UFC President, Dana White has given his thoughts on middleweight champion, Anderson Silvas domination at 185 pounds, saying after two more fights he will have completely cleared out the division.
Speaking to 5thround.com, Dana said:
Hes probably two fights away from literally emptying out the middleweight division. But thats great. I think in my opinion, thats what makes fighters great. When theres not another guy standing where people go, What about him? He might win. When theyre all gone, then the guy moves up to the next weight class and does the same thing. I think thats what makes guys legendary, fighters that people remember forever."
I wouldnt want to see [Silva] vacate the title until everybodys gone...Ill give you an example. Lets say Vitor (Belfort) comes in, and Vitor has to fight Dan Henderson and (Nate) Marquardt, and he goes right in and knocks both of them out in the first round. Anderson vacated the title, and people go, Oh, Vitor would have beat him. You annihilate everybody. You dont leave a guy standing in the division, and then you move.
Silva has already had two fights at light heavyweight and finished them even more impressively than his recent middleweight bouts. You have to wonder, with his friend and training partner, Lyoto Machida the 205 pound champion, will The Spider only be confined to super fights or will Dana talk him in to facing The Dragon?
What will the future hold for the Spider if he beats Belfort? Will anyone at 185lbs weight class ever beat him? Is there anyone that could even challenge him or even get passed the 1st round? With this seemingly more and more unlikely, will Anderson have to move up to the 205lbs weight class permanently? Will he be able to walk through that division too? So many questions! One thing is for sure whoever he fights you can guarantee you will be in for a show.
Anderson da Silva (born April 14, 1975) is a Brazilian mixed martial arts fighter. He is the current UFC Middleweight Champion, and holds the record for the longest winning streak in the UFC with 10 wins. Anderson holds a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Antnio Rodrigo Nogueira who follows Gracie Lineage through Carlson Gracie, ergo Murilo Bustamante and the Brazilian Top Team.
He currently trains with UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida through Black House. Silva is currently ranked as the number one middleweight in the world by multiple MMA publications, Sherdog and Yahoo! rank Silva as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Since 2006 he has been the UFC Middleweight Champion, and he is also the last Cage Rage Middleweight Champion and former Shooto Middleweight Champion. Besides the UFC and Cage Rage, Silva has fought for a number of other MMA promotions including the Pride Fighting Championships, Shooto and Rumble on the Rock. Silva holds notable victories over PRIDE FC Middleweight and Welterweight Champion Dan Henderson, 7 time King of Pancrase Nate Marquardt, former Shooto Welterweight Champion Hayato Sakurai, former UFC Welterweight Champion Carlos Newton and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin in addition to a pair of stoppages over former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin. - 30300
Speaking to 5thround.com, Dana said:
Hes probably two fights away from literally emptying out the middleweight division. But thats great. I think in my opinion, thats what makes fighters great. When theres not another guy standing where people go, What about him? He might win. When theyre all gone, then the guy moves up to the next weight class and does the same thing. I think thats what makes guys legendary, fighters that people remember forever."
I wouldnt want to see [Silva] vacate the title until everybodys gone...Ill give you an example. Lets say Vitor (Belfort) comes in, and Vitor has to fight Dan Henderson and (Nate) Marquardt, and he goes right in and knocks both of them out in the first round. Anderson vacated the title, and people go, Oh, Vitor would have beat him. You annihilate everybody. You dont leave a guy standing in the division, and then you move.
Silva has already had two fights at light heavyweight and finished them even more impressively than his recent middleweight bouts. You have to wonder, with his friend and training partner, Lyoto Machida the 205 pound champion, will The Spider only be confined to super fights or will Dana talk him in to facing The Dragon?
What will the future hold for the Spider if he beats Belfort? Will anyone at 185lbs weight class ever beat him? Is there anyone that could even challenge him or even get passed the 1st round? With this seemingly more and more unlikely, will Anderson have to move up to the 205lbs weight class permanently? Will he be able to walk through that division too? So many questions! One thing is for sure whoever he fights you can guarantee you will be in for a show.
Anderson da Silva (born April 14, 1975) is a Brazilian mixed martial arts fighter. He is the current UFC Middleweight Champion, and holds the record for the longest winning streak in the UFC with 10 wins. Anderson holds a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Antnio Rodrigo Nogueira who follows Gracie Lineage through Carlson Gracie, ergo Murilo Bustamante and the Brazilian Top Team.
He currently trains with UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida through Black House. Silva is currently ranked as the number one middleweight in the world by multiple MMA publications, Sherdog and Yahoo! rank Silva as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Since 2006 he has been the UFC Middleweight Champion, and he is also the last Cage Rage Middleweight Champion and former Shooto Middleweight Champion. Besides the UFC and Cage Rage, Silva has fought for a number of other MMA promotions including the Pride Fighting Championships, Shooto and Rumble on the Rock. Silva holds notable victories over PRIDE FC Middleweight and Welterweight Champion Dan Henderson, 7 time King of Pancrase Nate Marquardt, former Shooto Welterweight Champion Hayato Sakurai, former UFC Welterweight Champion Carlos Newton and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin in addition to a pair of stoppages over former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin. - 30300
About the Author:
If you are a fan of the UFC Ultimate Fighter TUF then Check out ufcultimatefighter.com it has MMA Videos for your viewing pleasure.
