UFC 64- Anderson Silva vs. Rich Franklin

[yodaman]

That's quick. One fight and already Silva's the #1 middleweight.

[manitobamantis]

quick , alright. mighty quick.

[PoleFighter]

Considering that his competition is (or was) Chris Leben and Swick, it's not so strange. They want Loiseau to fight someone in order to set up the next title shot. That's either Swick or Silva, and I guess they just picked Silva to fight Franklin, because they want another good fight out of Swick until Silva or Franklin demolish himm if Loiseay doesn't do it first. Marquardt needs some more time and more convincing wins, and Tanner just lost to both Loiseau and Franklin..

What mystified me about this though, is that the UFC is implicitly admitting that there are other shows out there that count. I guess they've realized that with PRIDE coming, they can't really hide the rest of the MMA world, especially with the Silva - Lidell announcement they made.

[Phrost]

Wow, good call Zuffa. Taking the competition up a notch.

So much potential in the 185 class.

[Tomahawk]

great for silva.

[CaliKyle]

What mystified me about this though, is that the UFC is implicitly admitting that there are other shows out there that count. I guess they've realized that with PRIDE coming, they can't really hide the rest of the MMA world, especially with the Silva - Lidell announcement they made.

I'm going to assume you're a knowledgeable MMA fan and not be a dick about this. But Dana and the UFC has tried to play ball with PRIDE for awhile now. Occasionally it's actually happened, although it was awhile ago. Remember what Rampage did to Chuck?

Back to the topic at hand. It would be easy to say Anderson's machine gun fists + Franklin's questionable chin = New Champ. But if it were that simple, Franklin would've been KTFO'ed long ago. I say Franklin won't pull a Babalu. He'll use his head, stick to his gameplan(which will probably be to take Anderson down) and come out with another win.

As an aside, I'd love to see Phil Baroni come back to the UFC. Every good show needs a villain to root against.

[Slydermv]

Should be a good fight... and the Crow, who hopefully is done with his stage fright will get back in and give the winner a good fight instead of the crap he gave us against Franklin...

[Draven]

Silva is a baaad matchup for Franklin. Franklin always relies on his striking skills in fights, but Silva is a more technical, better striker. And Franklin has a suspect chin. We could have a new middleweight champion soon.

[Wolf]

Ok, I'm relatively new to the MMA world, but I thought Franklin's "suspect chin" was something that was just basically made up by Nate Quarry. When else has his "suspect chin" been discussed.

[Copperpot]

Oh come on guys, Ace is the man. Just because Anderson looked so great beating the fuck out of Leben, doesn't mean that he's going to destroy Rich. Besides, if Rich fought leben, it would be a very similar fight to Silva v. Leben.

[CaliKyle]

[PoleFighter]

I'm going to assume you're a knowledgeable MMA fan and not be a dick about this. But Dana and the UFC has tried to play ball with PRIDE for awhile now. Occasionally it's actually happened, although it was awhile ago. Remember what Rampage did to Chuck?

Yes, it's true that the UFC sent someone over to Japan. According to the PRIDE bosses, they've tried to send someone over to the UFC. Why that hasn't materialized, they couldn't say. The most likely explanation is that the UFC isn't willing to pay what PRIDE fighters make. And why would they? They're not going to keep them around long enough to build them, and because they are virtual unknowns in the US, they're not going to sell PPVs.

Also, don't you guys get the feeling that the UFC is trying to get people to think MMA = UFC? I mean, PRIDE is always just "Japan." Of course, I can't prove it; it's just the feeling I get. It also seems to make sense in the context of what I percieve to be Zuffa's business strategy, where the focus is more to build the organization brand than the actual fighter brand. I don't know very much about boxing, but it seems that the organizations matter a lot more in MMA than in boxing. I've never heard my boxing acquantances debate this boxing promotion vs that boxing promotion.

[PoleFighter]

Personally I think Silva is going to take out Franklin. I don't know much about Silva's ground game, but he survived (an admittedly smaller) Carlos Newton on the ground. It's going to be a war though, but my money would be on Silva.

[Phrost]

Also, don't you guys get the feeling that the UFC is trying to get people to think MMA = UFC? I mean, PRIDE is always just "Japan." Of course, I can't prove it; it's just the feeling I get. It also seems to make sense in the context of what I percieve to be Zuffa's business strategy, where the focus is more to build the organization brand than the actual fighter brand. I don't know very much about boxing, but it seems that the organizations matter a lot more in MMA than in boxing. I've never heard my boxing acquantances debate this boxing promotion vs that boxing promotion.

From a business perspective, that's just smart branding. But they're walking a line with that so they don't lose the "Ultimate Fighting" trademark, from what I can tell.

[neooftheosiris]

Rich is gonna tear Silva up.