Jon Jones vs Anderson Silva, why it shouldn't happen

Jon Jones vs. Anderson Silva? Four reasons the fight between champs shouldn’t happen
by Maggie Hendricks

Before UFC president Dana White even strapped the middleweight championship belt around Anderson Silva's waist, my Twitter timeline was filled with questions on when Silva would face light heavyweight champ Jon Jones.
White said, "Let's see what happens," in response to a question about the two champs fighting. With Silva walking around at around 215 lbs., size is not a problem. But it's still not a fight that should happen for these reasons.

1. It's a no-win situation for Jon Jones. If he wins, he was expected to win and defend his weight class. If he loses, does anyone give him a pass?

2. Silva doesn't need it to prove he's the greatest. He has moved up to light heavyweight twice before. Both times, he won in the first round. As detailed here, Silva has dominated since joining the UFC in 2006.

3. It ties up both the middleweight and light heavyweight belts. Between injuries and time to prepare for fights and placing championship fights on the perfect cards, championship bouts don't happen enough. This fight would tie up two different belts as Silva and Jones prepared for their fight. Do you remember how long we had to wait around for Sonnen/Silva and Jones' bout with Rashad Evans?

4. Neither of them want the fight. When champs want to move across weight classes, they should at least want the fight to happen. Jones, who is preparing for his Sept. 1 fight against Dan Henderson, tweeted his lack of interest in a bout with Silva.

"Man my man ‪#AndersonSilva‬ went to work tonight, consistently amazing," Jones said. "I guess Anderson said he had no interest in fighting me at tonight's press conference, I feel the same way about him. Nothing but respect."

It has nothing to do with either man not wanting the challenge or "being afraid," as I'm sure will get mentioned in the comment section. It has to do with their focus on their own weight classes, and participating in fights that make sense for them.

Chael Sonnen's Coach Planning to Appeal UFC 148 Result

Chael Sonnen's coach planning to appeal UFC 148 result

by Steven Marrocco

Chael Sonnen coach Scott McQuarry today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Anderson Silva's second-round TKO of Sonnen is "an injustice," and he plans to appeal the bout's official result.

"Obviously, there were minor infractions of grabbing shorts and greasing himself up," McQuarry said. "But the knee to the face ... I've looked at it from numerous angles. I can see where it hit his face. It did slide down to his chest. But that should be considered a no-contest.

"What I'm looking for is a rematch."

Silva vs. Sonnen II headlined UFC 148, which took place this past Saturday at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and aired live on pay-per-view.

McQuarry said he's contacted Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer to find out the steps for an appeal and has yet to hear back.

"Anybody can file an appeal, but as you know, the referee's decision is final," Kizer told MMAjunkie.com while on his way to the 2012 UFC Fighters Summit to discuss therapeutic-use exemptions. "He's the sole determiner that the knee was a lawful strike, and then he stopped the fight thereafter after the additional strikes. I don't know what the legal basis would be."

Sonnen manager Mike Roberts said he had no knowledge of a pending appeal and said he thought "somebody is making it up."

Silva's camp, meanwhile, believes Sonnen's coaches are focused on the wrong thing.

"I should appeal his coaching staff, and maybe his coaching staff should do a better job of coaching their athlete," Silva's manager, Ed Soares, today said. "Instead of focusing on appealing something so little, maybe he should attend an Anderson Silva seminar or something."

An attempt to reach Sonnen, who is currently at the summit, was unsuccessful. McQuarry said he informed the fighter of his plans on Sunday and sent him a picture of the knee that set the fight's end in motion.

"His response to me specifically was, 'Yeah, I knew that all along. I bit my tongue,'" McQuarry said. "And he had told me after the fight that it was a knee to the face."

McQuarry said two NSAC athletic inspectors also informed him post-fight that the knee was illegal.

"Going into the cage after the fight, I was accompanied by two representatives of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and they both turned to me and said, 'You realize that was an illegal knee,'" he said. "It's pretty obvious to me."

Kizer, however, said he and NSAC chairman Raymond "Skip" Avansino approached the fighter backstage at his post-fight doctor's examination, and Sonnen did not indicate he wanted to appeal.

Sonnen tumbled to the mat after missing a spinning backfist, and Silva fired off the knee in question before Sonnen returned to his feet and was felled by more punches that prompted referee Yves Lavigne to wave off the bout at the 1:55 mark of the second round. The win was Silva's 10th consecutive title defense and 15th overall victory inside the octagon.

Suspicion over the knee's legality was quelled by replays of the stoppage inside the arena, though it has lingered online as some have questioned whether Silva used the fence for leverage in throwing the strike. (Kizer clarified that a fighter is not allowed to use the cage for leverage in throwing a knee to the body of a downed opponent, but stressed that in the case of this past Saturday, it was at Lavigne's discretion to rule whether Silva's strike was legal.)

Silva grabbed Sonnen's shorts at several points, and at one point, his hand was batted away by Lavigne. However, he was not deducted a point. (McQuarry noted that Sonnen once grabbed Silva's shorts, as well.) Immediately prior to the fight, cameras also spotted the champ wiping his arms and torso after receiving Vaseline from a cageside cutman, though Lavigne wiped the fighter down before the opening bell.

"(UFC executive) Lorenzo (Fertitta) came to me and said, 'Did you see that?' I said, 'Lorenzo, he does that every damn fight,'" Kizer said. "And Yves was ready for that and took care of it."

Regardless, McQuary wants the commission to look into it further.

"It was pretty evident to me that there was intent on Anderson's part to do an illegal knee, and I think he was trying to get disqualified still," McQuary said. "I think Anderson's hope the whole time was that he would do an illegal thing, he would get disqualified, and then I don't know what his plan was after that.

"But to me, it was extremely blatant, and it was ignored by the referee and everybody else and swept under the rug. And to add insult to injury, (UFC president) Dana White gives the 'Knockout of the Night' (bonus) to Anderson.

"I want to expedite this. I'm normally pretty quiet about this type of stuff, but when you see an injustice to this extreme and there's so much on the line, I feel compelled to say something. Where it goes, I don't know. To me, best-case scenario is we would get ruled a no-contest and we could have a rematch."

 

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Silva delivers again in UFC 148

Anderson Silva delivers again, finishing nemesis Chael Sonnen for a second-round win at UFC 148

by Kevin Iole

LAS VEGAS – Chael Sonnen once again did most of the talking. Just like UFC 117, he doled out most of the punishment. And just like their first fight, it was Anderson Silva who came out on top and retained his middleweight title.

Sonnen, who took Silva down just five seconds into the fight, missed a spinning back fist and tripped over the champion's leg to start the dramatic final sequence. Silva quickly jumped on top of Sonnen and landed a series of blows, forcing referee Yves Lavigne to stop it at 1:55 of the second before a huge crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
"He's a true champion, man," Sonnen said. "He got me with a good shot. I was on the ground, he got me with a good knee and other than that, I'm going to have to look at the tape."
It was another heartbreaking defeat for Sonnen, who talked an inordinate amount of trash prior to both fights and dominated both of them until the finish. In their first fight, on Aug. 7, 2010, in Oakland, Calif., that dominance extended for four-and-a-half rounds.
On Saturday, Sonnen wasted no time in taking Silva down. Silva spent all but four seconds of the first round on his back, trying to avoid strikes from Sonnen.
The key this time, though, was that Silva was able to defend himself better on the ground. While Sonnen clearly won the round, Silva didn't take the kind of damage he did the first time.
Sonnen was pushing the pace in the second, too, and seemed to be backing Silva up. He went for the spinning back fist as they were near the cage. Silva eluded it and Sonnen seemed to stumble over his ankle.
The long and often bitter feud between them seemed to end when the fight did. As Silva was being interviewed in the cage, he walked to Sonnen, put his right arm around the fallen challenger's shoulder and patted him on the back.
They shook hands and then Silva referenced one of Sonnen's taunts, when he said he would pat Silva's wife on the butt after he beat him and order her to make him a steak.
"I'd like you over to my house and we can barbecue," Silva said.
It was a dramatic conclusion to one of the biggest bouts in UFC history. Sonnen congratulated Silva after it was over, and Silva seemed to accept it as an apology.

Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen meet again in one of the most highly anticipated fights in UFC history

Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen meet again in one of the most highly anticipated fights in UFC history
by Kevin Iole

LAS VEGAS – Despite Chael Sonnen doing one of the most brilliant promotional jobs in the history of sport, there was no greater demand than usual to see UFC 117 on Aug. 7, 2010, at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif.
Anderson Silva put his middleweight title on the line against Sonnen that night and, despite an hilarious and completely unexpected verbal war waged by Sonnen in the pre-fight build-up, it did little to change minds. The fight was expected to be a one-sided rout when it was made and, despite Sonnen's best efforts, when the bell rang that night, most still believed that Silva would squash his loud-mouthed challenger.
The perception was that they were two different calibers of fighters and that Silva's skill would easily overshadow Sonnen's bombast.

Less than a minute into the fight, though, a straight left from Sonnen nearly floored Silva. About 100 seconds into the bout, Sonnen had landed four or five significant left hands, which left the champion reeling.
The fireworks early, as Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen nearly come to blows at a press conference. (UFC)
Halfway through the opening round, Sonnen was on top and driving his shoulder into Silva's head, bouncing it off the mat like a basketball.
Jaws dropped around the arena as the realization hit one, then another, then another: Sonnen was doing everything he said he would do, and more. His words were no mere idle boast. It was reality and Silva was being pummeled like he'd never been before.
Nearly two years later, they meet again Saturday in the main event of UFC 148 at the MGM Grand Garden in a bout that has clearly captured the public's attention. It's easily the UFC's biggest fight of the year, and while it won't do the kinds of numbers on pay-per-view that, say, boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. did when he sold 1.5 million units for his May 5 bout with Miguel Cotto, it's going to do the kinds of numbers that will make Silva and Sonnen very rich men.

The MGM Grand Garden will be full and the UFC expects a Nevada record paid gate of around $7 million.
Much has been made of Sonnen's 23 minutes of dominance, and of Silva's dramatic late-fight triangle choke that saved the fight, and his title.
Sonnen proved a point that night, but so, too, did Silva. Despite a brutal beating, Sonnen was unable to finish Silva and that inability cost Sonnen a championship.
Sonnen has walked around to news conferences and public appearances with a replica title belt again disparaging Silva, often to comical effect, but clearly, when the bell rings on Saturday, it has to be on Sonnen's mind: What do I have to do to finish this guy?
If Silva took Sonnen lightly that time – and it would be only human if he had – be assured that Silva has done no such thing this time around.
He better than anyone understands how difficult a match Sonnen presents. Silva is an elite wrestler and Silva's only moments of trouble in his 14 previous UFC bouts came against wrestlers, Dan Henderson at UFC 82 and Sonnen at UFC 117.
"If you train 100 percent, the result will be 100 percent," Silva said. "I'm 100 percent trained and the results are going to be 100 percent."

Silva tried to add a bit of intimidation when the news conference ended. About a week after a now-famous conference call in which Silva threatened to break Sonnen's teeth and bones, Silva was unusually aggressive when the two posed for photos. He leaned forward and pushed his head into Sonnen's forehead, forcing UFC president Dana White to jump between them and end it.
Sonnen laughed off Silva's threats and acknowledged that he'll probably get hurt.
"Anderson is going to have his opportunity [to carry out his threats]," Sonnen said. "If he does any or all of those things, it won't be the first time. But what he didn't say was he would break my spirit. What he didn't say was he's going to leave with the victory, because he's not. I don't care about bones. I damn sure don't care about going to the hospital. It's happened before. I care about 12 pounds of gold and I'm coming to take it."

Sonnen continued his verbal barrage on Silva, going so far as to say he thought Silva's aggressive posture at the square-off had a distinct meaning.

"At the press conference, he was trying to get disqualified," Sonnen said. "He was trying to start a fight so he could say, 'Oh, Chael hit me and now I can't fight Saturday.' It was very transparent and obvious. It was very hard to keep a straight face because I knew what he was doing. But I am going to wait. I've been around the guy a number of times when I'd have loved to have dragged him outside and beaten him up. But I'm going to wait until [Saturday] and I'm going to give the whole world the opportunity to watch me do it."

Sonnen's words are seemingly never-ending. He's relentless and just keeps chipping away, like when he said, "This is going to be a one-sided pounding and I'm swinging the hammer."
Anderson Silva talks to mixed martial arts fan Steven Seagal during media workouts on Thursday. (Getty)
The difference this time, though, is that the fans and Silva himself know it's no longer an idle threat. Silva knows that Sonnen is capable of inflicting great amounts of punishment and, yes, even winning the fight.

Silva has earned the reputation as the greatest mixed martial arts fighter of all-time with his run in the UFC. He's 14-0 overall and 10-0 in title fights. He's barely been touched in some of those events and wins so easily sometimes, he seems to get bored in the cage.
Sonnen has repeatedly called him a bum, but Silva shook it off. Despite apparently losing his cool on the conference call, which more than likely was planned, he's sloughed off Sonnen's taunts.
"I don't have any issues with Sonnen or anyone else," Silva said. "This is a sport and this is all inside the sport. Each person can promote the fight the way they want to promote it. I don't choose to promote that way, but it's the way he chose. It is what it is."
But that talk, and Sonnen's unexpectedly strong performance against Silva in 2010, have combined to make UFC 148 one of the most anticipated fights in the sport's brief history.
On a radio interview, Sonnen vowed he would pat Silva's wife on the back side and force her to cook him a medium rare steak after he wins. It was just one of the many over-the-top lines he concocted in turning the bout into a highly anticipated grudge match.

Bigger than the upcoming Summer Olympics? Well, perhaps not to anyone but Sonnen, but this fight figures to be one of the company's most memorable, regardless of how it turns out.
"I'm scratching my head, because I love the Olympics, but let's be fair: Just because somebody's got the Olympics on in the background while their family's eating dinner, it isn't exactly the same," Sonnen said. "It's not the same as filling out venues and it's not the same as people traveling to destinations, buying t-shirts and fighting with each other over work and placing bets, talking about something for two years, waiting for two guys to finally settle their business.
"There is no sport, there is no fight in the history of combat, where in all of 2012 that's got as much weight and as much emotion, not just from fans and media, but from the athletes that are participating in this one. So you know, the stakes are completely different, and I'm not playing around. He thinks that's funny to say he's going to break my face. Tell him I got two words for him: medium rare."

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