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[Brutus]

Climbing Mt. Everest

Hey all, it’s been a couple of weeks since I last blogged. I've been really busy training for my April fight against Joe Doerksen in Montreal. It’s going well, I'm going hard. I’m actually probably going too hard to fast. I was talking to my friend and fellow Canadian fighter Denis Kang and he reminded me that I have five weeks to go and I don't want to peak too early. So I'm slowing down a little.

One thing people are talking about right now is a potential fight between Anderson Silva and Roy Jones Jr. I’m not sure that will happen. I don't know that a mixed martial arts organization would ever pay the money that Jones would be looking for to make that happen. He made a ridiculous amount of money for his last fight. I believe it was something like $9 or $10 million. MMA has never seen a payday like that. I think Fedor Emelianenko was looking for $3 million a fight to come to the UFC, and that was a stretch.

Dana White was saying he'd love to see the best MMA guy fight the best boxer. But I don't think he's willing to pay that much. Maybe a boxing promoter would put up that much money. Of course, I don’t know that Dana would allow one of his fighters to take on such a match.

I guess time will tell. Because I'm not sure there's a whole lot out there for Silva. For those of you who watched UFC 82, you know what I mean. I actually thought Dan Henderson was the only guy capable of perhaps upsetting the champ. But it didn't come to fruition.

One potential challenge actually was brought up by one of my students, who posed this question to me: “Who would win in a fight between Silva or Quinton (Rampage) Jackson?” I said to myself, I've never really thought about it and that's a much more interesting fight.

People are talking about Silva vs. Georges St. Pierre, but I think this would be a better test. Because with Georges and Anderson there's too big a discrepancy in their size. People don't understand, there's a big discrepancy between a big middleweight and a welterweight. Supposedly Silva walks around at 213 when he's not fighting. That's a big middleweight. Georges is very well built for his frame, but he's got a small frame.

Silva is a much bigger frame. He’s wider in the shoulders, taller and has much longer limbs. If you were to see those two side by side, you'd see there's a drastic difference in size. But if you put Silva and Jackson (who’s isn’t the biggest light heavyweight) side by side, they'd look like the same guy. So I think that’s more interesting.

But I'm thinking the UFC will never do it. Because why would they want to put their two champions against each other? It's one thing to unify the UFC and Pride belts. But to unify two belts within your organization is another.

Another good one would be Matt Lindland vs. Silva. Lindland doesn't have a great relationship with the UFC, but why not bring him in and give him a shot?

As it stands now, there are six middleweight fights on the Montreal card (including mine), but I really don't know how many of them are going to be challenging for the title in the near future. I just see Silva on such a pedestal right now. It's tough being a middleweight and fighting to the get that No. 1 contender status and then knowing you’ll be facing him. It's like climbing Mt. Everest. It's such a struggle to get to basecamp, and then there's the summit.

I'd love the opportunity to take a shot at it though. You never know until you try.

Jason 'The Athlete' MacDonald is a Canadian mixed martial artist who fights in the UFC. He and his wife Kelly live in Red Deer, Alberta, with their two boys Tristin and Keel and two daughters Jett and True. He blogs on a regular basis for Sportsnet.ca.

Thats probably the best way to describe fighting Silva at this stage in the game as a MW.

[Schlinks]

The whole thing is very true though, Silva seems to be so much better than everyone else in his division that he makes them look like bad fighters when they face off. Soon it might have a negative effect on Silva's drawing though if they don't feel like the fight will be competitive, although most people do like to see someone being handed their ass so that may not happen.


Also any one looking for a bit of out of context racism?

But if you put Silva and Jackson side by side, they'd look like the same guy.

[jukon]

I'm going hard. I’m actually probably going too hard to fast. I was talking to my friend and fellow Canadian fighter Denis Kang and he reminded me that I have five weeks to go and I don't want to peak too early. So I'm slowing down a little.

Funny, really funny. Don't climax too early J-Mac!

[JMH]

i don't see how Silva and Rampage look like the same guy next to each other w/ the exception they're both black?

[Coll]

Oh brother, he is talking frame. Put GSP on the lift, Silva in the middle, and Rampage on the right. Rampage is going to have a frame very close to Silva's, unlike GSP who is much smaller frame wise.

[POINDEXTER]

One potential challenge actually was brought up by one of my students, who posed this question to me: “Who would win in a fight between Silva or Quinton (Rampage) Jackson?” I said to myself, I've never really thought about it and that's a much more interesting fight.

I agree, this fight is interesting. But like he said, why would the UFC want to unify the titles of two divisions? It should happen, though; I think it would be an amazing fight and I think the fans would go apeshit over it.

[MMAhole]

I love Jason's honesty.

It's tough being a middleweight and fighting to the get that No. 1 contender status and then knowing you’ll be facing him. It's like climbing Mt. Everest. It's such a struggle to get to basecamp, and then there's the summit.

Although I think Silva's skills in basically every category are much sharper, why not throw MacDonald in? Even better to throw Lindland in, if you can get his big goofy ass to agree. He says he is the best middleweight in the world, fucking prove it.

As far as Rampage, that would be a better fight. I don't think their frames are very similar in size, besides the fact they are both over 6 foot. Other than that, Rampage is built more like a tank, and Silva like a 4 limbed spider (hence the nickname as he uses this to wrap his opponents up with his long limbs). It would be fun as hell to watch though, because Rampage could basically charge into Anderson and take his abuse, no matter how accurate. If Rampage get on top it would be gnp victory for Page.

But...of course the UFC would not allow. We are talking about the same UFC with Dana White as president, right? Unless one was going to retire or something.

[dudefella]

Originally Posted by Schlinks

The whole thing is very true though, Silva seems to be so much better than everyone else in his division that he makes them look like bad fighters when they face off. Soon it might have a negative effect on Silva's drawing though if they don't feel like the fight will be competitive, although most people do like to see someone being handed their ass so that may not happen.


Also any one looking for a bit of out of context racism?

You kidding? Everyone tuned in to watch a Tyson fight cuz they knew someone's ass was gonna get kicked. Same deal with Silva. Who cares if it's competitive.. I want to see what it is he's going to fucking rock the guy with!

[Schlinks]

Originally Posted by dudefella

You kidding? Everyone tuned in to watch a Tyson fight cuz they knew someone's ass was gonna get kicked. Same deal with Silva. Who cares if it's competitive.. I want to see what it is he's going to fucking rock the guy with!

And I said that people do like to seeing asses being kicked. All I was remarking on was the possibility that it could become like people saying Fedor's fights are boring as he is just fighting cans so they don't really care.

[Masscore]

What MacDonald, no love for an Okami v. Anderson Silva fight lol. I admit GSP and Rampage would be great and interesting fights. But I mean before Silva bumps up or fights someone bumping up, he should have to clear out the MW divison and Okami is still around. I think he just a little sour because such a "boring" fighter kicked his ass for 3 rounds (it should have been stopped several times though).