Anderson Silva “My next fight will be the end of 2013″

http://www.mmaopinion.co.uk/2012/11/12/anderson-silva-my-next-fight-will-be-the-end-of-2013/

Clearly all he's looking for now is super fights, so I say strip him of the title. Why hold up another division ?

I really don't like how he does this. I don't care if you are the GOAT, you are employed by a company. Who doesn't want to see the best ever in action every four five months? Three times a year, that's all i ask.

BOOOOOOO!

Anderson be trollin'.

well guess we will have another interim title and another division held up.

I too think it's kind of ridiculous. He's an employee, and on top of that the champion. He needs to fight or he just  turns the division into a cluster****. I don't care if you're Kimbo Slice or the greatest ever. You don't get to pick and choose fights. 

this is just posturing imo, he's using it as leverage to get more money for his next fight

I agree with @mike.....if you're not going to defend the title then give it up.

This **** is just ridiclious

Winner of Weidman/Boetch vs winner of Bisping/Belfort for the interim mw championship. Dana should just take the belt from Anderson if he's not going to fight.

I think (or at least want to think) that KrazyHopz is right, GOAT or not, Silva has had his diva-like moments and he's certainly not above this sort of thing to get more money in his pocket (smart man).  

Considering that I'm pretty sure that Silva said he wasn't fighting again this year after his bout with Sonnen, (only to fight Bonnar a few months later) I think this is a bluff.  

If not, and if all he's looking for is superfights, then yes, I say strip him of the belt and let him fight the superfights.  However, considering that it's Anderson Silva, I suspect he wouldn't be stripped of the title.

* Edited at 11.12.2012, 10:53 PM ET *

He will fight again before the end of next year. He is using this as a ploy to get exactly what he wants which is a **** pot of money for an easy fight or several dozen **** pots of money for a super fight. I don't see him fighting any true contenders again for the belt.

Silva has 2 fights left, i dont see him coming back after they are up. I would like to see him fight GSP, and Bones in those 2 fights. Maybe this is his way of saying "get GSP to find his fangs, and make him sign the contract, or i might take alot of time off". I hope GSP gets put on the spot after he gets the decision win over Condit.

I'd love to see the winner of Weidman/Boetch vs. Bisping/Belfort for the middleweight belt.

That would be a good fight for the title, that was vacated after Silva retires. If Dana acts like he normally does. I see him pushing for these 2 fights with GSP, and Bones. Its all about the money with him.

Well if Silva isnt going to fight until the end of 2013 then he needs to be stripped of his belt. I think Anderson is amazing but he is the champ and should have to defend his belt at least 2 times a year.

@Condit, Unless they make that a rule, that should not happen. Silva has a projection of when he will return and that is just fine. Besides, what is going to happen if an interim belt is created? Give it to someone to hold and refuse to defend it until Anderson returns?

While I myself don't like Anderson Silva's decision in what he said in the interview, I can understand where he's coming from when it comes to wanting to take a vacation from work. I work on pipelines for companies like Shell Oil, Mobil, ARCO, Intel, and PG&E, and when I'm working full time, I put in anywhere from 50-100 hours a week. When jobs end, and I get to take some time off, I take as much time off as I can to gear up for the next job, because lord knows how long that job is going to last, and how many hours I'm going to be working, so I can't down Anderson for wanting to take time off to have some time to himself and focus on other things.

A fighter's hours for training, press conferences, and interviews is a very busy and demanding schedule. Probably more hours put in than we could ever imagine. An athlete in any other sport can take as much time off as he/she wants, and nobody will say anything about it, but here is Anderson Silva wanting to take some time to spend with his family, work on other projects, and have some time to himself, and all of a sudden he's this horrible ************* that should be stripped of his title? Hell, Cain Velasquez, Rampage, GSP, Jose Aldo, and Randy Couture have taken a year or more off, and noone says **** about them, but let Anderson Silva do it, and it's the greatest sin committed against man? Give me a break.

Anderson Silva is nearing 40, he's undefeated in the UFC, has the most wins in the UFC with the most title defenses. If he wants some time off to reasess himself, or consider the possibility of retirement, then that's up to him. Not the UFC, not the fans, and not the media.

I myself would love to see Anderson Silva fight sooner against a top MW, and I would also like to see him in a couple of superfights as well A.S.A.P., but it looks like we may not get to see him fight until the end of next year. If by then the UFC has an Interim MW Champion, then they have an Interim MW Champion. It's happened 3 times in the HW division, 3 times in the WW division with one of those being current, once in the LHW division, once in the LW division, the BW division currently has an interim champion, so what would it really hurt if it happened in the MW division? Come on, is it really going to hurt the UFC, the fans, or Anderson Silva?

Awesome post @Jaykool, couldn't agree more. ^^

I think it has probably something to do with GSP not wanting to fight Anderson, that said it's of course disappointing to see the GOAT out for so long. I would like to see him against the middleweight contender nr.1 too.

But doing the math on this one helps a little.

Weidman vs Boetsch will be in dec.
Bisping vs Belfort in jan.

Assuming it goes like I predict Weidman vs Bisping will be in april ideally.

Therefore Weidman will be ready to fight Anderson at the middle of 2013, if everything goes without injury that is, so it doesn't sound that bad anymore...

* Edited at 11.13.2012, 6:05 AM ET *

"Well if Silva isnt going to fight until the end of 2013 then he needs to be stripped of his belt. I think Anderson is amazing but he is the champ and should have to defend his belt at least 2 times a year."


Who decided that? You? Who are you? He's more than earned the right to take some time off ... and I think he's contractually obligated to defend his belt once a year (at least that's what GSP said when he explained why "he's actually the contender", I can imagine that's a standard for all UFC champions).


I know, it would be nicer of him to consider the other contenders, but that's all it is. He's been fighting for a LOOOONG time, and you don't got stripping heard earned belts just because there are other people waiting on the sidelines.


The matter of the fact is that at 37 after defending the belt 10 times he's entitled to a bit of relaxation, especially since he's within his contractual obligations. If the UFC have a problem with that, they should've thought about before they signed contracts. If the fans have a problem with that, they should try fighting 2-3 title fights a year (plus 3 more fights at LHW) and see if after 6 years (!!!) they don't want a few months off ...


As for the other fighters (Bisping/Weidman/Boetsch/Belfort) ... tough cookies ... this is the fight business, not the "oh-lets-make-sure-you-get-anything-you-want-or-you'll-cry" business ... 


Bisping? If he'd have beaten Hendo or Chael he'd have already got his title fight, since he didn't, well he's gonna have to wait until it's right for Anderson too. You lose, you wait.
Belfort? Already lost one, he can afford to wait a year. Once again, you lose, you wait.
Weidman? He's only even been talked about as a contender for a few months and now he can't wait a year?? People fight their way up for years to get title shots and suddenly he's in a hurry?
Boetsch? Please, the fact that he's even a contender is ludicrous, now he's got more time to do a bit more than a fluke comeback against Okami (who was outclassing him and got overconfident) and lackluster win against an injured unproven Lombard to earn that shot.


If you're good enough a fighter to deserve the shot, that year isn't supposed to change anything ... on the contrary, you've got 1-2 fight(s) to show why you and not the other 3 contenders. If that's a "scary" notion, then ask yourself if your REALLY deserve to be in the cage with the G.O.A.T.

* Edited at 11.13.2012, 7:11 AM ET *