UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva unlikely to return until 2013 by Dann Stupp on Aug 13, 2012 at 12:15 pm ET Don't expect to see Anderson Silva in the cage again until 2013. The longtime UFC middleweight champion and pound-for-pound kingpin plans to take some time off and heal up for next year's campaign. UFC President Dana White confirmed the plans over the weekend. "Anderson said he wants to take some time off until after the end of this year, and then we'll start talking to him," White said. "Anderson is going to fight after the end of the year." Silva (32-4 MMA, 15-0 UFC) most recently avenged the only real blemish on his UFC ledger. Following a come-from-behind win over Chael Sonnen at UFC 117, Silva earned a definitive second-round TKO over his nemesis the July rematch at UFC 148. He's now won 16 straight fights, 15 of which have come in the UFC. He's also notched UFC records for title defenses (10) and longest title reign (more than 2,100 days). Up next for Silva could be fast-rising contender and undefeated Chris Weidman (9-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC), who's made no secret of his desire to challenge for the title. Silva and his reps have been vocal about not wanting the Weidman bout and preferring a super fight with welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre (22-2 MMA, 16-2 UFC), which is a bout White hasn't completely discounted as a possibility. "They can be as vocal as they want to be," White said. "Whatever the fight is, the fight is. But we haven't decided anything." White, though, has no issue with Weidman campaigning for the fight. He said Weidman earned that right by recently making quick work of fellow contender Mark Munoz. "He's in a great spot," White said. "The kid looked fantastic. He demolished – demolished – the No. 3 guy (in the division) in spectacular fashion. He has the right to call out whoever he wants."
don't really care to see silva vs. any current middleweights. since the jones fight's likely never going to happen, i might as well see him fight gsp once he gets healthy. instead of interim belts, ufc should make like an intercontinental belt like they did in pro wrestling.
I think there's too much of a size difference in both matches, so much so that I think the fights would probably be decided on size alone. All 3 guys are great, but they are guys that would be fairly evenly matched if they were the same size, so the size difference would obviously be the decider in both matches.
i think jones is a big ass light heavy. he looked so much bigger than shogun, jackson and evans. remember, jones wrestled at 197 in college (and that was back in 2006), which means he was cutting weight then too to make 197. not sure how gsp would fare at middleweight, but i also happen to think that st. pierre is a big welterweight. i think silva fits perfectly at where he's at now.
Yep, Jones has a fucking huge frame. Eventually he'll pack on a few pounds, naturally, and still look big at heavyweight. I don't consider Jones Vs Silva a fair fight. He's dwarfed every 205 pounder he's fought. Also I think GSP is average sized at 170. I thought both Shields and Koscheck looked bigger than him. Not sure why you think he's a big welter. If you've seen pics of him and Silva together, you'll know that's not really a fair fight either. It's a big middleweight, Vs an average welter.
Jones could never make 205 the same day as the event without being drained at fight time. So, no, it would not make it even. It would give the guy coming up a huge advantage.
Absolutely not, without becoming unnaturally bulky - which is obviously going to slow him down, make him less explosive etc.
I know everyone wants to see dominant champs fight each other, but I don't think any of these fights make sense. Personally, I think an eventual Jones-JDS or Jones-Overeem fight will be the most evenly contested.
I agree, IMO the size difference between silva and jones is the greatest. But at the same time I think Silva has a better chance V Jones than GSP would have V Silva. GSP is much more reliant on his size than the other 2
As Much as REED Loooooooooooves Watching Silva Fight, he's Cool w/the Spider Taking the Rest of the Year Off...185 is Rather UNinteresting Right Now, so Silva's Hiatus will Give Someone Else the Opportunity to ASSERT Himself as THE # 1 Contender... REED:hammert:
