THE TORCH: THE #1 WORLDWIDE BRAND IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE - OVER 250 MILLION VIEWS & LISTENS PER YEAR REREACHING MORE FANS EVERY WEEK THAN ANY OTHER INDEPENDENT SOURCE • VIA THE WEB, MOBILE, PRINT NEWSLETTER, AND ITUNES
We've got more speculation on Anderson Silva's involvement in UFC 95 in London, England. The U.K. newspaper The Sun is now reporting that Silva is being offered a fight with one of the losers of the two big light heavyweight bouts at UFC 92. Those four men of course are Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, his opponent Wanderlei Silva, Rashad Evans, or the current Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin. This speculation comes off the heels of reports earlier today that Chuck Liddell seems likely to move up to heavyweight for a June confrontation in Germany against Randy Couture.
Penick's Analysis: There's a very short turn around between UFC 92, on December 27th, and UFC 95, scheduled for February 21st. Even if one of the losing fighters from next month's show is up for it initially, they're going to be dependent on said fighter's ability to recover in time to train for a fight right away. I think Silva will fight on this card, but I would not at all be surprised if it's against someone other than the four fighters named in the story.
[Art credit for Anderson Silva - Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
ALERT: Every Tuesday night, listen to the MMATorch Livecast from 9-10:30 p.m. ET or listen now to the most recent shows by clicking here. Listen live this coming Tuesday as Jamie Penick, Rich Hansen, and Matt Pelkey discuss the latest MMA happenings. Online listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch or call into the show at 646-716-8090 to either just listen or participate.
The headlining bout between Phil Davis and Rashad Evans averaged 6.1 million viewers, meaning the peak number for the event will still come in somewhat higher than that. The opening bout between Demian Maia and Chris Weidman was seen by an average of four million viewers...
I am very nervous that Carlos Condit will win on Saturday night, and that I won't be able to fight Nick Diaz this summer. Carlos Condit is a very good fighter, he can strike, he is aggressive and he has submissions...
Georges St-Pierre is the only logical choice for Sonnen, since he's made it clear to the world at large that Anderson Silva wants nothing to do with him. And since everything that comes out of Chael's mouth when hyping a fight can be taken as gospel...