UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva turned quite a few heads in the past 24 hours with news that the Brazilian accepted a light heavyweight fight against James Irvin at UFC Fight Night 14 at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 19.
As we reported yesterday, win or lose Silva will retain his 185-pound belt. And he is not vacating it as some have suggested — he’s merely taking a temporary leave of absence because his boss, UFC President Dana White, asked him if he’s up for the challenge.
Here’s a snip from Silva on the decision to take the fight on short notice via SI.com:
“If the UFC asks me to do something, and it’s within my capability to do so, I’m going to do it. I feel like I’m part of the UFC family and the head of the family asked me to fight. I’m in condition to fight, my coaches say I can fight — I’m going to fight. I want to do whatever I can to help make UFC the No. 1 event around the world like it is.”
If he can escape the bout against Irvin injury-free, White might also put in another request: Defend his middleweight title against number one contender Yushin Okami at UFC 88: “Breakthrough” at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Ga., less than seven weeks later on September 6.
It’s a fight that needs to happen because Okami is the last man to defeat “Spider” at Rumble on the Rock (ROTR) 8 back in 2006. However, Silva was disqualified for an illegal up kick, which he has since attributed to a misinterpretation of the rules.
He’ll likely come fired up to clear up any confusion.
Okami has won six of seven fights inside the Octagon — his only blip during that span is a unanimous decision loss to former middleweight champion, Rich Franklin, at UFC 72: “Victory” back in June 2007. He has a patient and effective style that could cause some problems for the champion, who has not gone past round two since 2004.
It would be nice to find out … that’s for sure. Stay healthy, Anderson.
54 Comments »
That’s just Pure class
FYI: UFC’s big announcement is at noon pacific time, which is according to my watch exactly 5 minutes away. I hope its worth the wait
hey does anyone know what channel this big anouncment will be on
Greatest Champion in the world. Willing to take his 1st fight at LHW on 1 months notice, and he is down to defend his middleweight title 2 months later.
He is like the anti-sherk! lol
News conference in 5 minutes. Hope its good
Cut n paste Article:
The UFC’s big announcement? Lorenzo Fertitta shifts from casinos to cage
by Kevin Iole on Jun 18, 2008 at 3:01 pm ET
LAS VEGAS – Lorenzo Fertitta, the president of one of the most successful casino chains in Las Vegas, resigned his position with Station Casinos Wednesday to work full-time with the UFC.
Fertitta, his older brother, Frank III and Dana White purchased the UFC in 2001 for $2 million when it was struggling and on the verge of folding. But in the seven-and-a-half years since, they’ve turned it into one of the great success stories in sports.
White, the UFC’s colorful and outspoken president, earlier this month had promised a bombshell announcement that he vowed would rock the mixed martial arts world. His long-awaited announcement, which had many in the industry in a lather speculating about what it might be, may turn out to be ho-hum news to the sport’s hard-core fans.
Well its nice to know the title aint gonna get held up. Okami deserves his shot.
And here is the big announcement .. cant believe we waited for this:
That Lorenzo Fertitta is resigning from his post at the president of Station Casinos to work full-time in expanding UFC.
Fertitta is leaving a post where he was the second highest paid casion executive in Las Vegas in 2007, earning a total of $113.8 million.
Frank Fertitta III will become the man in charge of Station Casinos at CEO and retain 45% ownership in UFC, while Lorenzo Fertitta will work alongside Dana White as the co-heads of UFC.
if thats the news thats fukin retarted
and how is this going to have an impact in MMA for the next 5 years? you gotta be kidding me… Dana white is full of s….
Beats me. The guy gave up a job where he was getting paid 115 million dollars a year. So UFC might be paying more and brings out the old issue of the fighters not getting paid enough.
WOW!! THAT’S AMASING!!!
OH MY GOD! That’s AWESOME! YEAH!!!
I told you! Big day for MMA. Thank you Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta!!!
mane anderson silva is the man i dont understand y he aint a big draw on ppv #’s hes the best fighter in ufc and he kptfo on stop them by sub. to me he rules lw ww mw divions i think would would rolkl right through liddel rua w.silva and vera rampage to i think spider probly beat nog and randy to
dude whatever your smoking i want some of it cause what you just said was ignorant. wandy and silva would be an awesome fight, which i think wandy should get a title shot for his first fight in mw, but that’s a biased opinion. silva vs. liddell is no contest. chuck can’t be taken down and he can’t get caught in the clinch…two of silva’s main weapons. and we all saw that he got knocked stupid for a second against….well hell i can’t remember the fighters name, it was the guy off of tuf. but chuck would tko the guy. rampage…same thing. rua, well if he’s in shape it would be a stunning chess match on the ground. and if you honestly think silva could beat nog and randy then you shouldn’t be allowed on this site ever again.
whaT ABOUT THAT RAMPAGE DAN HENDO ALL FIVE ROUNDS SOMTHING LIDDEL CANT EVER DO A SILVA WHOOP THAT TRICK WHAT NOW. I WANT TO SEE A SILVA VS W.SLIVA FIGHT THAT WOULD BE BETTER THAN A RAMPAGE SILVA 3RD OR A LIDDEL 3RD
it’s cause liddell knocks them out before the 5 rounds is up.
How can you understand what he is saying? it looks like somebody mashing the keyboard and getting lucky occasionally and spelling a name right.
LMAO! getting lucky occasionally.
Lol I think both you guys are on something. I’m sorry but I truly believe that Silva would beat Chuck before he beat Rampage or Wandi. Chuck is an evasive striker and that doesn’t work to well with a seriously amazing technical striker. I also don’t remember a fight where Silva was rocked especially by a TUF fighter cause he dominated Leben (hardcore), and he had his ground game exposed by Lutter (which is probably who your refering to) but Chuck isn’t going to take it to the ground so Silva is good to go. I don’t know if you have watched Silva’s fights but the guys scares me. He is just so talented and technical and unemotional during his fights that I do believe he stands atleast a 50% chance of beating anyone in the UFC currently but for any none big named UFC fighter his chance of winning is like 95-100% no joke man
Had his ground game exposed??? Are you for real?
He won that fight by triangle from the bottom!?
To rule a division you would have to be able to make weight in it… I doubt Silva could make 170, and your nuts if you think he could make 155
He fought @ 167 once upon a time…
yeah, and when I turned 18 I was 6′1″ and 130 pounds… now I am really lean, and I am 165 (still 6′1″), the fact that I used to be a twig and am now just skinny doesn’t mean that I could become a twig again…
(also, I didn’t know he had fought that small before, how long ago was that?)
SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Wow if he feels up for it why not? Saturday the 19th can’t get here soon enough!!!!!!!!
thats the dumbest I’ve ever heard
if this fight is confirmed for ufc 88 before i buy my ticket that saturday, i will buy the 400 dollars seat
With the July 19th card now set and Anderson moving up to 205, I don’t really care that the announcement sucked, the last 24 hours have been pretty exciting.
Hell yea its exciting. Dam Ive been gone from the site for half a day, and all this crazy stuff is happening. I dont even know where to begin.
Silva is the definition of a true champion. A very classy dude indeed. None of this fighting once or twice a year crap. This guy really excites the real MMA fans. Unfortunately, I think a lot of casual fans (or at least the english speaking ones) have trouble connecting with a champ that doesn’t speak english. But even through a translator, this guy is very well spoken and a true sportsman. I look forward to watching him for years to come.
True champion indeed. That quote by him says it all. Class act. I as well, look forward to watching him dominate for years to come.
JRK: very well put. Anderson Silva in my eyes..is like a Randy Couture..how don’t you root for a guy that?? Anderson is peeking at the best time. In his fights the fans..from casual to hardcore..are treated to something special. He is a MMA legend. already. He will do just fine against Irvin..he fought at 205 at Pride. On my top Pound per Pound fighter’s in the world as of today.
1. Anderson Silva
2. BJ Penn
3. GSP
4. Urjiah Faber
5. Fedor
6. Big Nog
7. Randy
8. Dan henderson
9. Josh Barrnett
10.Jon Fitch
Phil, I dont disagree with you often, but u cant leave Rampage off of that list
didn’t gsp beat bj???
okami is soo boringgggggggggggggg
Silva can Fight in 2 week notes He is king Kong of the mma game and at 185 and jump to 205 he walks around at 200 a walking legend Mixing weight-class i From the first time i seen him in PRIDE i was like O SHIT….
yeah, like when he got submitted two times.
Love Anderson but That flying heel hook by Ryo Chonan was sick and perfectly timed
I first say him fight in Pride2.. i was like O SHIT2 bro..in that fight he came out dancing like MJ..I was like who this? In that fight he demostrated a sick BJJ game. he Aleksander Otsuka..but you new he was the goods from day…but he keeps getting better..and that is scary.
THat was awesome when Silva was dancing!
Akahiro Gono has some awesome entrances also….he has like showgirls and Japanese raappers performing with him on the way to the ring and he wears the wig….The UFC should let Gono do that stuff on the way to the Octagon!
Guys like Silva and GSP don’t take much time off. That’s why they can be ready for big fights so quickly.
I believe Silva-Okami is planned for UFC 89 in England instead of at UFC 88
HELL YEAH!!! i cant wait to see Anderson vs okami so that Anderson can get redemption
after that fight i will love to see a rematch vs hendo i their fight the real mistake of hendo was thinking that he can keep the stand up whit anderson man nobody can
i also wanna see gsp moving up to a MDW and face anderson that will be the fight of the year but probably never happen cause anderson is moving up, and gsp is waiting for bj penn thats a great great fight too
i didnt see the henderson/silvia fight live, and everyone i talked to said silvia killed hendo. but after watching it the other night on spike, i didnt think it was that bad of a fight at all. i think itd be a really interesting rematch. im also interested in seeing silvia compete against 205′ers.
Yeah, I’m not sure who said Silva killed him. I thought Hendo won the first round. He didn’t hurt the Spida, but he won the round. He was losing the 2nd round before he got submitted. I think it will def be a good rematch. I also want to see Wandy come down and fight at MW!
Dan won the first round. But thats the thing with Silva;
1. You gotta get him to the ground anyway possible.
2. Concentrate on not getting sweeped or submitted.
3. TRY to make damage or improve position so that the judge dont make it standing again.
4. Do that 5 times more.
And yes, every rounds starts standing up and he can finish a fight in an instant if you give him ONE opportunity. And forgot, he has solid chin and great stamina.
Goodluck!
HENDERSON HAD THE BETTER OF THE FIRST BUT SILVA IS A CLASS ACT.AS FOR FUTURE BOUTS DANA SHOULD GET A LITTLE L.HEVYWEIGHT TOURNAMENT INCLUDING LIDDELL,MACHIDA,A.SILVA,W SILVA,RAMPAGE,GRIFFITH,VERA,T,SILVA,THE WINNER BE LIDDELL
Dude this ultimate fight night is turning out to be BOMB.
It’s funny how UFC is putting the #1 pound for pound fighter on tv for free to go up against the former thought of pound for pound top fighter. It will be interesting to see the ratings for each. I had been planning on getting the Affliction pay-per-view, but now I’m undecided. It has the most top HWs fighting in one night ever. However, they’re not fighting each other. I don’t think big Timmy has a chance against Fedor in a ring. If it was in a cage I would for sure get the pay per view. But being in a ring… that’s like boxing… old skool.
Cheers to Anderson Silva, the KING!!!
I had to do a few double takes at that lb for lb list. I have the same top two but I can’t decide who is 1 and who is 2. I like the fact that Faber is on there but he would be 10 on my list. He had a grudge match with jens. Though imagine putting bj in there- the bj that fought jens most recently(faber would surely taste defeat before the last round). A lot of this is hypothetical. Faber is 145 and bj is 155. Erase the weight requirements just to gauge the prospects-not reality, afterall top lb for lb lists in boxing or mma are always hypothetical by and large. GSP could be 1 or two but needs to redeem himself a bit. Fedor isn’t 1 or 2 because he has no competition via the ufc so he does fall down the list. If they are all on top of their games and if fedor was in the ufc, gsp, penn, silva and fedor would be a tough list to place. Big Nog is a very temporary champ, slow and sluggish seemingly more now than in the past- though obviously too fast for tims body limb. Fitch is a good fighter but I don’t tink he makes my top ten. Barnett is good but probably not on the top ten for me either.
I have read that Okami is out with a broken hand, and Patrick Cote is stepping in to fight Silva for the belt at UFC 88.
..for my money I think you should put Machida on any top 10 list today, never been beaten, has gone through some real names. I actually enjoy his style.. smart, effective and efficient are three words that come to mind when I think of Machida.