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[Cat--Smasher]

Anderson says he is not changing divisions in the UFC

Anderson Silva has many plans for his career in the UFC, and changing weight classes ain’t one of them. The middleweight title holder affirmed, on a press conference, he has team partners on the light heavyweight division and, because of that, he wouldn’t go to the heavier class.



“We have a couple of athletes on the above division, which are Rafael Feijao (Strikeforce), who’s a big name in the division and Fabio Maldonado, who just fought and lost by points. We have many guys in this division. On my weight class, besides me in the UFC, there’s (Ronaldo) Jacare in the Strikeforce. Our team focus on each of us and try to let us take our chances and take advantage of them, so we don’t have this ambition of me going to the light heavyweight division and fight each other”.



The fighter, who has never been defeated in Ultimate, dodged when questioned about a possible fight against Jon Jones, light heavyweight champion.



“I’m gonna leave it to Maldonado, Feijao or even Rogerio (Nogueira) too. They are on his weight division, so they’ll deal with him”.



Anderson, who chose Rio de Janeiro to prepare for his next title defense, on July 7th, against Chael Sonnen, in Las Vegas, complimented the efforts of his team.



“We always train a lot and we’re always focused on getting this job done. Everyone is involved with this and we’re working hard to get there as do what we always do. He (Sonnen) has been saying bullshit. He disrespected a nation, not only me, but he disrespected UFC fans, moms who watch the UFC, dad and kids who are fans of the sport”, explained Spider, guaranteeing that getting the win is enough.



“Winning is enough for us. It’s like a slap on the face. Winning is enough to show that Brazil deserves to be respected because we have a history on the sport, that started a long time ago with the Gracie family and great athletes kept it going, like Pedro Rizzo, Rodrigo Nogueira, Marco Ruas, Andre Pederneiras and others. That must be respected”.

Anderson says he is not changing divisions in the UFC :: TATAME

[Qball1974]

Why leave when he's king of the little pool.

[MIZjitsZOU]

At Anderson's age and status he can do whatever he wants.

[jody]

I think he should retire if he defends against Sonnen.It's be nice to see at least one fighter go out still dominating his class.

[TBEAR]

I agree with Anderson. Why should he move up? He has three teammates plus Lyoto that he will not fight.

I say stay at MW where he feels comfortable

[carbondioxide830]

Originally Posted by Qball1974

Why leave when he's king of the little pool.

this literally made me laugh out loud. i wouldnt call ufc's middleweight division the little pool by any means. if you take anderson out, the division looks pretty stacked (much like the welterweight division in gsp's absence).

[Sakara=Excitement]

Anderson Silva: Maldonado, Feijao and Little Nog will deal with Jon Jones, not me - MMAmania.com

If Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva manages to defeat Chael Sonnen at the UFC 148 pay-per-view (PPV) event on July 7, 2012 for a second time, the pickings for his next opponent will be next to slim.

Sure, Hector Lombard was brought into the promotion to stir up the 185-pound class, but he still has to get past a tank of a man in Brian Stann on Aug. 4 at UFC on Fox 4. There is always a rematch against Dan Henderson, but what would another victory over "Hendo" do for "The Spider's" legacy?

Fight fans (and pundits) have hoped that Silva would make the jump back up to light heavyweight in search of new challenges, such as taking on 205-pound division kingpin Jon Jones.

However, as he reiterates to Brazilian news outlet Tatame, that isn't going to happen, because he is simply going to let his teammates deal with "Bones" who, much like Anderson, is little-by-little cleaning out his own weight class before a potential move to heavyweight in the next few years.

The hopes that a Jones vs. Silva superfight would come to reality are all for naught, seeing as how Jones doesn't want any part of Silva, either. But do any of Silva's teammates, such as Fabio Maldonado, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira or Strikeforce contender Rafael Cavalcante, have a chance to dethrone Jones?

Of course, that's assuming Dan Henderson doesn't get the job done against the young champion in their "Sin City" showdown on Sept., 1, 2012.

[Cat--Smasher]

I agree he shouldnt have to move up but it sure as hell would be fun for us fans to see him fight another top LHW.

Funny but I dont think Anderson's buddies at LHW are much of a threat to Jones.

[Pasha K]

Even if they make a Gauntlet match, Jones would still beat them

[IrishX(aka bornbear)]

Question for anyone...

If/When Dan Henderson beats Jon Jones for the LHW title would Anderson Silva be more inclined to rematch him or would it still be.. "what would another victory over "Hendo" do for Silva's legacy"?