Konan
02-01-2013, 04:10 PM
LAS VEGAS – There's top middleweight contender Chris Weidman, and light heavyweight Rashad Evans also now is in the mix. Strikeforce champion Luke Rockhold is a new option, and Hector Lombard isn't far behind in the pecking order. There's even former Strikeforce champ Cung Le and a host of challenges outside the division.
For UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva (33-4 MMA, 16-0 UFC), a longtime titleholder who struggled to find suitable opponents just a few short years ago, the options never seemed so plentiful.
So you'll have to excuse his manager, Ed Soares, if he hasn't shied away from discussing them publicly. With Silva on the shelf since his October win over light heavyweight Stephan Bonnar, and with the champ anxious to book his next fight for this spring or early summer, Soares has spoken openly about the possibilities.
Weidman in Brazil? Rockhold for a champion-vs.-champion bout? A bout with Le after coaching assignments on "The Ultimate Fighter?" Why not, Soares said.
"Sometimes people ask me, and I just say what's on my mind at the time," Soares told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I'm just mentioning things. It's not like I'm stepping in there and demanding things from (UFC President) Dana (White). It's not that sort of relationship I have with them."
Silva, the most dominant fighter and biggest name in the sport today, obviously has some pull in the matchmaking process. That's why fans are quick to blame him and Soares for things, including the believed snubbing of undefeated contender Weidman, who's pining for a shot at the champ.
In fact, Soares said he ran into Weidman this past weekend at UFC on FOX 6 in Chicago, and the New Yorker mixed in some humor with his stump speech.
"He was pretty funny about it and said, 'I'll fight him in Brazil, and I'll even give Anderson a rematch in New York,'" he said.
Soares, though, said they offer the UFC input. But ultimately, they want everyone – UFC officials, included – on board with the choice of opponent.
"We suggest some things that we think, and they tell us what they think, and we try to find something that works for everyone," he said. "But at the end of the day – and it's not just with Anderson, but all of our athletes – we've always fought. They get in there and perform.
"Anderson has never chosen his opponent, never picked his opponent. Whoever the UFC put it front of him, he always accepted."
But what about White's public criticism and his belief that Soares is "playing the game," as the fight executive often says.
"I have a good relationship with Dana," he said. "Those types of things don't bother me."
White threw a curveball on Thursday when he said he'd consider former light-heavyweight champion Evans, who's also Saturday's UFC 156 co-headliner, a potential option for Silva at 185 pounds.
Soares said he doesn't care where the challenges come from. A few months shy of his 38th birthday, Silva only has so many fights left, and Soares just wants to assure they make the most of them.
"I'd like to see Anderson fight a half dozen more times, but we have to take it each step one day at a time," he said. "At the end of the day, it's his decision, but definitely I'd love to see him leave undefeated in the UFC and the middleweight champion of the world.
"To me, he's the greatest fight of all time, and I'd like to see him leave that way."
For UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva (33-4 MMA, 16-0 UFC), a longtime titleholder who struggled to find suitable opponents just a few short years ago, the options never seemed so plentiful.
So you'll have to excuse his manager, Ed Soares, if he hasn't shied away from discussing them publicly. With Silva on the shelf since his October win over light heavyweight Stephan Bonnar, and with the champ anxious to book his next fight for this spring or early summer, Soares has spoken openly about the possibilities.
Weidman in Brazil? Rockhold for a champion-vs.-champion bout? A bout with Le after coaching assignments on "The Ultimate Fighter?" Why not, Soares said.
"Sometimes people ask me, and I just say what's on my mind at the time," Soares told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I'm just mentioning things. It's not like I'm stepping in there and demanding things from (UFC President) Dana (White). It's not that sort of relationship I have with them."
Silva, the most dominant fighter and biggest name in the sport today, obviously has some pull in the matchmaking process. That's why fans are quick to blame him and Soares for things, including the believed snubbing of undefeated contender Weidman, who's pining for a shot at the champ.
In fact, Soares said he ran into Weidman this past weekend at UFC on FOX 6 in Chicago, and the New Yorker mixed in some humor with his stump speech.
"He was pretty funny about it and said, 'I'll fight him in Brazil, and I'll even give Anderson a rematch in New York,'" he said.
Soares, though, said they offer the UFC input. But ultimately, they want everyone – UFC officials, included – on board with the choice of opponent.
"We suggest some things that we think, and they tell us what they think, and we try to find something that works for everyone," he said. "But at the end of the day – and it's not just with Anderson, but all of our athletes – we've always fought. They get in there and perform.
"Anderson has never chosen his opponent, never picked his opponent. Whoever the UFC put it front of him, he always accepted."
But what about White's public criticism and his belief that Soares is "playing the game," as the fight executive often says.
"I have a good relationship with Dana," he said. "Those types of things don't bother me."
White threw a curveball on Thursday when he said he'd consider former light-heavyweight champion Evans, who's also Saturday's UFC 156 co-headliner, a potential option for Silva at 185 pounds.
Soares said he doesn't care where the challenges come from. A few months shy of his 38th birthday, Silva only has so many fights left, and Soares just wants to assure they make the most of them.
"I'd like to see Anderson fight a half dozen more times, but we have to take it each step one day at a time," he said. "At the end of the day, it's his decision, but definitely I'd love to see him leave undefeated in the UFC and the middleweight champion of the world.
"To me, he's the greatest fight of all time, and I'd like to see him leave that way."