The injury bug continues to bite the UFC. News broke this week that UFC 112 main-event between Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort for the UFC middleweight title is off. A lingering shoulder injury has required Belfort to go under the knife and officially pull out of the Abu Dhabi MMA extravaganza.

This has now turned into a common obstacle for Dana White, Joe Silva, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Several big main-events and matches in 2009 were canceled due to major injuries. Injuries to champions Brock Lesnar and Georges St. Pierre among many, postponed several big matches. Ironically, the Silva-Belfort match was postponed from UFC 108 due to an injury to Silva. Hopefully for the UFC and its fans, the third time will be the charm.

The good news is that UFC president Dana White has stated that Anderson Silva will still defend the UFC middleweight title at UFC 112 . This would be eight days shy of Silva’s last UFC middleweight title defense. Silva competes in both the UFC light heavyweight and middleweight division. Silva has been inactive since a dominating win over Forrest Griffin in a light heavyweight bout at UFC 101 last August.

The obvious choice by default here is Chael Sonnen. Sonnen made a name for himself by dismantling Nate Marquardt at UFC 109. On top of that, UFC 109 is fresh and some fans may actually buy into Sonnen having a shot. Going into the UFC 109 match, Marquardt was not only the favorite, but the expected next opponent for Silva. Those plans went out with the window due to about 50 Sonnen elbows.

The problem with a Sonnen vs. Silva bout  is the time frame. I don’t think Sonnen is going to blow his one shot on less than 90-days of training. On top of that, there is also the possibility that Sonnen doesn’t get medical clearance to fight by April. In a perfect world Sonnen would accept and be cleared, but nothing has been perfect for the UFC in the last several months.

The situation also brings to light a tremendous lack of depth in the UFC’s middleweight division. This is where the UFC really dropped the ball in letting Dan Henderson go. It wasn’t so much that Henderson a big star and the company can’t live without him. The big advantage in having Henderson is that he is a superstar middleweight, who could have sold pay-per-views. Right now there is nobody that even comes close to Silva’s stardom in the middleweight division. How Vitor Belfort got the title shot ahead of Henderson is still as much of a mystery to me as it is to most MMA fans. Henderson would have been an easy solution to this UFC 112 debacle yet Dana White just let him walk away.

White did state that Silva would be defending the title, so a light heavyweight opponent seems to be out. Now this could all change if White can’t line up a suitable opponent to challenge Silva. Looking at the middleweights, I think that will be the case if Sonnen doesn’t fight. At light heavyweight he has more options for an opponent for the Spider. One name that pops up immediately is Randy Couture. Keep in mind that the plans for Couture seem to be pointing towards a light heavyweight title shot. Putting him here would mean more or less that Couture is opting for the big payday here versus the title fight. However, a UFC 112 main-event in Abu Dhabi featuring Randy Couture vs. Anderson Silva could do tremendous business and possibly even rival the UFC 100 numbers.

A long shot here could be Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi is arguably the best fighter not named Fedor in Strikeforce. Mousasi just announced that he has parted ways with M1-Global management. From most reports, M-1 has stood in the way of the UFC making any deals with any of their fighters. While Mousasi does fight at light heavyweight, a catch weight fight between the two would be an MMA fan’s dream match. I don’t know how much interest this fight would have for casual fans since Mousasi is not exactly a mainstream name to casual MMA fans. At the same time, the UFC could produce some killer pieces with the Affliction and Pride FC libraries to expose the UFC fans to the greatness of Mousasi and really push the dream fight aspect of the match.

Not too mention the signing of Mousasi would be a crushing blow to Strikeforce and make the signing of Dan Henderson a complete waste of money. Although, I can’t imagine Dana White ever making a business move out of spite. Can you?

Update: The UFC has announced that middleweight Demian Maia will step in and challenge Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title. While Maia is hardly the star that Belfort is, he is definitely more deserving of the title shot. Maia is 12-1 with his only loss coming at the hands of Nate Marquardt at UFC 102.

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The UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva will make his long awaited return at UFC 112. Silva is scheduled to defend the title against former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort. Vitor Belfort’s management confirmed the fight this past week. The fight will be a co-headliner with a lightweight title defense by B.J. Penn and the return of a former champion on the undercard. Needless to say, UFC 112 show is shaping up to be one of the most stacked shows in UFC history.

Anderson Silva’s fight will end the longest layoff that the Spider has had since joining the UFC. Silva’s last fight was back at UFC 101 in August. Silva destroyed Forrest Griffin making the former champion look like a kid fresh off of TUF. Silva was next scheduled to defend his middleweight title against Dan Henderson. UFC called an audible and went with Vitor Belfort instead, citing that there wasn’t much fan interest in a Henderson-Silva rematch. An elbow injury subsequently forced Silva into surgery and something of a self-imposed exile from the UFC.

The fight only heightens the drama surrounding the UFC’s middleweight division. After losing to Silva in 2008, former Pride FC middleweight champion Dan Henderson rolled off three wins. After his impressive knockout win over Michael Bisping at UFC 100, Henderson was named the number-one contender. Something happened along the way that changed the UFC and Dana White’s minds. Following Belfort’s win over Rich Franklin, White started talking about a Silva-Belfort match before a Silva-Henderson match. Throw Nate Marquardt into the mix and you had more drama in this division than the Jersey Shore.

Once White said he was going with Belfort vs. Silva, Silva started talking about an elbow injury. Various rumors hit the Internet from Silva needing surgery and a lengthy leave of absence, to Silva fighting at UFC 108. Silva finally did have the surgery and the fight was put on hold. Belfort and Marquardt have both waited out the situation and neither man has fought since the number-one contender controversy arose. Marquardt will fight in the next few weeks, while Belfort has been idle. Dan Henderson turned down a fight with Marquardt during this mess which would have theoretically named a true number-one contender. All of this likely contributed to Henderson’s decision to sign with Strikeforce rather than re-sign with the UFC once his contract expired.

The Silva-Belfort fight while intriguing, is quite suspect to me. I really can’t comprehend how the UFC can deem Vitor Belfort deserving of a title shot over Marquart or Henderson. Belfort has only had one fight in the last four years in the UFC. On top of that, I can’t remember Belfort ever even fighting at middleweight in the UFC. Belfort’s last fight against Rich Franklin was at a catchweight of 195 pounds. Dana White has been fixated on this fight for quite awhile, yet Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt have valid points when questioning whether Vitor Belfort should be receiving a title shot before them or anyone else for that matter. Apparently in the end it is more about the UFC selling tickets than the integrity of the division. Could you imagine the NFL changing the Super Bowl at the last minute to replace a team with a flashier team that didn’t win their way to the championship game?

UFC 112 is shaping up to be one of the most loaded shows in the history of the UFC. The show is scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates which is a pretty amazing feat in itself. In addition to Silva-Belfort, B.J. Penn announced on his website that he is scheduled to fight Frankie Edgar on the show. While not a marquee fight by any means, it definitely has the potential to provide fireworks. Additionally, former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes is scheduled to make his long awaited return to the UFC. Hughes will face the legendary Renzo Gracie who will make his UFC debut at UFC 112.

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In looking back at the decade, I can’t think of another sport that grew so big quicker than MMA. In the United States, the UFC became a household name by the end of the decade. In Japan, MMA has dominated sports culture and shattered ratings records over the last ten years. While thousands have competed in MMA, only a handful have single handedly made an impact. Today I look back at the MMA Fighter of the Decade.

I can’t ever imagine another decade where MMA will experience the kind of growth that it experienced in the last ten years. The UFC came to pay-per-view here in the United States simply as a vehicle to promote Royce Gracie and Gracie BJJ. As we finish the decade, the “barbaric” events that created the UFC have morphed into a sport featuring Olympic and championship athletes from all over the world.

How do you come up with one MMA Fighter of the Decade? I based my decision on a variety of factors. The first factor would be success. It would be ridiculous to give this award to someone with a subpar record, no matter how big of a star he may be. Two, I look at the quality of opponents. There are some guys that step up and face the best, while there are others who do the best they can to avoid the competition. Third, I look at longevity. As impressive as Brock Lesnar is, he has had four fights in the UFC, and has only fought once in 2009. Four, I look at the impact of the fighter and how well they drew as an entertainer and box office attraction. Finally, I look at reputation and how the fighter is perceived in the world of MMA.

MMA Fighter of the Decade – Fedor Emelianenko

In doing the research for this blog, I put all of the obvious names on paper. The obvious names are Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre, BJ Penn, Royce Gracie, and of course Fedor. The more research I did, the more Fedor just kept blowing these guys away in all of the criteria. By the time I was finished with my research, Fedor ran away with this award. Let’s break down all of the factors and see why Fedor Emelianenko is the MMA Fighter of the Decade.

1 – Success. Fedor has only lost one match in the entire decade. As a matter of a fact, the only loss Fedor suffered came at the end of the year 2000. He hasn’t lost a match in nine years. His overall record is 31-1-1. He fights an average of just under three fights a year, which is a lot in an era where most of the UFC champions fight 1-2 times a year. He has 24 fights that ended by either submission or knockout. There is no other fighter that even comes close to Fedor’s MMA record over the last decade.

2 – Quality of Opponents. Fedor is not a guy that won 31 fights over tomato cans. When Fedor finally made the jump from Rings to Pride, he fought top-level competition right off the bat. He has wins over four former UFC heavyweight champions. He has three wins over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (when he was considered arguably the best fighter in the world), as well as wins over Semmy Schilt, Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Ricardo Arona, Mirko Cro Cop (when he was considered unbeatable), Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski, Matt Lindland, and Mark Hunt just to name a few. He fought most of those guys in their primes. There is no other UFC or MMA fighter that has the same number of quality wins overt he course of ten years that Fedor has. Not even close.

3 – Longevity. Fedor has been fighting for the entire decade. There were some years where he fought five times in one year. UFC president Dana White has criticized Fedor for not fighting frequently over the last few years. However, he has fought the same or more times than almost all of the top UFC fighters have over the last few years. In Pride, he fought 3-5 times a year. Just think for a second about how impressive it is to fight five times in one year! Randy Couture only fought more than twice a year once in 2000 and he is regareded as an MMA legend. Chuck Liddell never fought more than three times in one year. Fedor was a machine for most of the decade.

4 – MMA Impact. This is the only category where Fedor loses to anyone and that would be Chuck Liddell. Fedor was a ratings machine during most of the decade in Japan and some international markets. In the United States, Fedor has been a huge disappointment on pay-per-view and television. He had modest success with Strikeforce depending upon how you judge his CBS ratings. The chances are pretty good that Fedor could walk into a local gas station and nobody would know who he is, whereas Chuck Liddell is a mainstream celebrity. If the criteria were even all of the way for Fedor and Chuck, than Chuck would win based on the impact he had in MMA. Unfortunately, Chuck’s record and his slide over the last few years preclude that from happening. At the same time, Fedor was a megastar in Japan but those days are behind him.

As you can tell, this was really an race between Fedor and Chuck Liddell. While other fighters like Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz have had huge impacts on MMA over the decade, their records completely discount them from consideration. Couture was 23-8 and only beat one high-quality opponent in Chuck Liddell. I think Randy’s stature in the MMA world is more hype than fact. Tito hasn’t beaten anyone in years, unless you count an inexperienced Forrest Griffin three years ago as a huge win. There is no denying that Fedor has eclipsed all of the MMA heavy hitters in terms of big opponents and big matches.

I also think it wouldn’t be fair to write an article about the best MMA fighter of the decade without mentioning BJ Penn. Penn won championships in two different weight classes in the UFC. Penn has been one of the most dominant fighters in his division over the decade. It is arguable that if not for Penn himself, he may have run the table and went undefeated over the decade. Penn’s implosions kept him from reaching his potential until the end of the decade. Unfortunately those implosions came during the two biggest fights in Penn’s career. My suspicion is that if Penn could have pulled off those wins over GSP and Matt Hughes, we may be talking about BJ Penn as the Fighter of the Decade.

I don’t think there will be another fighter to dominate a decade like Fedor did. BJ Penn has a shot over the next ten years, but he has to win a  few Super Fights to be considered. Sure, there will be guys like Brock Lesnar that may fight once or twice a year but I don’t know if he will ever have the consistent level of competition that Fedor had in Pride FC. I can’t ever envision  a fighter that fights and beats high-quality opponents five times a year the way Fedor did a few times over the last decade. Dana White can make fun of Fedor all day, but nobody in the UFC has ever accomplished what Fedor has been able to do in MMA over an entire decade.

Fedor Emelianenko is truly the MMA Fighter of the Decade.

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Welcome to my new, weekly article for the Camel-Clutch Blog. Every week, I’ll fill this article full of all of the big mixed-martial arts news, rumors, upcoming cards, results and predictions. MMA is a passion of mine and has passed professional wrestling years ago as something that I follow 24/7. Enjoy “The Full Mount.”

All Mixed Up
If there’s one thing for the casual fan to learn very quickly about MMA, it’s that a card is never actually set in stone until the night of an event. The bad news began on Monday when it was announced that the UFC 106 match between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin had been postponed to UFC 108 on January 2010. Then came the news that Josh Koscheck and Anthony Johnson will now co-main event UFC 106 to fill the void. I love Kos and I love “Rumble” Johnson, but this is no co-main event.

Remember when Jon Fitch was scheduled to face Ricardo Almeida at UFC 106? That matchup idea seems like so long ago. After Almeida backed out of the fight due to injury, they made a match between Fitch and Thiago Alves for UFC 107. This week then brought us the news that Alves is now injured and cannot compete in that fight. Fitch will now face rising newcomer, Mike Pierce at UFC 107. Pierce is 9-1, with 6 consecutive victories including his upset over Brock Larson at UFC Fight Night 19.

Today brings us the news that the UFC 108 main event between Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort has been postponed as well. Silva recently had elbow surgery and is going to need more time to rehab. With Lesnar/Carwin moving to UFC 108, that more than fills the void left by Silva/Belfort. UFC 108 is stacked!

It’s A Bad Time To Be Champ
How’d bad is it to be a champion in the UFC right now? Here’s how bad:

UFC Heavyweight Champ Brock Lesnar – Out until January with some type of flu
Lightweight Champ Lyoto Machida – Out until April or May after surgery on his hand
Middleweight Champ Anderson Silva – Out until February or March after elbow surgery
Welterweight Champ Georges St. Pierre – Out until March with a torn abductor muscle
Lightweight Champ BJ Penn – Healthy, for now…but will he be after his UFC 107 match with Diego Sanchez? If being a champ in the UFC has anything to say about it, my guess is, no.

“Houston, We Have a Problem”
That was the line that Kimbo Slice updated his Twitter with on Friday. It was just a few minutes after he updated the account with “I Accept.” What was Kimbo exactly referencing? Dana White had stated in a radio interview over a month ago that we would see Kimbo Slice on The Ultimate Fighter 10 finale. There have been rumors for weeks regarding who Kimbo would be facing at that event. The rumors seemed to center around three specific names; Roy Nelson, Seth Petruzelli, and Houston Alexander.

MMAJunkie.com is reporting that Houston Alexander will be the man to face Slice. Alexander has applied for a license to fight with the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Since bursting onto the UFC scene with highlight reel knockouts against Alessio Sakara and Keith Jardine, Houston was the victim of three straight UFC losses. He has since won one match in another organization. This will be his first match back with the UFC.

Another major note is that this match with be at a catchweight of 215 lbs. Alexander has always fought at 205 and Slice’s most recent TUF match against Roy Nelson was at 230 lbs. It has been assumed that since Slice joined American Top Team, that he would move down to 205 lbs. Slice stands a much better chance against the likes of Liddell and Couture than against guys like Cain and Dos Santos. Heavyweights now know that Slice can be tossed around at will. And, according to Nelson, all you need to do is sit on Slice’s chest and softly tap his head 12 times in order to beat him. 205 lbs. is where Slice needs to end up and it seems that this 215 catchweight bout is American Top Team’s way of moving him towards that mark.

It’s way too early for a prediction. Don’t expect to see any arm bars and triangle chokes in this match. These guys will be swinging for the fences. One of these two guys is virtually guaranteed the Knockout of the Night Bonus. This is a match that Kimbo Slice can win just as much as it is a match that can earn Houston Alexander a new UFC contract.

Strikeforce: Fedor Emelianenko vs Brett Rogers Predictions
Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers takes place this coming Saturday, November 7 live on CBS. It will be the first nationally-televised on network TV event since Kimbo Slice got TKO’d by Seth Petruzelli. Fedor Emelianenko makes his much-anticipated Strikeforce debut. He will be fighting the undefeated Brett Rogers. Rogers is 10-0 with 9 knockouts. Rogers has never had a match last longer than a minute-thirty eight through the send round. His notable wins are over James Thompson and Andrei Arlovski. Fedor, however, is 30-1 with 1 no contest. His one loss was due to a doctor stoppage after an illegal, accidentally elbow from Tsuyoshi Kohsaka. He holds victories over Mark Coleman, Antonio Nogueira, Mirko Cro Cop, Tim Sylvia, Heath Herring and Andrei Arvlovski. Fedor is commonly called the top-ranked all-around fighter on the planet. I’m just not sold on that. I’ll take GSP and Anderson Silva over Fedor on that list any day of the week.

Here’s why I am not sold on Fedor. We all know that the most talented organization in the world is the UFC. Until Fedor fights in the UFC and beats some of the heavyweights there, he can’t possibly be the best heavyweight, better yet, the best all-around fighter in the world. Who has Fedor beaten that earns him any prize? In my opinion, his only victory worth noting is over Nogueira. His victories over Coleman, Cro Cop, Sylvia, Herring and Arvlovski came way after any of those fighters’ primes. Each of those guys were on the downside of their careers. He hasn’t beaten anyone that Brett Rogers couldn’t beat. This is exactly why Fedor has joined Strikeforce. Though it’s not the UFC, it’s better than where he’s been. A few victories in Strikeforce will at least give him credibility. Still, until Fedor steps inside of a UFC octagon and fights the likes of Lesnar, Carwin, Couture, Velasquez, Mir, Kongo, and Dos Santos, he simply will always have an asterisk next to his name. With that said…it’s prediction time.

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers

Prediction: Fedor Emelianenko via Submission

Middleweight Championship Bout: Jason Miller vs. Jake Shields (c)
Prediction: Jake Shields via Decision

Light-Heavyweight Non-Title Bout: Gegard Mousasi vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
Prediction: Gegard Mousasi via Knockout

Antonio Silva vs. Fabricio Werdum
Prediction: Antonio Silva via TKO

I hope you enjoyed the first edition of ‘The Full Mount”. If you have any questions that you would like answered in the next edition, please e-mail me at Brettley916@aol.com. Thanks.

Brett is 26 years old and from Millville, NJ. He has is a life-log fan of the Philadelphia sports teams as well as the Boston red Sox and Cincinnati Bengals. Brett is also a big fan of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. If you would like to comment on one of his stories, please e-mail him at Brettley916@aol.com

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Vitor Belfort returned to UFC in vintage Vitor-style. The Phenom knocked out former UFC champion Rich Franklin in Round 1 at UFC 103. Dana White wasted no time talking about a Belfort vs. Anderson Silva match after the fight. In the eyes of the UFC president, “Belfort is ready.”

The words and immediate hype should come as no surprise to UFC fans. Dana White has been talking about a Belfort vs. Silva fight even before he had Belfort under contract. A few months back White talked about testing Anderson Silva with Vitor Belfort. It looks like the test will come sooner than later for the UFC middleweight champion.

Belfort’s win was one of the most impressive wins of the year. I never though of Rich Franklin as an elite fighter, however he is no pushover. Belfort’s win was about more than just a speedy onslaught of strikes. Belfort was a posed, mature fighter who waited patiently for his opening. Once Belfort saw the open, he took it, and it was lights out for Franklin.

Rich Franklin has only been knocked out once in the first round in his MMA career. Ironically it was Anderson Silva who knocked Rich Franklin out with a knee in Round 1 to win his UFC middleweight title. Even more impressive is that this was Belfort’s second straight first round knockout. Belfort’s previous victim was Matt Lindland. Lindland is also no pushover and the wins are extremely impressive for Belfort.

The odd man out is Dan Henderson. Hendo was promised the next title shot at Anderson Silva. Silva has yet to agree to a match with Henderson. After seeing he wasn’t interested in fighting Henderson, Silva reportedly suffered an elbow injury. The timing of the injury is curious to say the least. Henderson would be a fool to agree to a Belfort fight before the Silva match. Henderson has already turned down opponents citing that he will wait out his promised match with Silva.

Vitor Belfort is for real and I am now a believer. Belfort can and will give Anderson Silva his toughest challenge to date in the UFC. Silva has never seen anyone with the speed of Belfort. Additionally, I don’t know if Silva has ever fought anyone with the confidence of Vitor Belfort. The looks on the faces of most of Anderson Silva’s opponents before the bell scream of defeat. Belfort won’t be scared and will probably be the first guy in UFC to fight Silva who believes that he can beat him.

For now, the sky is the limit for Belfort. Belfort could jump up to 205 and fight the Machida-Rua winner for the UFC light heavyweight title. Belfort had a hard time getting to 195 for the Franklin fight. Dropping down to 185 could be a big issue for Belfort. Fighting Silva at a catch weight is a solution, but that would negate UFC’s opportunity at a UFC middleweight title fight. The Anderson Silva talk is nice, but it may be in everyone’s best interest for Belfort to stick around at 195 or 205.

Vitor Belfort Highlights!


Thanks to MMAFanhouse for the tip!

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When UFC signed Anderson Silva to face Forrest Griffin, it was signed to test him. The test took all of three minutes. As UFC middleweight champion, he has beaten every top challenger in the division. He has looked unstoppable. So why all of the sudden is Anderson Silva ducking fights?

The talk immediately began following the Griffin fight about UFC’s next Dream Match. Fans spoke loudly of a Lyoto Machida vs. Anderson Silva light heavyweight title match. Unfortunately the only person not interested in this match is Anderson Silva. Silva said he would never fight Machida citing their close friendship. The news certainly did not make Dana White happy.

This is a typical reason given by many UFC fighters when turning down fights. I really don’t understand it. Friends compete against one another every day in professional and amateur sports. The Klitchko brothers have talked about fighting each other. The Williams sisters compete in tennis. Yet for some reason guys who spar against each other every day in the gym won’t do so in public. It really doesn’t make a lot of sense.

It makes even less sense if you are Anderson Silva. Silva is regarded by some as the best fighter in MMA. One would suspect that a professional athlete at the top of his game would embrace the toughest challenges. Realistically, Silva is the UFC middleweight champion and he doesn’t have to take this match. So why in the world would Silva next turn down the number one challenger in the middleweight division?

It was reported a few weeks ago by Silva’s camp that he was going to sit out until 2010 due to an elbow injury. Reportedly the injury would sideline the champion for awhile. Now reports have surfaced that indicate Silva’s injury is no where near as serious as orginally thought to be. Silva won’t be undergoing surgery as previously reported.  Allegedly Silva won’t need Silva and is healthy enough to fight in November as planned. So much for the injury excuse.

Silva and his camp have publicly stated that they have no interest in a rematch with Dan Henderson right now. After losing to Silva last year, Henderson has gone 3-0 in the division. Dana White rightfully promised Dan Henderson a rematch with Silva after his last win. Anderson Silva has other plans in mind for Dan Henderson which doesn’t include an immediate rematch. Silva wants Hendo to fight Nate Marquardt and then he will face the winner of that match.

Henderson is understandably furious. Why would Henderson risk his title shot and a huge pay day for another fight? Anderson Silva hasn’t defended the title since April. Dana White blasted Fedor Emelianenko for avoiding the best competition and called him a joke for it. Is Anderson Silva now a joke or a “f*cking joke” in White”s words? What is Dana White to do and why has Anderson Silva become such an MMA diva?

Could Silva really be afraid of Dan Henderson? I don’t know what he could possibly be afraid of. Yes, Dan Henderson did win a round against Silva in their previous match. However, Henderson is older and likely slower. I do think Henderson has the tools to beat Silva, but having the tools and using them are two different stories. This seems like such a no-brainer for Silva that I just can’t get my hands around why he is avoiding this fight after shooting down a Machida match.

Silva has publicly said he wants to retire after his UFC deal is up in three more fights. Yet, I have to question whether this is all about posturing for a new deal. He could set himself up for life with a new deal and he’d be a fool not to try and get it. At the same time, I don’t see the need for all of this posturing if this was truly about a new deal.

The bottom line here is that Anderson Silva needs to man up. I don’t know what his angle is, but it is going to get old really fast. Randy Couture tried playing games with UFC in the past and it didn’t work. Silva is either going to have to fight the best or Dana White will sit him home and keep him out of anyone’s ring. As impressive as he was at UFC 101, he will have a hard time convincing people he is the best if he keeps ducking the best.

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