As it turns out, Chael Sonnen was not the only middleweight willing to step in and try to save UFC 151 in just eight days’ notice, career rival and UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva reportedly wanted to return the favor for all the promotion has done for him. Be forewarned, you should quell your excitement, a dream match between Silva and UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones is still off the table.
UFC President Dana White reported that once Silva heard the news of UFC 151′s cancellation, he contacted manager Ed Soares and had him relay a message to White. “The Spider” admitted that he may not be in the best shape coming off of his July knockout of Chael Sonnen, but he was willing to make another one-off return to the light heavyweight division and fight anyone beside Jones or Machida.
While the gesture caught White off-guard, it was greatly appreciated. There was just one problem, the damage had been done and the event had been scrapped a few hours earlier. With UFC 151 in shambles, the pound-for-pound king’s attempt to give fans what they want fell by the wayside.
Given the backlash Jones has faced for his choice to not take the fight against Sonnen, effectively putting the card to rest, Silva’s willingness to step up and put the event on his back will likely be greatly admired by fans and fighters alike.
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Atleast the greatest of all time and p4p king is willing to fight on just 8 days notice
Agreed
Jones Would never fight Silva. Thats pretty obvious now.
Too bad Dana is soooooo quick to shoot from the lip. Sometimes Dana should just keep his mouth shut for a couple of hours.
Silva was offering to fight on 8 days notice. But not for his title. Not defending Jones. Just saying Silva didn’t have as much to risk. Guess no one is that pumped for Hieron v. Ellenberger.
he had the best ufc win streak in history at risk, what are you on about man
I don’t like Silva, but I can definitely respect him trying ot help ut his company and fellow fighters.
Again Spider would have everything to gain and nothing to lose, and bones has everything to lose. And for all we know maybe bones would’ve accepted it if the god damn Ufc would’ve thought to offer it. I wish bones would have accepted any fight and the card would go on, but the fact is that the Ufc is just as culpable, if not more for the debacle since they didn’t have a back up plan and created such a weak card court the fans, resting on the fact we’d all pay $45 to watch one fight. Bones did not ask for this and does not have to accept such a bad scenario for himself.
Seriously i will never think of the Ufc brass d bags in the same way ever again.
@devin how does Anderson have nothing to lose?
What about his undefeated record? What about his most consecutive wins record? So on 8 days notice he does have stuff to lose.
And if Anderson lost that would stop his p4p title.
Im no silva fan but the man was willing to put his legacy as the p4p king and unbeaten record on the line to help his company and give the fans a show. Nothing to lose? Bones has nothing to lose, a win… Hes still the rising star everyone thought he was, a loss… He lost to a man who hasnt lost to anybody but anderson silva himself in how long? He sure was quick.to take a machida fight even tho he expressed “no interest” in a rematch.
If zuffa, dana, and frank didnt put on such a shitty card to be sold by only 1 big great fight they wouldnt have had to scrape it, serves you right zuffa for trying to jip fans out of a full fight card.
true, to be honest wasnt even worth buying !!!!!
UFC:Notingham on Fuel is an exponentially better card. That says a lot considering their UK cards tend to not be so hot.
@Jesse Denis: but if it’s on Fuel, how many people are going to see it? Stacking non-ppv’s and rolling the dice on your main moneymakers was a strategy bound to backfire. Now look where we are?