UFC 157: Dan Henderson feels that Anderson Silva has been manipulating the UFC
By Steph Daniels on Feb 18, 5:00p 68
UFC light heavyweight contender, Dan Henderson, talks about Anderson Silva choosing his opponents and manipulating the UFC in this video interview.
Amid the hullaballoo of former Olympian, Ronda Rousey's UFC debut this Saturday night at UFC 157, another former Olympian is preparing to do battle in the co-main event. Dan Henderson's bout with Lyoto Machida has very noticeably been flying under the radar, and was especially evident at a press conference held last week. MMA Interviews got a great video with Hendo, where he discussed how he feels Anderson Silva has been manipulating the UFC and choosing his opponents. Here's the transcription of a very interesting nugget:
I think Anderson, for the last five years, has tried, tried to pick and choose who he fights and manipulates the UFC a little bit. You know, he didn't want to fight Chael again, after the first time. Obviously, he did after a while. You know he didn't want to fight me again. He kind of tries to stay away from guys that are dangerous or have a dangerous style for him, especially because he's looking toward the end of his career and he wants to retire without losing again. It's not necessarily how a champ should be, but at the same time, he's trying to be smart about things. It's all debatable.
He's probably the only guy I would drop for, but I think that I'm very comfortable at 205, and there's plenty of guys for me to fight there. We'll see what happens in the future, but yeah, I don't plan on losing it at 205 at all.
I would like to see Luke Rockhold fight Anderson. I'd like to see that fight. Luke's a good wrestler and he's decent enough on his feet where he's not going to get picked apart by Anderson without really making Anderson know that he's in a fight.
ahh dan miller perennial number 1 contender cmon, if they ever wanted to make silva vs gsp it should have been then since gsp fought hardy at the same time
I cant remember the timings. Was the suggested Weidman fight not leaving enough time to cut? If that's the case, then even the claim that he ducked Weidman carries no weight.
Silva ducks no man. But he's sure as hell gonna troll a few.
Here's all the background on the event I could grab from Wikipedia. Note that UFC 153 took place on October 13th, leaving Silva a month to prepare from when he took the fight.
Vitor Belfort was expected to face Alan Belcher at the event. However, Belfort was pulled from the bout to face Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones on September 22, 2012 at UFC 152. Belcher also was forced to drop out of the card due to a spinal fracture.
After having their first fight end in a no contest due to an eye poke in the first round, a rematch between Phil Davis and Wagner Prado was briefly linked to UFC on FX: Browne vs. Bigfoot and then scheduled for this event.
Quinton Jackson was scheduled to face Glover Teixeira at the event. However, Jackson pulled out of the bout citing an injury, and was replaced by Fabio Maldonado. Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans was offered the fight with Teixeira but turned it down due to the short notice.
Geronimo dos Santos was scheduled to fight Gabriel Gonzaga at this event. However, dos Santos pulled out of the bout after a blood test showed that he had antibodies for Hepatitis B. With no time to find a suitable replacement, Gonzaga was pulled from the card.
On September 12, 2012, UFC officials announced that UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva and former The Ultimate Fighter star Stephan Bonnar would fight in the main event. Silva was a massive favorite going into the bout, which was a three-round fight. Although all main event fights have been five-round affairs since UFC 138, UFC 153 was the exception due to the short notice. On November 4, 2012, both Bonnar and Herman were revealed to have tested positive for banned substances, with Bonnar showing steroids in his tests and Herman for marijuana.
It is a fact not a perception. He took a short notice fight to save a card a little while after Bones refusing to fight Sonnen caused them to pull an entire card.
Anderson Silva is a god damn honor to watch fight and i respect him even more for stepping up to take fights on short notice to save the card. If i remember correctly i think he offered to fight Jon Jones when Hendo got injured.
Jon Jones on the other hand i respect his skills and i love to watch him fight also but other then that i consider him to be a little bitch.
I agree with all of this except the part about loving to watch Hendo fight... the only way i like to watch Hendo fight is in the hope that he gets his ass kicked.
i think you are the bitter old salt in here sooj and dan is secretly your love interest, i think we should sig bet for lyoto vs hendo
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