Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
AS: I don't feel like I owe anyone an apology right now. Sometime's fights turn out good, sometimes they turn out bad.
- Anderson Silva at the UFC 112 post-fight press conference via Ariel Helwani.
So there you go. Despite his apology directly after the fight Anderson has gone ahead and pulled a 180. Silva also went on to spend a lot of time at the presser discussing the fact that his intention was to "punish" Demian Maia for "disrespecting" him as a fighter. Despite repeated requests to explain how he was disrespected by Maia, Silva did not give an answer.
One can only assume that the issue in Anderson's mind is that Maia acted "too superior" to the champion in terms of the ground game during the pre-fight interviews. Silva is a high level black belt and may have felt that Maia was not giving him an appropriate level of credit in that facet of the game.
The performance Silva gave certainly did not impress UFC president Dana White who sounds soured on the idea of the Silva/Georges St. Pierre superfight that was being pushed heading into today. Again from Ariel's tweets of the post fight festivities comes this quote from White:
"I don't want to see GSP vs. Silva after tonight. Silva might be the first champion fighting on a prelim. I don't want to see that shit."
Succinct and eloquent as always.
2 comments
Comments
Silva is only willing to fight on his own terms,
Silva seems only willing to fight on his own terms, counter punching with an opponent who will come after him. If the opponent does anything else he complains that they do not want to fight and then blames them for his poor performance.
“One can only assume that the issue in Anderson’s mind is that Maia acted “too superior” to the champion in terms of the ground game during the pre-fight interviews. Silva is a high level black belt and may have felt that Maia was not giving him an appropriate level of credit in that facet of the game."
If he sees himself as that dominant then take down Maia and submit him or go after him on the feet and punish him or knock him out.
by RG1 on Apr 10, 2010 6:19 PM EDT reply actions
Of course Dana doesn't want to see a GSP vs. Silva fight
You know what, that might just work out to the UFC’s advantage for the time being, since this apparently delays (or kills) a GSP vs Silva fight.
Let’s face it, as much as we’d like to see a GSP vs Silva fight, the UFC has a lot to lose, with not much to gain. You have a dominating fighter at Welterweight and a dominating fighter at Middleweight. GSP is one of the most popular fighter, and fills up arenas he they highlights a fight card, no matter how poor the opponent. You put GSP vs Silva, if Silva wins, what now? You say Silva is the best pound for pound, and what do you do afterwards? You send GSP back to fight at Welterweight where he beats everyone?
Now say GSP beats Silva, okay, now you have a rematch possibility, maybe a trilogy, but that’s a best case scenario.
Best thing right now is to feed Silva some Light Heavyweights. Yeah, he went through Irvin and Forrest like butter, but these were entertaining fights (for the couple of minutes they lasted), since these bigger fighters will actually try to trade with Silva. I personally think a Jon Bones Jones vs Silva fight would be more interesting than a GSP one.
For GSP, it’s a little harder. You can keep him at Welterweight, but there’s no challenge. If you put him up against some X fighter at Middleweight, fans will likely complain that he should be fighting Silva. Still, it’s reasonable to think that regardless, GSP would want to fight at Middleweight against a lesser opponent before facing Silva. After that, well, that’s when you hit a roadblock. I don’t see anyone at Welterweight challenging GSP anytime soon, and if he’s able to beat 1-2 guys at Middleweight, well, the Silva GSP fight becomes the only one left.
Johnny Blaze, ain't a damn thing changed
by JohnnyBlaze on Apr 12, 2010 7:43 PM EDT reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed