Ed Soares: Anderson Silva to collide probably with Rich Franklin or Georges St. Pierre – UFC News
Ed Soares, manager Anderson Silva, predicted that his client will most probably eye third bout either against Rich Franklin or Georges St. Pierre, adding that the middleweight division is quite complicated at the moment.
Anderson Silva, the current UFC middleweight champion, is coming off a classic win over arch rival Chael Sonnen, a brawl which was basically a sequel to their August 7, 2010 clash.
Silva replicated his prior performance and waited for Sonnen to make a mistake. Chael again, as in the first clash with Anderson, was dominating the bout but one wrong and somewhat miscalculated punch changed the scenario and eventually cost the American
the whole bout.
This was the 10th time Anderson defended his title and now Silva’s managers are facing an uphill task of finding an apropos opponent for the ‘Spider’. During a recent media interaction, Ed basically gave explanation as to why Jorge Guimaraes bashed down
possible bouts with Chris Weidman, Alan Belcher and Tim Boetsch as a ‘joke’.
Soares adopted a humble stance and admitted, “At the end of the day, it's difficult to find an opponent that can fight Anderson.” When asked as to who he thinks is the best challenger for the Brazilian pounder, Ed uttered Rich Franklin’s name, the man on
whom Anderson already boasts two wins.
Franklin was the brawler from whom Anderson took the title in the first place therefore a third onset with an old rival might bring some charm to the engagement. Ed commented, “The only guy that Rich Franklin has ever lost to at 185 pounds is Anderson. So
when you look at the 185-pound division, he’s definitely up in the mix as far as a contender. I think [Silva would] be interested in fighting Franklin again, just simply because he respects Rich a lot, and he feels that Rich was the guy that gave him the opportunity
to fight for the belt.”
Soares explained the difficult scenario and revealed that he just wants a big fight for his client, adding that the upcoming days and most importantly selection of the next opponent seems to be a difficult task.
Ed also pin pointed that there is a high probability of Silva taking on Georges St. Pierre. Anderson is currently enjoying his time off and is waiting for the name of his upcoming opponent. The 37-year-old, who has been in a total of 36 bouts, boasting 32
wins, has already shrugged the idea of getting retired.
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