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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva got himself in hot water last Saturday with his performance against Demian Maia at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi. After an entertaining display of disrespect in the first two rounds turned into a maddening display of coasting to another decision against an overmatched opponent, UFC President Dana White found himself enraged and embarrassed by his main event competitor.
On Wednesday, White revealed what he's got planned for the man he's touted as the best pound for pound fighter in the world, and also threatened action against Silva should he give a repeat performance of Saturday night.
Talking to Jim Rome on ESPN's Jim Rome is Burning, White revealed that Chael Sonnen is next in line for Silva. "We'll find out in his next fight if I got through to him or not," said White. "He's got a real tough fight coming up because his next fight is going to be against Chael Sonnen. And Chael Sonnen is one of these guys who's not going to lay back, not going to do what these other guys did. When he's been in this position when these types of fights have happened, he's been against real good jiu jitsu guys, guys who want to get the fight to the ground. Well, Chael Sonnen is going to want to take this fight to the ground, but he's going to double-leg him and bring him down."
White continued to explain his disbelief at what Silva's done in his last three Title defenses, saying "Anderson Silva absolutely demolished Rich Franklin twice, destroyed Dan Henderson, destroyed Nate Marquardt, then moved up to 205 and destroyed the guys he fought there. Then you see fights like this and it's just unexplainable."
But White says he's not going to stand for it again, going so far as to say that he'll cut Silva should the Sonnen fight turn into another fight like those against Demian Maia, Thales Leites and Patrick Cote.
"Personally I think he was embarrassed by what he did that night," said White. "Maybe he had a mental breakdown. I don't know what happened in the ring. All I can say is I know his next opponent isn't going to be a guy who's going to lay back.
"Chael Sonnen is going to take it to him, and hopefully we never see that again. If we do, I'll tell you this: If he ever acts like that again in the ring, I will cut him. I don't care if he's the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, I don't care if he is the middleweight champion. I will cut him, absolutely."
Penick's Analysis: White talked about wanting to make it up to the fans after Saturday night's main event, and one way to go about doing that is booking this fight on Spike TV for the Title. People are not going to pay to find out if he chooses to outclass Sonnen for five rounds like he has his previous three Title challengers, so it almost becomes a necessity to put this fight on Spike, but to get a Title fight live on cable television would be the way to go. I find it hard to imagine a situation where White actually releases Silva, but it's clear he's upset enough to entertain that notion. I certainly hope Sonnen can bring out a better performance out of Silva, but right now in the middleweight division I'm not holding out hope that Silva's going to be doing anything but looking down at his challengers.
RELATED STORY: UFC 112 RESULTS: Anderson Silva embarrasses Demain Maia, loses fans in decision victory at UFC 112: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]
[Dana White photo by Wade Keller (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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