Dana White: Silva Best Fighter Of All Time
When UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva walked into Wednesday's UFC 126 pre-event press conference with sunglasses on, it was fairly evident what was about to transpire.
When "The Spider" answered the opening questions of the press conference with single-word responses, even UFC president Dana White took note.
"It's going to be one of those kind of press conferences," White joked.
And for the most part, it was. Silva took time to answer questions from reporters, but the replies were generally of the standard-fare variety and most minimized the importance of a win over Vitor Belfort in the main-event of Saturday night's fight card in Las Vegas.
But just minutes after Silva and Belfort ended the pre-fight gathering with an intense nose-to-nose staredown, White said he saw through the champion's pre-fight demeanor.
"We just sat through 30 minutes of [expletive], in my opinion," White said. "I think the whole, 'This doesn't mean anything; it's just another fight,' (isn't true). Let me tell you how big this fight is in Brazil. These guys live in Brazil. This fight is huge. It's all anybody is talking about there.
"As far as Anderson Silva, he's got the (UFC) record for consecutive wins. He's going for number 14. He's going for his eighth consecutive title defense. He wins this fight, and he's looking at a possible superfight that would be the biggest fight we've ever done. For Vitor Belfort to come in now and get an opportunity to beat this guy at this point in his career, there's a ton of pressure on both guys not only for what's at stake but for where they come from and how big this fight is down there. The 30 minutes of [expletive] we just listened to, none of it's true."
But if it sounds like White is annoyed with his champion's actions, he's not. Sure, the UFC boss has been openly critical of the middleweight in the past see his refusal to place the belt around Silva's waist following a bizarre win over Demain Maia at UFC 112 but those days are well behind. Besides, White doesn't expect Silva to deliver any rousing pre-fight speeches. White just wants his champ to deliver in-fight fisticuffs.
"To be honest with you, when I have to sit through these press conferences with yes-no answers and stuff like that we've all come to learn that's what's going to happen," White said. "You know you're never going to get crazy [expletive] out of him. He's not going to tell you what he's really thinking. That's never going to happen.
"I don't give a [expletive] if he sits there and doesn't say a word for the entire press conference, as long as he shows up on Saturday night and fights. I'm fine with that. At the end of the day, we don't pay $50 to hear him speak. We pay to see him fight. As long as he shows up Saturday and fights, that's all I care about."
In short, White wants Silva to do exactly what he did this past August, when the Brazilian went toe-to-toe with outspoken challenger Chael Sonnen in a memorable UFC 117 affair that wound up on just about every MMA observers' shortlist for Fight of the Year. Despite entering the fight with a rib injury, and despite losing the opening four rounds of the contest, Silva etched himself in the annals of MMA history with a fifth-round Hail Mary submission to retain his championship belt.
White said the win wasn't just one of the best fights of 2010, but rather it was the type of fight that may very well define Silva's career.
"I think about this all the time when we look back at boxing guys, and you talk about Marvin Hagler-Thomas Hearns and 'Sugar' Ray Leonard-Thomas Hearns and all those fights and what great moments and things that happened," White said. "There's no doubt that the Chael Sonnen-Anderson Silva fight is one of those fights. I think that's going to be one of the fights that defines this guy's career.
"I actually saw a documentary about three weeks ago they did leading up to that fight where Anderson Silva had popped cartilage in his rib and didn't tell anybody, and he came in and fought that fight took the beating that he took for five rounds and with a minute and 50 (seconds) left, pulls off the submission to win. That's the [expletive] legendary fights are made of."
Belfort would seemingly present exactly what Silva needs to deliver another legendary performance. A former UFC light heavyweight champion, Belfort owns a lethal set of hands that have delivered 13 career knockout wins, including a decisive first-round stoppage of Rich Franklin and a brutal destruction of Matt Lindland in his past two outings.
However, Belfort has turned in his share of head-scratching performances as well, and White is aware that as firework-laden as the bout with Silva appears to be on paper, there's no predicting exactly what will happen until the bell rings on Saturday night.
"We know what both of these fighters are capable of doing," White said. "I'm going to be honest here. I'm not going to be a promoter here. This thing could be the most dynamic, incredible [expletive] fight we've ever seen or the worst staring competition in the history of mankind.
"All I care about is that both these guys come out and let it go and fight the fight we know we could possibly see."
For Silva, there's little left to prove in the octagon. It's been more than five years since the champion tasted defeat, and he's defeated the world's best along the way, including former big-promotion title holders Franklin, Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt, among others.
Of course, a win sets up a potential superfight showdown with current UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in what White believes would be the biggest fight in the history of the promotion. But win, lose or draw, White believes Silva has already earned the title of pound-for-pound greatest fighter in the world and not just for now, thank you. Instead, White said Silva's incredible 12-0 run in the UFC proves he is the greatest fighter ever to strap on four-ounce gloves.
"I think what Anderson has accomplished, I think he's the best to ever compete in mixed martial arts," White said. "And it's not like I have this Chuck Liddell relationship with Anderson Silva where I brought the guy in and he's still close to me or whatever. I'm just being honest. You can't deny it.
"When people go in and try to start arguing, 'Yeah, but that fight was boring, and this fight was boring,' not every fight is going to be the greatest fight you've ever seen, but you can't deny what the guy has accomplished."
