UFC 97: Post-Fight Presser Notes -- Chuck Liddell's Future, Dana White on Main Event
by Eugene Schelfaut on Apr 19, 2009 11:14 AM EDT
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PrintPromoted to the front page from the FanPosts by Luke Thomas.
UFC 97 Post-Fight Press Conference:
Chuck Liddell: "We'll talk about it Monday, Tuesday. But, this could be my last time."
Dana White on Liddell: "I don't want to see anyone stick around too long. I don't want to see anyone hurt. [...] You're never going to see Chuck Liddell on the canvas again. It's never going to happen again. It's done. Tonight was the end of an era. One of the greatest guys in the sport fought his last fight tonight."
Dana White on Main Event: 'I wasn't thrilled with it. I wasn't thrilled with it."
Question: "Were you embarrassed?"
DW: "A little... Did you love it? I didn't think you would."
DW: "I am personally unhappy with the whole fight, period. I did not like the fight at all. Period. On either side."
Anderson Silva [trans]: "He wasn't able to execute his game and I was able to do mine. And I walked away with the victory and the belt still."
Chuck Liddell on Silva-Leites: "He was attacking him the whole time... It is a frustrating fight for a striker when a guy every time you go to hit him he falls to his back."
DW: "Fedor is not the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. These guys continue to fight the best. Fedor is at a buffet somewhere in Russia."
Sam Stout: "I did a six hour warm-up for my fight tonight."
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“He was attacking him the whole time… It is a frustrating fight for a striker when a guy every time you go to hit him he falls to his back.”
Good to see Chuck was still lucid post-fight.
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
Dana White is in denial
Fedor clearly is the best P4P in the world. Dana obviously will never admit this. They spent the entire time hyping Anderson as the best P4P in the world. Just wait till UFC 100 and they start doing the exact same thing for GSP (the same guy who was KO’d by Matt Serra). Dana is too smart to believe what he is saying. My guess is we never see Fedor fight in the UFC b/c he will destroy their HW division and prove what we all have known all along, that Dana is just downplaying Fedor’s abilities b/c he isnt signed with UFC
by GroundNPound561 on Apr 19, 2009 11:00 AM EDT reply actions
No doubt.
Fedor has been on the top for years and years. There are no Matt Serra hiccups, there are no Cote/Leites disinterest. Fedor goes out and fights to his best ability in each bout he takes.
That being said, GSP is a close second.
Cote/Leites disinterest
ORLY? Then how would you explain Zulu, Choi, Lindland, or Fujita who almost beat him? I think Fedor is the best in the world, but to suggest that he hasn’t fought tomato cans while the champ is ridiculous.
I think he is saying...
that when Fedor fights he goes there to…you know…fight. Not be cute and dance because his heart isn’t in fighting the guys he is having to fight.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
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by Brent Brookhouse on Apr 19, 2009 11:57 AM EDT up reply actions
Brent is right. Even when Fedor is fighting lesser caliber opponents, he treats them with dignity and respect, and faces them how he would any other fighter in the world.
It would have been easy for Fedor to have gone out, danced around Zulu while landing flashy, non-life threatening strikes, but instead he went out there and Zulu’d him like he was supposed to.
As much as I dislike Leites right now, he’s slightly > than Zulu as far as a threat
by Derek Suboticki on Apr 19, 2009 3:03 PM EDT up reply actions
Are you saying that with a straight face?
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Apr 20, 2009 12:34 AM EDT up reply actions
Of course Dana is downplaying Fedor because he isn’t signed with the UFC, he would be the world’s worst fight promoter if he didn’t. That doesn’t mean he’s scared of Fedor destroying his division(that’s stupid, if he signed Fedor he would want him to win fights and be a big star) it’s because he is a fight promoter and playing up your fighters while downplaying everyone elses is part of a fight promoter’s job.
by who me on Apr 19, 2009 2:19 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
if your a good fight promoter you promote good fighters regardless if they arent signed with u. u dont make comments like a child as a matter of fact i bet dana whites eatin buffet right now that fat bald fuck!
by keithsardine on Apr 19, 2009 2:30 PM EDT up reply actions
No if you are a good fight promoter you promote your fighters, promoting other people’s fighters cost you money. Professional sports are first and formost businesses (if they weren’t they would be amateur sports), this is about getting people to tune in to watch your fighters not to promote someone elses guys. If Fedor came to the UFC and was winning matches then Dana would talk him up like all his fanboys on the internet do because that would be the smart business move to make.
Do people honestly expect Dana White to say "Fedor’s better than my guys, you should be buying events with him on it instead of buying my events"? Dana’s job is to convince the public to chose to buy his product instead of anyone elses and currently Fedor isn’t part of Dana’s MMA product.
by who me on Apr 19, 2009 2:41 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
no but he can at least have respect and say hes one of the best!
by keithsardine on Apr 19, 2009 2:46 PM EDT up reply actions
cause everyone already know he is one of the best if not the best p4p fighter. so who dana white tryin to fool but himself
by keithsardine on Apr 19, 2009 2:47 PM EDT up reply actions
and the 80% of people who watch MMA in the US that still don’t know or care about Fedor. That’s the thing here most people that watch the sport in the US aren’t hardcore internet using MMA fans that keep up with guys who used to fight overseas, in the US Fedor is still mostly unknown and unwatched. To casual fans Junie Browning is more popular than Fedor because they don’t even know who Fedor is. Why in the hell would Dana White help out Affliction by pumping up Fedor to UFC fans?
by who me on Apr 19, 2009 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
they thing is why mention him at all if casual fan dont know him its only pumpin his name out more! and hes reppin affliction in a way cause people are gonna want to know who this fedor is and when they do see him people will be like wow this guy is amazin and lose credability for what dana white had to say about him at the last ppv fight! thats all im tryin to say … he shouldnt have even mention his name for the matter!
by keithsardine on Apr 19, 2009 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions
Because people keep asking Dana about Fedor. If people didn’t keep bringing him up then Dana wouldn’t mention him at all. When someone ask of course he is going to downplay it but it isn’t Dana that keeps bringing Fedor up or trying to talk about him.
by who me on Apr 19, 2009 3:55 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Did Dana ever say that Fedor sucks? Saying that he still thinks Anderson Silva is better isn’t the same as saying that Fedor isn’t any good.
no but he mentioned that fedor was in a buffet for no apparent reoson!!
by keithsardine on Apr 19, 2009 3:35 PM EDT up reply actions
“He was attacking him the whole time… It is a frustrating fight for a striker when a guy every time you go to hit him he falls to his back.”
That’s it, that’s what dissapointed me with A.Silva, I thought he was more than just a striker.
Yeah, apparently Silva thinks so little of his BJJ that he didn’t want to test himself against Leitis. And we’re not talking about Roger Gracie, Marcelo Garcia, Andre Galvao, Ronaldo Souza…accomplished ADCC champions…we’re talking about Leitis.
wow im impressed on how you can somehow find anderson silva criticism even from chuck's words..
chuck said “for a striker” because he IS a striker and that is what he can relate to in the silva fight..
by Anton Tabuena on Apr 19, 2009 11:27 AM EDT up reply actions
That’s not it. Maybe that’s totally my fault for expecting too much of A.Silva. I’m starting to think you think I’m trolling him or something. I’m a big A.Silva fan, don’t mistaken, I’m not throwing BS at him, I’m just disappointed and I’m not the only one. I just find it too easy to put everything on leites back.
He said for a striker and it hit me, yeah A.Silva reacted like a striker though he is supposed to be deadly on his feets and on the ground. That’s all I’m saying and I hardly see what’s wrong with it.
its like how when mayhem fought jacare..
mayhem is good with subs, but he played a stupid game by fighting jacare at jacare’s strength.. Mayhem should’ve fought him standing where he might have had an advantage (or a lesser disadvantage)..
Silva fought the right way by not playing to his opponent’s strength.. It doesn’t make him just a “striker”.. even if he’s good at the ground, he knows his opponent is better there..
by Anton Tabuena on Apr 19, 2009 12:34 PM EDT up reply actions
scrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrred
DW: “Fedor is not the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. These guys continue to fight the best. Fedor is at a buffet somewhere in Russia.”
Translation:
“oh shit. (address elephant in the room)”
by P4P is a stupid concept on Apr 19, 2009 11:36 AM EDT reply actions
That’s idiotic, Dana White isn’t scared of Fedor at all because this is a business and Fedor doesn’t make money for promotions. He’s not going to ever say Fedor is better than any of his guys because that would be a stupid thing for him to do, Fedor fights for the competition. How good Fedor is is irrelevant, if he’s not in the UFC then he’s not going to get props from Dana White because that would be a dumb business move by Dana White.
Do people honestly expect Dana White to say “Fedor’s better than my guys, you should be buying events with him on it instead of buying my events”? Face it, even if Dana White actually believes what he is saying it doesn’t matter because it’s just his opinion. Why do people get worked up over something so damn silly as subjective pound for pound rankings anyway? If you have an opinion on who is the p4p best fighter then your subjective opinion is just as valid as everyone elses.
by who me on Apr 19, 2009 2:33 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Here you go, Dana
I found some highlights around the ’net that might help you out, Dana:
“Fedor is scared of nothing. Whatever his opponents strength, he goes right at it. He ripped into a prime Big Nog’s guard like it was nothing… TWICE! Just blasted Nog’s head all over the canvas. He stood with Cro-Cop, too.
Anderson Silva is a one-dimensional counter-puncher. He’ll go on the ground with you if you have average jiu-jitsu, but not against anyone better than him. Anderson simply can’t initiate when standing up. He looks so awkward. If you don’t walk right at Anderson, he gets all out of whack."
“Fedor JUMPS head-first into Big Nog’s guard and POUNDS his head into the canvas for consecutive rounds.
Anderson REFUSES to go to the ground with Leites and every time Leites pulls guard Anderson just waits for the fight to be stood up.
Fedor just finished two UFC champs in the first round. Anderson couldn’t finish undecorated fighters like Leites and Cote and even dropped a round to the former.
On top of that Anderson is only on a 9 fight win streak while Fedor is on a 26 fight win streak. Fedor was already a legend when Anderson was getting submitted by the likes of Takase and Chonan and they started in the PRIDE at the same time.
Fedor is 7-0 against UFC champs and on top of that he’s beaten K1 champs and ADCC champions and 350 pound giants.
Anyone who ranks Anderson above Fedor is out of their f*cking minds."
“Silva is the champ. He’s supposed to fight like one, not like some granny down at the YMCA learning how to to defend her handbag.”
“With all the skill and talent that Anderson possesses, throwing side-kicks to the knee against a non-striker shows no class or courage. Fedor’s stock goes up a thousand points tonight.”
“No matter the opponent, Fedor goes after him like the guy just slapped his mom”
Even if you are still a Silva worshipper (Rogan) or a Fedor denier, I thought these were pretty funny.
by P4P is a stupid concept on Apr 19, 2009 11:44 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Miguel Torres id P4P king
Since late 05 hes 11-0 with 6 subs 4 TKOs and 1 Decision.
Fedors last 6 include Mark Hunt, Mark Coleman, Matt Lindland and Hong Man Choi. Brock has faced better in his short UFC career.
1 Torres
2 GSP
3 Fedor/BJ/
5 Spider
The anderson silva problem continues to fuck up Zuffas best markets…
First Chicago (best ppv market) and now Montreal.
Let it be clear that it is not just Anderson’s Fault. You have to also blame his opponents and Zuffa. He needs to disapear until a clear challenger who garners confidence and isnt afraid emerges.
The other problem:
You cant move him to 205 and have him fuck up another division. And I am against a GSP fight.
Anderson has adapted a new Machida 2.0 style where I am afraid he will be able to beat anyone on points and I fear he is content on finishing his contract with this.
You will not see Anderson on any major card – if he refuses to be on an overseas card his contract will extend… anyone can play the “elusive” game motherfucker.
And for all those calling for an Okami fight… Have you seen him fight mike swick??? Leites fights were always engaging until he fought silva. Okami is never engaging. Combine that with Silva’s new style and you have a recipe for Ken shamrock/Dan Severn 2.
Not gonna happen.
Silva’s only hope of being a draw was his “legacy” getting so big it catapults him over – that is now seeming less and less likely.
by mmalogic on Apr 19, 2009 11:56 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
"You cant move him to 205 and have him fuck up another division."
Seriously? Are you suggesting that Silva can stand in front of Rampage or Evans with his hands on his knees and his chin out like last night and NOT get KTFO’d? The LHW division is stacked. Finding legit fights for him at LHW should not be a problem. If he went to LHW and fought Machida, Evans, Rampage, Griffin and Rua, there is ZERO chance he wins them all.
by P4P is a stupid concept on Apr 19, 2009 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions
He wouldnt fuck up the LHW division. I think a move there could reignite his fire. You cannot take Rampage, Evans, Machida, Forrest for granted. I think a move up is just the challenge Anderson needs to get him to focus on fighting and securing his legacy as one of the best fighters in history.
Lets be honest, 185 is probably the UFC’s weakest division. Anderson Silva would not dominate at 205 like he does at 185. I think he would challenge for the belt, possibly win it, but he wouldnt dominate the division, 205 is stacked.
by GroundNPound561 on Apr 19, 2009 12:18 PM EDT up reply actions
And there is no way Silva will fight any marquee or money fighters at 205…
He’ll either fight Cane or Jardine.
what about shogun? i wouldn’t mind seeing A.silva vs shogun. there’s bad blood with the whole chutebox/btt feud and shogun isn’t that big a marquee name in the us yet.
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