Silva-Belfort off for UFC 112

[Frozentrash75]

I will give you Lesnar because Lesnar is not the smartest guy, but Penn most certainly would not and it is ludacrous to think he would. Name me one MW that is hotter then Sonnen right now, please. Are you sure he would get destroyed by Bisping? Sonnen and Hendo are very similar in style and Hendo made Bisping his little bitch. We aren't talking about outside of the UFC, I have made that abundantly clear throughout this debate. Now if you chose to read those is not my posts then that is your problem. However, if you wanna talk outside the UFC then you are right, there are better opponents then Sonnen.

Yeah Lesnar has heart and is a true champion and he talks shit and backs it up and he will defend his title anytime and that is what a champion is. Well Sexyama is hotter then Sonnen i mean he hasn't lost a fight since 2005 and yes i do believe that Bisping would destroy Sonnen in a match i would put money on it hell Ricardo Almeida would beat Sonnen.

 

[INDYjon22]

Yeah Lesnar has heart and is a true champion and he talks shit and backs it up and he will defend his title anytime and that is what a champion is. Well Sexyama is hotter then Sonnen i mean he hasn't lost a fight since 2005 and yes i do believe that Bisping would destroy Sonnen in a match i would put money on it hell Ricardo Almeida would beat Sonnen.

Sexyama is more deserving then any of the other fighter listed but not Sonnen. Sure he hasn't been beat since 2005 but he has only had one fight in the UFC. You, yourself, have told me countless times that fighters don't deserve title shots right out of the gates and I believe Sexyama would fall in that category, though he makes the most sense of anyone else. Bisping stand a 50/50 chance just like any fighter who gets in the cage. You can't predict what will happen in a fight, ir just isn't possible. Almeida is a good fighter by the way, don't know if you realized that or not big guy.

 

[Frozentrash75]

Sexyama is more deserving then any of the other fighter listed but not Sonnen. Sure he hasn't been beat since 2005 but he has only had one fight in the UFC. You, yourself, have told me countless times that fighters don't deserve title shots right out of the gates and I believe Sexyama would fall in that category, though he makes the most sense of anyone else. Bisping stand a 50/50 chance just like any fighter who gets in the cage. You can't predict what will happen in a fight, ir just isn't possible. Almeida is a good fighter by the way, don't know if you realized that or not big guy.

Sexyama has had a fight in the ufc and it was against a solid fighter in belcher and he has beaten Dennis Kang another good fighter in K-1. Middleweight in the UFC is a weak division so i would let Sexyama slide on getting a title shot so soon. I think Bisping would crush Sonnen and thats just what i believe of course sonnen could beat him but i don't think he would and i know Almeida is a good fighter thats why i said that he can beat Sonnen.

 

[INDYjon22]

Sexyama has had a fight in the ufc and it was against a solid fighter in belcher and he has beaten Dennis Kang another good fighter in K-1. Middleweight in the UFC is a weak division so i would let Sexyama slide on getting a title shot so soon. I think Bisping would crush Sonnen and thats just what i believe of course sonnen could beat him but i don't think he would and i know Almeida is a good fighter thats why i said that he can beat Sonnen.

Alan Belcher is one of the most overhyped fighters in the UFC today. Sexyama's win was nice but hardly dominate and against an over hyped jackass nonetheless. Bisping is another guy who is vastly overrated and has the potential to beat Sonnen but as far as I am concerned it could go either way. I don't think he would crush him considering that is not Bisping's style at all. As far as Kang is concerned, he is hardly above average at best. And to bad Almeida is a WW now and not a MW, now well never know.

I am not disputing Sexyama deserving a title shot. I have said more then countless times that he deserves it more then the others, but the fact of the matter his big win streak pretty much means jack shit when he came into the UFC. He has to start from the bottom like everybody else and that is what Sonnen has done. He beat 2 top 10 and at one time top 5 MW's back to back. He earned his shot and gets the right to say no to a shot one month removed from a previous fight. please tell me the last time someone challenged for a belt a month removed from winning the number one contendership. It's been awhile if I remember correctly, if ever.

 

[Kasey]

Outside of Belfort or Sonnen, the only other fighter I believe is marketable at 185 to fight Anderson is actually not even in the company anymore: Hendo. Sonnen is the only one on the roster who should even get a whiff of a shot (and that's based solely on his recent streak) aside from Belfort.

Maia doesn't deserve it. I watched him lose his jiu-jitsu aura live and in person in Portland when Nate nearly caved in the side of his fucking skull in less than a half-minute. I can smell a Thales Leites affair and it stinks like runny shit.

If I were Joe Silva? I'd put together a fight at 205 or something like that for Anderson (hell even a fight at heavyweight would be good). Otherwise, I'd scrap his fight altogether and wait a couple of months to have him fight Sonnen. As it stands right now, Anderson has left the division in ruins (that's not even taking into account Hendo's departure, Sonnen's medical suspension or Vitor's shoulder woes).

Nobody honestly believes that anyone in that weight class (aside from Vitor's improved striking or Hendo in a boring lay-n-pray decision) that could even give remotely a decent challenge to Silva. Not Belcher, not Sexyama...nobody. I mean, this is why Anderson's jumping weight classes to feed on other fighters. It's also why people in the MMA press keep broaching the subject of GSP switching weight classes to fight him. It's time for Anderson to beat the last two the UFC has to offer (Vitor/Sonnen) and then get the fuck out of the division. This situation is getting very reminiscent of the times when Chuck ran out of wrestlers to punch on a few years back.

 

[Via Armbar]

From Sherdog

Demian Maia has agreed to step in for an injured Vitor Belfort and will meet middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 112 on April 10 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, the promotion announced on Friday.

Belfort underwent shoulder surgery this week for a chronic injury that had worsened in the last few months and expects a minimum four-month recovery.

Maia earned a unanimous decision against Dan Miller at UFC 109 last Saturday in Las Vegas. The 32-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt has only one loss on his docket -- a sobering 21-second knockout at the hands of fellow contender Nate Marquardt at UFC 102 last August.

So Maia is officially stepping in. As good as Maia is, this should be pretty one sided. Unless he somehow gets Silva on the ground he stands very little chance. Maia's bjj is some of the best in the world, no question about it. Silva is not lame duck on the ground though, you just don't see him there very often. Now i'm not saying that Maia doesn't have an advantage on the ground, because he certainly does. But people tend to think of Silva as a striker because of how ridiculously good he is on his feet. He's a black belt in bjj as well and got his belt from the Noguieras, no easy feat.

This really comes down to who sets the pace and who dictates the setting. I don't see Maia being able to do those things and get it to the ground, so I see Silva taking this by tko somewhere in the second.

 

[Kasey]

Maia will have to fish for a bodylock takedown and pray that Anderson doesn't get anywhere near top-control. Why they are even putting this fight together is beyond me. I'd see a smarter move as saving Anderson to fight Chael in another month or two.

 

[jmt225]

Maia will have to fish for a bodylock takedown and pray that Anderson doesn't get anywhere near top-control. Why they are even putting this fight together is beyond me. I'd see a smarter move as saving Anderson to fight Chael in another month or two.

Exactly my thought process, man. The Abu Dhabi card already has BJ fucking Penn headlining it, with Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie on the undercard. The UFC is acting like this card would die without Anderson on it... that's not the case at all.

Anyway, Silva should put away Maia pretty quickly, unless Maia goes the Thales Leites route (which I really hope he doesn't). Maia will last longer against Anderson than he did against Marquardt, definitely, since I'm sure Maia won't go for any stupid ass leg kicks, but still... I don't see how he gets close enough to Silva to ever get that bodylock on him; Silva's going to eat his ass for lunch when Maia tries that.