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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva is one enigmatic character.
Silva has been bombarded with criticism over his recent performances in the middleweight division, and it seems the opponents that fans wish to see him face are outside of the division.
But while he's moved up to the light heavyweight division on multiple occasions and has, in the past, expressed a desire to move up or down to multiple weight classes, Silva is now changing his tune.
"I haven't gotten bored," Silva said through his manager Ed Soares in a pre-UFC 117 teleconference. "I like my sport, I like my weight division that I fight in and I'm prepared to stay in my division... I want to retire fighting in my weight class."
So what does that mean for potential superfights with UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua? Well, Silva says those fights would need to come to him.
"If you want to beat me up, make weight and come fight me in my category, my division," he said.
After dancing his way through his UFC 112 fight with Demian Maia, Silva will defend his title for a seventh time at UFC 117 against Chael Sonnen. UFC President Dana White has been one of his most outspoken critics about that fight, going so far as to say he would cut Silva for a repeat performance.
Silva's only response? "[Dana] can say whatever he wants to say."
And Silva will fight however he wants to fight come August 7. Whether that plays to the benefit of fans remains to be seen.
Penick's Analysis: Silva's demeanor was extremely odd throughout the entirety of today's call. He gave multiple short answers, including a couple of one word responses to legitimate questions, and he simply seemed disinterested with this part of the lead up to the fight. That's fine, he's the Champion and he'll handle things how he's going to handle them, but it left the door open for Sonnen to make some valid points about his view on promoting a fight during the call. I honestly have no idea which version of Anderson Silva we'll see on August 7, but at this point it could be yet another dance-a-thon by a seemingly disinterested Silva on tap in Oakland.
RELATED STORY: UFC QUOTABLES: Chael Sonnen says Anderson Silva will be better, but not tougher, than him at UFC 117: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]
[Anderson Silva art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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