PORTLAND, Ore. - UFC president Dana White is rethinking matching middleweight champion Anderson Silva against welterweight title-holder Georges St. Pierre in light of Silva's recent demolition of Forrest Griffin.
"I think he's too big for Georges," White said of Silva. "Forrest Griffin is huge and at the (UFC 101) weigh-ins, when we squared them off, he was as big as Forrest at 205 (pounds). The guy is unbelievable."
White said he even thought Silva looked "soft" going into the Griffin fight. "Goes to show what I know."
Silva knocked out the six-foot-three Griffin, a former light-heavyweight champion, in the first round.
Silva and St. Pierre are seen by many as the top two pound-for-pound MMA fighters on the planet. St. Pierre, a native of Montreal, holds the title at 170 pounds while Silva rules at 185 although he has made two forays into the light-heavyweight division (205 pound).
St. Pierre stopped lightweight champion B.J. Penn at UFC 94 in January in a super-fight contested at 170 pounds.
White says the Canadian will likely face the winner of the UFC 103 bout between Mike Swick-Martin Kampmann ("Let's see how the fight goes," White said). St. Pierre, however, may not return to action until February after an injury suffered at UFC 100. "That's a long layoff for him and he's a big star for us," White lamented. "So we want to get him back in as soon as possible."
-
White is rethinking who's next for Silva in the middleweight ranks. Initially it had been thought to be the winner of the fight Saturday between Nate (The Great) Marquardt and Demian Maia. Then, in the wake of Dan Henderson's crushing KO of Michael Bisping at UFC 100, it appeared to be Henderson.
"I'm trying to figure that out myself, to be honest with you" White acknowledged. "I think what I'm going to do is I'm going to see what happens on Saturday. I'm going to see how this fight goes between Nate and Demian and I'll figure it out after."
White says he can see the merit of Silva's argument that Henderson should meet the winner of Marquardt-Maia.
White says he doesn't see Silva moving up to heavyweight but could see him fighting Randy (The Natural) Couture at light-heavyweight. White also said he could see a matchup of Couture and light-heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida.
-
Lightweight champion B.J. Penn will meet Diego (Nightmare) Sanchez next, White confirmed. But the UFC boss said it won't be at UFC 105 in Manchester, England, on Nov. 14. Canadian middleweight Denis Kang will "probably" face Bisping in the co-main event at UFC 105, he said. There is no word yet on the marquee Manchester matchup.
White said the Penn-Sanchez fight could be on a new early November card, outside of UFC 105 and 106. But he has no plans to schedule a live card the same night as Fedor Emelianenko debuts for Strikeforce.
"I could beat Strikeforce with a show that we've aired 790,000 times," he said dismissively. "I don't need to do a live event."
-
White says he gave up his video blog because it seemed excessive, especially in light of letters he received from fans during recent hard economic times.
"It's not the right time for what's going on in the world right now to be doing the blogs," he said. "Let me put it this way. I've been very fortunate and have a very fortunate life . . . Other people aren't that fortunate."
White said he had got letters from people who were losing their homes. And he said their stories got to him.
"You've got this video blog of me jumping on airplanes and doing crazy shit and I just don't think it's the right time for me to be doing video blogs and for people to see the life that I live."
The UFC president also got into hot water for an expletive-laced video rant against a reporter over an article she wrote. But he said co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta wanted him to keep doing the blogs because they were popular.
"It's good viral promotion," White said.
-
Notes: White is flying back to Las Vegas on Saturday to attend Frank Fertitta Jr,'s funeral. Fertitta, whose sons Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III co-own the UFC, died last Friday at the age of 70. White plans to return to Portland after the service to attend the fight. ... If the UFC adds weight classes, it will be smaller divisions, according to White, and it could happen soon given the number of fight cards planned for next year. "I'm not saying the WEC is going away," he said. ... White sees Brandon Vera as a step up in class for Canadian light-heavyweight Krzysztof Soszynski. "No doubt about it, it's a big fight for him. Obviously we're still waiting to see the old Brandon Vera come back. This is a tough test for both guys." ... White has a U$10,000 bet with Chuck Liddell that he can't get down to 214 pounds by Sept. 15 and is now lamenting the former light-heavyweight champion is in training for his stint on "Dancing With the Stars." White, who wants the Iceman to remain retired, has offered Liddell a salaried position with the UFC ... Former welterweight champion Matt Hughes will be ready to fight again around Super Bowl in early 2010, says White.
I thought I should contribute to this board since I've read some really good stuff here
