Quick Hits: Alves Next In Line For Welterweight Title Shot, Leites Expected To Fight Silva For Middleweight Title, and More
Posted by Kris Karkoski on Dec 10, 2008 at 1:44 pm ET43 Comments
Thiago Alves
- The remaining assets of ProElite are expected to be sold by the end of the month. Potential buyers reportedly include King of the Cage founder Terry Trebilcock and Marc Ecko.
- Light heavyweight Mark Munoz will be making the jump to the UFC.
- M-1 has announced the the finals of M-1 Challenge will be held on December 26th in Seattle, Washington and will feature Team Russian Red Devil against Team Holland to determine the first-ever champion.
- EliteXC heavyweight champion Antonio Silva will ignore the steroid suspension handed down by the California State Athletic Commission and will indeed fight Yoshihiro Nakao on January 4th in Japan at Sengoku 7.
- Lightweight Jess Liaudin has been cut by the UFC.
- Paul “Semtex” Daley has predicted he’ll arrive in the UFC in 2009.
- Lightweight Ronys Torres has signed with the UFC.
- Cyrille Diabate will face Lodune Sincaid in the main event of Palace Fighting Championship’s January 22nd event.
- The UFC has agreed to a four-fight contract with welterweight John Howard, who will make his octagon debut at UFC 94 on January 31st in Las Vegas.
- UFC President Dana White on Tuesday confirmed during a public Q&A session in North Carolina that Diego Sanchez has dropped to the 155-pound lightweight division, Thiago Alves will receive the next welterweight title shot no matter the winner of the UFC 94 matchup between Georges St-Pierre and BJ Penn, Thales Leites is likely to challenge Anderson Silva for the middleweight belt in February, and the winner of the UFC 93 matchup between Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin will be named to coach opposite Michael Bisping for The Ultimate Fighter 9.
- Dave Herman has been booked to make his World Victory Road debut on January 7th at Sengoku 7 in Japan.
- Sean Sherk wants to fight Diego Sanchez.
Loading ...
At this point I don’t really care who ends up with ProElite’s assets, I just want the fighters to be able to fight again. I’ve read that it may be possible, if KOTC buys ProElite that they will also be able to pick up the fighter contracts, but that is unconfirmed.
Dumb move by Antonio Silva, he may not be able to fight in the states again after that.
Not sure why Leites qualifies for a title shot, Okami is getting shafted I think. Alves definitely deserves the next shot at 170, though he likely will not win.
Having Hendo/Franklin as coach makes some sense, but really not thrilled about Franklin coming back down to fight Bisping if he wins. Also, I know that Frankin isn’t really interested in being a coach so…whatever.
“Sean Sherk wants to fight Diego Sanchez” (read: Sean Sherk wants to get his butt handed to him by Diego Sanchez)
and so that bsbiz has nothing to say.
Justin’s first again imagine that.
I agree with you Justin, I dont really care who gets what out of the ProElite deal. They didnt have a shot from the get go.
Antonio Silva deal is driven by money and thats about it. He knows whats at stake and knows if they do ban him for life in the states he can still go overseas and make money. I think it will come back to haunt him after awhile. I guess you got to do what you got to do. He will see it is a bad decision.
I feel Franklin will be a better coach, but Hendo would be a better fight when it comes to TUF and Michael Bisping. Hendo has the background of wrestling and good striking, but talking to him personally, I dont see how he can put those skills into words or coach them. Most liely in my eyes, it will be Hendo as the coach and hopefully will prove me wrong, I like him a lot.
Sean Sherk will never be the same again, unless they find some controlled substance that is untraceable. They say you have to take a step back to take two steps forward, but I have seen him take a step back, and if he fights Sanchez, it will another step back and so on.
i think sherk would kick sanchez ass, ide like to see sanchez vs rodger that would be a war,
silva vs leites mmmmm any1 else read that and think wat a joke?? i did, a rematch vs nate please dana, i mean didn’t nate get 2 points taken off him then only lost by split.
while nate and leites battle it out for number 1 contendership silva should move up to 205 and fight the winner of coleman an rua, (99% sure it will be rua)
Yeah I really agree with everything you guys said. I think Hendo would be a more interesting coach and fight for Bisping. What’s the fight for though? #1 contender at 185 (read: the next guy to get owned by Silva).
Sherk v Sanchez would be an interesting fight but yeah… I don’t know that I’d see Sherk winning that either.
I don’t understand Thales Leites getting the #1 middleweight contender status, just don’t get it at all. Aside from a few points being taken away on the scorecards in the Nate Marquardt fight (one of which was a horribly blown call by Herb Dean) Thales was dominated by Nate the entire fight. Sure, the infractions should determine who wins that particular fight, but NOT who is the better fighter as is the case by giving Leites a title shot. I know Nate already got a title fight and lost but he has absoltuely steam-rolled everybody he has faced ever since and has been begging Dana for a second chance at Anderson. Nate vs. Anderson II, I could get excited about. Thales Leites vs. Anderson bores me to death. It’s worse than the Cote/Anderson melee. And what about Yushin Okami? C’mono Dana, you really blew this one.
Since Anderson keeps fighting mediocre contenders, the UFC should introduce a World Middleweight INTERCONTINENTAL title. Just like the old WWF! While Anderson if disposing of the garbage Dana keeps feeding him, the legit contenders such as Marquardt, Okami, and even the always dangerous Demian Maia could be the Intercontinental champ until Dana decides to give Anderson a legit test. Focker, out!
thales leites gets a title shot…R U FREAKIN KIDDIN ME??? he got his butt handed to him by marquardt and the only reason he won was because of the point marquardt lost in that fight. this is an insult to every middlewieght in that division, even the gay count bisping.
kelvin,
I understand if you don’t like Bisping, but I thought we covered the whole calling a fighter “gay” thing on here at some point.
i love to watch the spider fight and all, but if dana doesn’t have him move up to LHW and fight some real superfights, he might lose all credibility with fight fans everywhere. i mean, if he really does plan to retire after 4 or 5 more fights, shouldn’t they be freakin SICK FIGHTS?!!
hey justin, if we did, i didn’t see it. what, is that politically incorrect all of a sudden?
Here you go, kelvin
Kelvin- it falls under the intelligent backed up comments thing that Kris was banning people for not adhering to this weekend. If you don’t like Bisping that’s your opinion but unless you can back up calling a man with a wife and son gay. Then use other more intelligent ways to show your ignorance.
Glad to see Mark Munoz making the jump to the UFC the former Cowboy has shown he has the talent so lets see if he is able to fully develop and become a force.
Thales has won 5 in a row but that includes a disputed match against Marquardt, would be nice to see a rematch to settle that whole situation before they make him #1 contender.
Diego vs. Sherk could be interesting to see. Be a hell of a first match in the division for Diego considering the weight cut is always hardest the first time.
I wish ProElite would just allow their fighters to go somewhere. They are losing money everyday they are stuck under that banner.
Big Foot has definitely screwed himself out of fighting in the States again but to each their own and maybe he needs to make money more than he wants redemption.
Obviously since, leites is an awesome jitz dude, i think he has a great chance at dethroning silva. Unless you’re aggressive with great stand up that can challenge silvas, jitz is the best way to go with him. Well, unless you bust a cote and throw him off his game, either way i think this is a good match up.
After GSP kicks bj’s arse back to the lw div. he’s going to run a clinic on thiago alves. Alves is not too shabby, but his tool box is missing a few things to be able to compete with the best of the best.
I sure do not think GSP will show BJ a clinic. BJ is a way more well-rounded fighter than he was a few short years ago, and also a lot more mature. I think he stands a really good shot at beating GSP and, perhaps, the only one that could, or will, dethrone some might say the best fighter there is.
Daley believes he will be in the UFC in 2009 well good for him he is pretty exciting
Thiago Alves will fight BJ Penn for the belt thats cool
Leites v Silva in Feb hey whynot better than having Anderson beat up some LHW and not wanting a title shot for it, pretty good idea actually with the BJJ back grounds and all plus the past of Silva losing via triangle leglock ect.. soo everyone says that Silva’s weakness is the ground game (which i think he has worked on those holes in his game), soo to the ground it may go and we all shall see what happens.
ProElite just die already, let go of the certain contracts and call it a day blame the Shaw’s move on damn
bo702, interesting name cheers…..
Alves vs. Penn should be a good one, but Leites getting a shot? Not sure how I feel about that one. Also didn’t Franklin say he did not have an interest in coaching TUF? Maybe Dana offered some more money or something.
I see Sherk owning Diego for 3 rounds and also hope so the fact he wakes up to Ali every morning really upsets me & when i have to wake up to my wife every morning it makes me wonder does god hate me
.
Semtex in the UFC would be great that boy has real heavy hands.
Is Big Foot retarded or what why risk his career for this opportunity when he could be blacklisted by US athletic commission I’m sure this could be possible.
to all the crybabies out there regarding the usage of the word “gay”:
GROW UP AND SHUT UP! i use the word “gay” in a derrogatory way just like anyone else says “stupid”, “moron”, or any other word they might use to describe someone they don’t like. you can call me stupid, but you can’t back that up because i have a degree…does that suddenly mean you can’t say it…NO! it’s a free country and you can say what you want about me. stop crying about the usage of the word “gay” you losers, it’s not that big a deal. the fact that i even had to post this is ridiculous. a bunch of mma fans, one of the most brutal sports in the world, and you’re complaining about how i use the word “gay”????
fr,
you have a good point about Silva fighting at LHW but not going after the belt. I do think it will could be a good fight between him and Leites. Maybe they’re just trying to give him someone that will make for a more interesting fight though, after that last egg of a fight.
back to mma talk…
i wouldn’t say that the way to beat silva is through jitz, just ask travis lutter. look at his resume of fighters and look at the diversity in their games…
leben…maniac with an iron jaw
franklin…unorthodox striker with a good all around game (by the way, he still only has 3 losses, and two of them were to silva)
mardquardt…an all around beast with incredible power
lutter…jui-jitsu freak!!
hendo…never been knocked out and former multi-weight champ with great striking and ridiculously great wrestling
cote…can’t really say anything about that fight, but i think i’ve proved my point.
I will agree with you about saying what you want, when you want Kelvin. Not degrading the fact you have a degree, but the “degree” thing only goes so far in these days and times. I can go off on education these days, but this is an MMA site and not one to discuss degrees. Congrats on your degree, but I have a feeling a degree to some in this discussion goes about as far as Sherk will against Sanchez.
kelvin,
No one is crying over anything, we’re just pointing out that you should find a better way of voicing your dislike for a fighter. If you want to call him stupid, call him stupid, if you want to call him a panzy, or afraid, or even Kalib Starnes, go for it (though calling him Kalib Starnes is pushing it) but to call him gay is 1. Libelous in case you don’t know what that means 2. ignorant because he’s got a girlfriend and kid. 3. derogatory to a community which may or may not have members that read this website. Also, it goes back to that whole intelligent comments thing, you cannot intelligently back the claim that Bisping is gay.
The fact that you “use the word ‘gay’ in a derrogatory (sic) way” is exactly why we’re saying something about it.
Also, the brutality of the sport has nothing to do with using the word gay. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are gay fighters out there, in fact it has been rumored that Seth Petruzelli is/was at one point gay.
Good point Justin. We all are getting off subject a little bit here, now lets go back to what we all sit and waste our day doing, talking about MMA!
I 2nd Justin’s comments. Can’t let you be alone on this. You convered it so I don’t need to rant now. Thanks.
Anyone read this article on what Calzaghe said about where boxing is going and what he said about the UFC? Check it out:
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=3760370
As a side note for new people here. IMO, it’s okay to disagree and talk a bit of trash. It’s great to have discussions and comments started. It’s chicken S**T to start a conversation or comment, have replies and questions to your post and then not answer.
That’s why we’re here, to talk S**T about mma intelligently (try) and have some fun. If you start something continue it, back it up with some reason. PLEASE
If I’m off base here let me know and I’ll shut up. Just noticed a lot of new people. Which makes this a lot of fun and is great for the site. These hit and run comments are just killing me.
Carry on…
Just a little curious how is a black belt in BJJ who beat another Black Belt by submission exactly weak on the ground haha. Just curious. In all honesty the way Anderson Silva will lose in the Middleweight division is by getting caught doing what he was trying to do against Cote(trying to stretch a fight out, taking a fighter lightly, and not finishing when he has the opportunity). It could be anyone at anytime with one punch really. Look at how many fights were lost due to one well placed punch.
BJ Penn will not be blown out by GSP, expect that to be a 5 round version of the first fight. Both Penn and GSP are on top of their games and I believe it is highly unlikely that fight will be one sided at all. I see that fight going to a bloody decision and both fighters may be left on ice for a few days after. Guaranteeing Thiago a shot though before the Penn-GSP fight is unfair to Kenny Florian IMO. Then again I am not a fan of holding and defending titles in two weight classes.
I still love the fact Daley calls himself “semtex”, then again I know explosives haha(for those of you who don’t know semtex is a powerful explosive but is so unstable it often blows up before it is supposed to).
FR- are you implying you have Penn beating GSP or are you thinking of Thiago Tavares(155)?
Thanks for the backup guys.
Let me just point out that it’s not the use of the word “gay” or any other in particular that we disapprove of, what we don’t want is fighter bashing without some form of backup or context. That’s all I’m going to say on the issue right now, thanks to everyone for sorting it out without me needing to get involved.
I’ll be adding a comment policy in the next few weeks so everyone better understands what we allow and what’s off limits.
Seeing eye to eye with you on that one surfing. Havent heard much from the oppostion since earlier!
bo,
Thanks for the Calzaghe link.
Surfing,
spot on.
Chris L.,
I don’t think that anyone is implying necessarily that Silva is weak on the ground, just that he is much stronger on his feet. At least, I hope that’s what they are implying.
Alves getting a guaranteed title shot doesn’t necessarily mean that BJ will not have to defend at 155 before defend at 170 if he wins. Definitely think that’s going to be a war super bowl weekend.
I wondered why Daley chose that name, sounds like a good one.
FR was probably implying he thinks Penn will win, though he has stated many times its too close to call.
ChrisL., justin is right in what he said about my implacations…..
Semtex~ his hands are bombs Justin he be ExpLosIVe maaan
That’s cool just was checking! I will say though I think both Florian and Alves have both earned shots and that is my only problem with being able to earn a shot at the title neither guy should have to sit and wait for a shot. I still think BJ won the first fight so it will be interesting to see the fight.
first of all chris l u are insane if u think bj won that fight it was a close on but st pierre had that fight no problem the second fight will be a massacre!!!!!!!!!!!!alves is the only one in welterweight that will have a chance against st pierre.
i hope anderson silva shows the whole world he is the greatest and takes down leites and either submits him or uses a tko…but other wise he will win it standing tko first round 3rd minute. And i think alves may pull one off i like the pitbull he showed great takedown defense and really grab alot of leather from kos in that fight….and kos did take gsp four rounds i like alves to win that one
for three rounds i mean
Thanks guys…I’m all warm and fuzzy now!
Oh, jeremy, are you insane??? You think BJ won’t stand a chance against GSP??? I think you’re on drugs.
Fedor is p4p anyways… hahhahahahahahahaha
NOT!!!!!!
Just seen the rumour regarding Anderson Silva and Leites in Feb. As a Brit with tickets to UFC 95 and hearing Silva’s on the bill gets you all excited. Then, as in the past with UK cards, we get handed a second rate opponent!
I was also at the Marquardt-Leites fight and if anyone deserves the title shot, Marquardt does. Personally i like to see Silva fight at LHW and if he wants a challenge then give him Jardine!!
Rant Over!!!
U guys r great,Just because its MMA,doesnt mean the discussions wont be intelligently presented-great job-Ok 1st-Yes BJ is a new man,killer instict,& the tools needed to be wht he is a champ-but GSP DESTROYED J.Ficth-after he lost to serra he changed his game & raised his level-the only doubt I hv is if Gsp starts to be mentally weak-his last fight w Bj he had more doubts than bj did-& as we seen Bj is gunning for all those who dare opose or doubt he’s a newer & improved Bj-Still Gsp Tko 4 or 5-thts the only way the Ufc universe can funtion
Alves will get handled by either GSP or Penn.
why the love for okami? The guy hasn’t fought since march. And his last 2 victories are against evan tanner (old, and washed up, and now unfortunately, dead) and jason macdonald (the canadian joke).
Okami don’t deserve nothin…
personally, i like leites vs silva. i don’t think leites is that good a fighter, but still, you can’t just keep dumping the same old fights on the guy. it’s a new opponent. i like that.