffin.
According to a Yahoo Sports report, Silva’s manager, Ed Soares, approached UFC President Dana While following Silva’s KO of Griffin at Saturday’s UFC 101 event in Philadelphia about a long-term move to 205:
That Silva could move up a weight class and not just win, but destroy with power, was a game-changing and perhaps UFC-altering moment. That’s what Silva and his manager, Ed Soares, wanted to discuss with White.
With his arm wrapped around White’s shoulder, Soares leaned in and delivered a proposition. “Spider” Silva would move permanently to light heavyweight, even if it meant the unorthodox move of giving up his middleweight belt.
“I can do that,” White smiled, a bit stunned at the offer. “I like that. We can do that.”
Soares smiled and shook White’s hand. Silva had been accosted by a fan by then and couldn’t hear White, but it was presumably the news he was seeking. The man has such outrageous confidence in his abilities he’s willing to potentially toss away a championship he’s owned for almost three years to take a challenge outside his comfort zone.
“I’d let him,” White said later, sitting in his quiet dressing room. “We’d put [the middleweight title] up for grabs.”
Silva had been expected to return to middleweight for his next fight to defend the title against Dan Henderson, but the matchup could be off if the UFC opts to keep Silva at light heavyweight. Complicating matters is Silva’s friendship with current light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, with the pair vowing that they won’t fight eachother.
In a related video, Henderson was cageside in Philadelphia to watch Silva’s win over Griffin and is convinced he’d be able to beat Silva up and win a possible rematch:
Tags: Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson
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damnnnnnn!
If he’s not going to end up fighting Machida, this is a complete waste of time. On the contrary, Henderson vs Marquardt/Maia could be very interesting.
There are a couple of things I would like to add to this that might put things in a different light:
1) Silva has stated that the contract he signed in the last year is his last. I’m making the assumption that contracts are only for 4-6 fights.
2) I don’t think I’m going out on much of a limb saying that he is the greatest UFC Middleweight champion and has absolutely nothing left to prove to anyone at this weight. He has held the title for three years and cleaned out everyone in the division. I think he’s three fights into the newest contract (maybe 2).
3) His next fight is against Hendo. That leaves him with maybe two or three fights left before he has said he’ll retire. If he gives up the belt after Henderson to fight the remaining couple fights against light heavies, I have no problem with it because there isn’t enough left on his contract to do any kind of defenses of a belt. If he wants to fight a couple top light heavies for his last couple fights, I say go for it. He’s earned the privilege to end his career as he chooses.
4) Personally, I’d rather see a highly motivated Silva at light heavy than the bored to tears middleweight Silva we’ve seen in his last two defenses.
Some good points. I think you’ve changed my mind about this. If Silva fights and beats Hendo, relinquishes the belt, then fights Rampage and Shogun at LHW (winning both) he could then retire the UFC and go box RJJ like he wants to do. Not exactly what I’d like to see, but he has earned it, I suppose.
I definitely agree that a hungry Silva at LHW is more interesting than a bored Silva at MW.
And at some point Rich Franklin has got to be wondering why the fu<k Anderson Silva seems to take such delight in ruining his MMA life?
you beat me to it jcohl
i know he said he wont fight machida but he might just stay LHW for no reason!
So if Anderson stays at 205 is Franklin gonna run back to 185? Wouldn’t mind seeing henderson franklin again if its for a title. But I agree its pointless if silva won’t fight machida. Its like some one would have to beat silva to get a shot at machida. Like mortal kombat 2, kitaro was always harder to beat than shao kahn
lol at the mortal kombat reference but makes sense
I would like to see Silva fighting at LHW for the future, but only if he would be willing to face off against Machida for the belt, unless of course Machida decided to move up to HW.
After Rampage’s Tweet last night making fun of Forrest for losing, I’d like to see Silva vs. Rampage because I think Silva would do pretty much the same thing to him. That would serve him right for his antics about Griffin’s loss. With that tweet, Rampage lost a (sort of) fan.
Kinda sorry you posted that Justin. I follow Dana’s, Joe Rogans and the Frenzies tweets and two personal friends and thats it. I’m sorry cuz Rampage just lost a real fan. Never thought he was that much of a d!ck and I’m really hoping for a Silva Rampage fight now as well.
To be fair to Rampage here are the exact quotes which can be found at http://twitter.com/rampage4real:
16 hours ago:
I feel so bad for Forrest. I don’t even want a rematch anymore. LOSER!! http://twitpic.com/d8tn2
16 hours ago:
To THE HATERS.. Don’t say nothing on the internet that you wouldn’t say in person. Cowards..
15 hours ago:
Relax guys! It’s just humor. Damn! If you can’t laugh go follow someone else. Yeah that just happened.. I just said that!
Not as bad as I’d imagined but it takes a rare breed to pounce on a mans worst moment. Still hope to see how he holds up against Silva, and he’ll most likely do better than Forrest but I’m sure that because of that fight he’ll be a whole lot more cautious as well.
Natural – Rampage could hardly do any worse against Silva than Forrest did. I was working an event last night, and the place was rocking and rolling. After Silva KTFO’ed Griffin, it was like being at a funeral thereafter.
Not only did Silva KO a ranked LHW, but he cut the juice on an event of over 70 couples and close to ten grand in paper…
Rampage has a different kind of sense of humor so I don’t really read too much into his comments, he seems like the type of guy that just says whatever so I don’t know I guess as a big fan of both guys I don’t really worry about those particular comments too much…
on Rampage fighting Anderson Silva…I think Rampage would fair much much better against Silva…Forrest doesn’t have any legitimate knockout power to pose a threat to Silva on feet..Rampage, however, obviously has great knockout power in both hands, if silva would put his hands down and dance around with his head like against Forrest then Rampage would knock his a$s out (don’t think Silva would do that tho against Rampage) while Silva obviously would be very capable of winning I would like Rampage in that one with his striking ability, knockout power, and size/strength advantage…would be a sick fight tho that I really hope happens
Hendo is delusional. Never really been a fan of his slow, tired style. Here’s hoping Silva tools him.
Uhh, last time i checked…Hendo did better against Silva than any other fighter has so far. Therefore i wouldnt say he is delusional. Haha.. and i think its safe to say that Hendo has a better chin than forrest, and he has a MUCH stronger right. Just my opinion..
Ryo Chonan submitted Silva.
And not to kick a fihgter when he’s down, especially a guy I like as much as Forrest Griffin, but Hendo’s Olympic-level wrestling is several notches above Forrest’s mat skills…
who cares if Hendo did better against Silva then anyone else… Hendo still got the SH!T beating out of him… And the ground and pound Hendo did, did virtually no damage
they will fight, things change so fast in this sport between relationships of fighters because of what they are there to do, if silva makes this move up for good and drops his belt, they will end up fighting, we say dollars dont speak to these martial artists and they respect their friends and everything too much too fight, but they will, when they realize how much the fans would love that fight and after silva destroys his next opponents they will have to fight, or his move up is pointless, we will quickly get sick of him not going for top tier when he is the top. so i predict anderson silva vs lyoto machida for the 2011 new year huge event
along side that brock lesnar vs rowdy roddy piper
i saw that tweet from rampage, and i was a bit shocked it isnt his style to be like that. but maybe he was goofin or wanted a sort of revenge after forrest won that questionable fight. ive called for anderson-rampage/shogun. anderson has also been vocal about a possible fedor fight guys. if he vacates the mw title then it adds up to speculation he could go and fight fedor outside of the ufc. if he isnt champ, he isnt forced to continue fighting for the UFC. just a thought…
He later said he was goofing, but that’s just piss poor sportsmanship in my mind, and we all know that Rampage holds grudges.
I’m also wondering how many beers Rampage had in him when he tweeted?
Just sayin’…
Justin {J-dawg} Jchol {J-cool}
Whatzz up Fella’s.
Just to make a point Justin, This is Rampage we are talking about. Not only that but remember in one of Griffin book signing v-blog he clowned rampage saying “even Mike Tyson Asked Who Is this Idiot?!!” {speaking of rampage when he was yelling at rashad during the machida fight} Soooo these two guys always get in sly or litle jabs at each other all the time. PLUS Bad sportmanship is what {IMO} Forrest did after getting embarressed and running out of the ring…. but remember I am an A T Alien {atlanta native} and I root for Forrest and have always have but that IMO again IMO was bad sportsmanship.
maybe after a short reign in lhw fedor will be done with his contract with strikeforce and m-1, the man will obviously fight in almost any organization, and he probably will fight in them all by the end of his career, even if its only 2 or 3 in the ufc, he will be there one day im sure, and by that point anderson will have just finished brock via RNC haha
Silva Lesnar!
why not, id like to see one of those encounter punches he used against forrest to take out brock, thats alot of weight crashing down into his own face!
I can’t imagine silva would drop his belt,move up to 205 and not plan on a title shot.I’m a bit confused i was positive he wouldn’t do that because of his relationship with machida,but now i just don’t know there both so strong minded i didn’t think anything could persuade them.So i’m pretty surprised that silva would just offer it up like that.I guess the upside is that a very confused rich franklin may have a chance at the MW belt again.And i don’t want to here any crap about it not being legit because he didn’t go through silva.
they say its the respect for eachother and their art and such, but even the samurai said they would strike down god if he got in their way. they are both incredible and can be considered the best at their weight but if anderson is moving up, there cant be 2 p4p best fighters in the world
ANDERSON SILVA VS RANDY COUTURE @ 205
Make it happen Dana!!!!
Couture wouldn’t and probably couldn’t get down to 205 at his age, and why should he? He’s done enough for the UFC, and doesn’t need a bout with some slick KO artist as he’s running out the clock on his career…
lol less than a year ago he was down to fight fedor. he can make 205 he aint like regular 40yr olds
Well, maybe Shogun will beat Machida, then the title is up for grabs. It’s possible, although Machida is the favorite.
I’d rather see a motivated Spider at 205 not for the title in big fights than a bored Spider defending in boring matches at 185. Who cares about the title anyway? We know Anderson Silva, even if he gave up the belt, is still really the best MW fighter, and even without the title at 205 he’s one of the best fighters in the world. Anderson Silva has transcended the title, the title does not mean anything anymore. It’s just an accessory. MMA is about good fights, not titles, I for one would welcome a chance to watch great 205 matches for Silva. I’d love to see him against Page, Evans, Shogun. I think he’s got 3 fights left in his career, and those 3 guys would be interesting opponents. Too bad Chuck is done, he’d be interesting too. A match with Tito, depending on if Tito is really recovered from that injury he claims, would also be interesting. LHW seems to have the most “name” fighters and “big” matches.
Well i know i would absolutly love to see that fight.But i can’t begin to speculate how it might turn out.In fact it would have potential to be a very boring fight.
the rampage thing is stupid cause forrest picked him a part, The silva moving up thing is a good idea I think, but if he is gonna do it do it now…give up the belt let Hendo fight the Maia vs Marq winner and let Silva have one more test at 205 maybe instead of coleman let tito fight Silva in January if Lyoto beats Rua and Rashad or Jackson then Silva should really fight him it’s gonna be awhile till he gets a shot though. Unless the UFC bumps the Quinton vs Rashad winner so I don’t know it’s tough…I think ultimately it would be better to see Maia vs Hendo for the interim belt anyway.
Hello ladies. Long time to talky to the old timers here. I’m still in the middle east and ready to come home. Had to chime in on a couple things…
Unfortunately couldn’t see the fights for obvious reasons…But after quickly reading several articles and comments. Here’s my in depth blah blah blah
Anderson Silva is not of this freakin world. He is currently superior to everyone. Someday he will lose. But, it will take a champion on his best day and Anderson on his worst. I really don’t care for Anderson. Mostly because he is unwilling to fight a “friend”. BS!!! Friends make the best fights and everyone knows it. There is enough money and there isn’t a fight that can’t be made. They just need to sack up and fight who they need to fight, to prove to themselves and their fans they deserve to be champions.
For the fighters that don’t get the respect they deserve…Mr. Griffin please stand up. I don’t know why he “ran” out. Don’t really care. He just stood toe to toe with the best fighter in the world. I can’t imagine the sacrifices he’s made to do this and the disappointment after defeat. So for all you quarterbacks out there (you know who you are with your cheetos and bean bag chair)appreciate what these fighters do. Because unless you’ve had the stones to fight, you just don’t know and really don’t have the right to criticize.
Okay tough guys…lay your witty comments on me.
hey surfingk good post i did 5 tours man just got out of the corps…couldn’t agree with ya more about griffen been sayin it all day. Be safe out there..
I think its really possible that Anderson Silva might be looking for a way to run out his UFC contract while he still has the juice to maybe fight RJJ or even Fedor somewhere else…
J-Cool
Great point and at this point I do believe so. I’ve read a report that they have already signed some paper work for him to box RJJ.
But that could all be untrue…
What up fella’s!!
Ummmmm Has anyone heard or seen Marvel Knight 4 or Jazzok?????
Good question.
Maybe they grabbed a pair of stripper twins and jumped a private jet to Philly?
And they didn’t invite me? The nerve of some people…
Onlytrue1, wat up dude?
Just got back, but whats up everyone?
Rampage, Wanderlai, Shogun, Jardine, Belfort and of course Machida all make for some very interesting matchups, will be looking forward to any of them. Not with the prospect of watching Silva win some more but more interesting to me would be these guys and their camps future strategies to try and take Silva out. I think its going to call for something unorthodox, creative and outright crazy if anyones going to try and beat him other than The Dragon. Hopefully his future opponents really put their thinking caps on and become audacious in their planning and execution, would be great to watch.
I’m also wondering if Hendo would have better luck against Silva at 205 than he did at 185…
I may be wrong but I think GSP has a lot to due with this converstaion. Silva would make a ton of money at light heavyweight, but think of the money he would make if Dana could get a mega-fight b/t him & GSP. Could it be that Silva’s people are saying that he wants to stay at light heavyweight to lure GSP to middle weight just to come back down to fight him? Do you actually think Silva wants to become the # 1 contender at light heavyweight & retire? Since him & machida supposedly won’t fight each other….Something is not making sense.
Exactly.
I’m back from hanging with the twins! LOL
Wat up ot1, jcohl and the rest of the mmaworld!
@ this point, it’s hard to say where anderson’s mindset is. But it is a little hard for me to believe that silva wants to give up his belt and stay @ 205.
1.) The 205 champ is his boy Machida who he already said he isn’t going to fight.
2.) Another one of his “friends” and or 205 potential contenders is Rich franklin who Silva whooped on twice and will likely never fight again.
Soooo, although silva wants to fight “the best”, i don’t think he’ll be permanently staying @ 205, but I do see a “super, mega-lutra,epic” fight between GSP and SIlva.
We’ll see what happens though
First off, I wanna say “PURE DESTRUCTION” of Forrest….PERIOD!! And I’m diggin’ FG – one of the more gifted fighters in the sport…
As far as the Rampage tweet – c’mon guyz, really?? Ur disgusted with the guy now bcuz he poked a lil fun at FG for what we ALL know was a poor showing??? Honestly, u guyz saw wut happened…I’d be surprised if his family doesn’t roast him for the way he looked in there Saturday nite!!
whats weird is that anderson said through his translator when rogan interviewed him that he really didnt want to stay at 205 because the guys are bigger and it makes for tougher fights…
and now this report that his manager told dana, that anderson wants to move to 205? something isnt adding up here. but im not suprised if anderson vacates the 185 title and finishes his contract at 205 so he can fight RJJ in a boxing match and take on fedor. he has been very vocal about doing both and it doesnt look like the UFC will allow him to do it while hes in the UFC.
What some of you guys arent realizing is that silva doesnt care about the LHW belt. He just wants to find people to actually fight him. At the moment all of the guys are at 205. Yes henderson is a legit shot but really silva did choke him out already regardless of who won the first round, hendo lost and i love hendo but move on. As for gsp lets not ruin his legacy by putting him up against a guy who is 2 weight classes bigger than him. I would like the fight but gsp just isnt big enough to handle silva. Now if gsp wants the MW belt go for it if silva wants to vacate it. But when is the last time a guy said just give me the biggest baddest guys you got and i’ll beat the hell out of them? I am now officially a huge fan of silva, all he wants is to get beat but nobody seems to be able to do it. Rampage, Shogun and whomever else watch out.
now i want to see anderson fight chuck. now that would be fight and in my opinion the perfect fight for chuck to take at this time
I love the ICE man like most of us but the perfect fight against Silva? Chuck is on the downswing with loses to men far less than Silva and has showed recent chin and strategy problems.
On the other hand
Silva is destroying opponents left and right, riding an incredible win streak, his confidence is at an all time high, he has the advantage of being the Champion, hits equally if not harder and has better Jits than Chuck.
I think it would be a bad Mistake for Chuck to come back period but a HORRIBLE decision to come back against such a dangerous opponent.
I hope he stays retired and doesn’t do a Muhammed Ali on us the way so many great fighters/ Champions often do by staying way past their time and their prime. I love Chuck and want him to stay retired with his legend fairly in tact.
Back in the day.. Yes I agree.. it would have been a good one but his time is past and the jig is up !
Let’s hope he chooses to relax and enjoy his well deserved retirement.
Rampage would fair much better against Silva than Griffin. Silva would still take it though. Probably via submission while he was (trying to)recovering from strikes.
GSP stepping up in weight would be follish but exciting to see. I like them both so would rather they stay where they are.
TRUTHFULLY, I’d like to see a throwback to the old days with an absolute division of somekind. This way Machida V Brock or Silva V Brock or FEDOR beating anyone he wanted and who was stupid enough to step up would be possible.
Meanwhile…. Anderson Silva is the greatest and most dominant MMA champion in the world with Fedor a close second.