Ennis' Take
ENNIS BLOG: Anderson Silva, Anthony Johnson to middleweight, and Carlos Condit's next opponent
Nov 3, 2011 - 11:15:35 AM ENNIS BLOG: Anderson Silva, Anthony Johnson to middleweight, and Carlos Condit's next opponent

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By: Shawn Ennis, MMATorch Senior Columnist

The Bantamweight Lay of the Land is still in the works, but in the meantime let's catch up on some news and analysis. We've got a few headlines to talk about this week, so let's start with a couple of Anderson Silva stories.

First off, it looks like Silva's relationship with his manager Ed Soares may be on the rocks. Soares took the liberty of guessing that Silva would only have four or so more fights in him before retiring, and Silva came back saying that he had a good seven more years left in him. He even brought up the Randy Couture corollary. But what may have set this off in the first place is the picture that Black House posted showing Soares joking around with Chael Sonnen. Silva obviously has a pretty deep disdain for Sonnen, and Soares associating with him in any way other than scowling and making him talk to the hand may have rubbed Silva the wrong way. Silva says he doesn't have a contract with his manager, so who knows where this ends up? Personally, I'm not sure that this isn't somewhat overblown. Silva seems to be a bit of a quirky guy sometimes, and it can be hard to know how to take what he says (especially when it's coming through a translator). Time will tell of course, but it certainly doesn't look good for the longtime companionship of Soares-Silva (or perhaps Soares-Black House?) if what we hear from Anderson is genuine.

We've also got a bit of news about the first international edition of TUF, which will emanate from Brazil. The rumored coaches are Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort, which would be fine if the UFC didn't plan on having the coaches fight after the season. Even if Belfort gets past Anthony Johnson at UFC 142, that's hardly enough to earn him another title shot after losing decisively his first time out, especially with guys like Mark Munoz (if he gets past Leben) and the eventual winner of Bisping-Miller making a push. But stranger things have happened in the world of granting title shots, so who can say for sure? For their part, the UFC is denying the report of who the coaches will be, but again... who knows?

Anthony Johnson moving to middleweight to fight Vitor Belfort is certainly an intriguing turn of events. There are several ways this could turn out. Johnson says he's doing it because it's a challenge, and that 170 is still his home. I tend to wonder, though, whether he'll move back down to welterweight if he actually wins this fight. That's a significant win in the shallower middleweight division, and while Johnson was making a move up the ladder at 170, he'd be a lot closer to a title shot at 185 with a win over Belfort, and could potentially get into a fight for a title shot in his next bout. If he loses, the chance is probably pretty good that he moves back down until the cut becomes too cumbersome or other forces compel him to get heavier. Interesting situation there. Does Johnson keep his speed and explosiveness at 185, or does he blend in a bit more with the rest of the division at the heavier weight?

It's not exactly a shocker that Josh Koscheck started running his mouth when it became somewhat apparent that Carlos Condit will fight on the Super Bowl weekend card but did not yet have an announced opponent. The problem for the one-time contender is that a fight between Condit and himself makes no sense. The next title shot in the welterweight division is pretty well mapped out right now, and if you throw Koscheck in there, the potential exists for the situation to become a bit murkier. If Koscheck wins, he's not getting a shot at GSP any time soon. So if Condit is going to fight, he ought to fight someone who could challenge for the title.

The timing isn't right for him to fight the winner of Fitch-Hendricks, so that one's out. I actually thought that Anthony Johnson would be a good candidate until he moved to middleweight, which is one reason I wonder whether he'll come back to welterweight. A dark horse opponent could be the winner of Rick Story-Martin Kampmann at UFC 139. Kampmann took a split decision over Condit in Condit's UFC debut, and he's lost two straight decisions that he should have won. Story was on a roll until he was wrestled to death by Charlie Brenneman on short notice, but it's hard to fault Story for that one, as he was preparing for Nate Marquardt up until the day before the fight. But perhaps the opponent who makes the most sense is Jake Ellenberger. Ellenberger lost his UFC debut by a thin decision to Condit in 2009, and has been a buzzsaw since then, going 5-0 and most recently knocking out Jake Shields (and Shields hadn't been knocked out in 11 years).

That's my take on the last few days. If you've got thoughts, let me know. Leave them in the comments, shoot me an email (ennistorch(at)gmail.com) or hit me up on twitter - @shawnennis. Until next time.