UFC 61 Press Conference

**Panzerfaust** · 07-09-2006, 01:16 AM

When asked about PRIDE, Sylvia said: "Bring 'em on. All I ever hear about is people b---ing that the UFC heavyweight division is weak. I want to take on Fedor, I want Cro Cop, I want Sapp. Fedor has never fought someone my size who's primarily a standup fighter. I think this is great, bring it on."

Dana White was a bit vague in talking about the Wanderlai Silva-Chuck Liddell fight, saying he'd have more details next week. He did say Silva is contracted for three fights and that UFC will be able to use PRIDE footage to promote the show.

http://blogs.foxsports.com/FOXSportsMMA

Sylvia deserves respect for beating Arlovski twice in a row, but he should think before he speaks.

The Silva contract talk from Dana is amazing. 3 fights. 3 fights from Wanderlei Silva. This is the best news in a long time. Perhaps Chuck v Wanderlei as the first fight on HBO is the announcement next week?

I will continue to dig around and get more shit as time goes on....and Sylvia is a ****ing retard..i swear Fedor needs to maul him and show him what fighting a real HW is like.

**Muscle_4_Hire** · 07-09-2006, 02:20 AM

Yea, Silvia has always been arrogant saying hes gonna knock guys out n sh--. So yea, I'd love to see cro cop come and high kick him out flat in front of the nation. Hell, I'd love to see him get choked out cus he doesn't have sh-- for ground skills.

**Icon** · 07-09-2006, 04:08 AM

Unbelievable news. A 3 fight deal for Wandy to fight in the UFC. I wonder what happens if Chuck doesn't beat Babalu?

Also, great thinking Ninja Rua, HBO would be a great venue for this historic fight!

What about the possibility that a UFC guy is fighting on Pride's first show in Vegas later this year?

Also, it bugged me quite a bit that the UFC crowd had no reaction when Wandy was introduced. I am hoping that this is because they were shocked to see him, but somehow I think it was because most of them had no idea who he was. Crazy. They will know very very soon who he is.

**QuieTSToRM33** · 07-09-2006, 09:46 AM

Tim Sylvia will get his tits handed to him by either Fedor or CroCop

**rar1015** · 07-09-2006, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by Icon

Unbelievable news. A 3 fight deal for Wandy to fight in the UFC. I wonder what happens if Chuck doesn't beat Babalu?

Also, great thinking Ninja Rua, HBO would be a great venue for this historic fight!

What about the possibility that a UFC guy is fighting on Pride's first show in Vegas later this year?

Also, it bugged me quite a bit that the UFC crowd had no reaction when Wandy was introduced. I am hoping that this is because they were shocked to see him, but somehow I think it was because most of them had no idea who he was. Crazy. They will know very very soon who he is.

To be honest i done even really know who he is. I know he is the pride champion (or was, i dont know) but do you guys think he will beat liddell?

**kihop** · 07-09-2006, 10:57 AM

here's some hilights of wandi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPJrRQk5Mtk

**rar1015** · 07-09-2006, 11:04 AM

He seems pretty crazy!! I hope chuck Knocks him on his ass!!!

**Panzerfaust** · 07-09-2006, 09:03 PM

Goddamn rar1015, are you new to MMA? Just asking.

Chuck will need your support come November if the fight happens (i doubt it will).

Wanderlei is and has been the only Pride MW (205lbs) champion since 2001 as well as the 2003 MW GP Champion and was undefeated for 5+ years and was only defeated by a boring ass Lay N Pray by Ricardo Arona last year in which he came back a few months later and beat Arona.

Liddell has had a few chances to work his way up to fight Wanderlei in Pride but could'nt do it, he got his ass handed to him by Rampage and then Rampage went on to get KO'd by Silva 2x

Definately wanna check out the Pride events...because you are missing out just watching the UFC and their watered down product.

Chuck has only fought wrestlers and weak ass sub artists in the UFC which in turn make him look so good...he does'nt fare to well against someone who is not afraid to throw with him and push him around ala Rampage and Randy 1st time.

**rar1015** · 07-09-2006, 09:14 PM

Training in mma....i myself, yes im new to it. But watching it no. I just never really got into watching pride. I saw a couple of pride shows but not a lot. I never know when its on and i never see anything on tv about it.

I really wanna see this fight though. Im not gonna say chuck will kick his ass but thats what i would like to see. Why do you doubt the fight will happen?

**rar1015** · 07-09-2006, 09:27 PM

Who knows what will happen if they fight. Silva could be kicking the sh!t outta chuck and chuck good land that one good hit and buckle his knees or it could be the other way around.

Are pride fights only shown on pay per view now or do they show them on regular tv too?

**Panzerfaust** · 07-09-2006, 11:31 PM

FSN has been showing Pride for awhile now...check your local listings for it.

Pride being that it is a Japanese fight company is only on PPV and is usually delayed until the day after the event because of the time difference between the US and Japan.

UFC is only a brand name and a small piece of the MMA pie, Japan is huge and MMA is mainstream and on front page news there. Check out Shooto, Pride, K-1, Heroes, Pancrase and their are others as well in Brazil such as Meca Vale Tudo, Jungle Fight to name a few. Hell even Europe now has Cage Rage that has been putting on good fights with big names such as Anderson Silva (recently signed with UFC), Vitor Belfort, Cyborg, Manhoef (signed with K-1).

This fight will most likely not happen due to the obvious, Wanderlei is getting ready for the Final round of the Open Weight Grand Prix in which he will possibly fight 2 top 5 HW's and will of course be outweighed by these top HW's and the chances of him winning are still good but him coming out of the fights uninjured is not so good.

And i don't believe he has signed any 3 fight deal, he is a Pride fighter and has stated he is not going anywhere, Dana is most likely talking about they have signed a contract stating Wanderlei will fight possibly 3 fights in the UFC and that the UFC agrees to pay his Pride salary (problem for UFC in the past and is why they turned down DSE's offer to send Kharitonov, Ninja, CroCop). Pride paid Vitor's and Chuck's UFC salary to fight in Pride and UFC must do the same, stop and think, would a Pride fighter take a pay cut to fight in the UFC? Highly unlikely and promotions must pay the fighters contracted salary.

**soo2bhuge** · 07-12-2006, 10:21 AM

Originally Posted by muriloninja

FSN has been showing Pride for awhile now...check your local listings for it.

Pride being that it is a Japanese fight company is only on PPV and is usually delayed until the day after the event because of the time difference between the US and Japan.

UFC is only a brand name and a small piece of the MMA pie, Japan is huge and MMA is mainstream and on front page news there. Check out Shooto, Pride, K-1, Heroes, Pancrase and their are others as well in Brazil such as Meca Vale Tudo, Jungle Fight to name a few. Hell even Europe now has Cage Rage that has been putting on good fights with big names such as Anderson Silva (recently signed with UFC), Vitor Belfort, Cyborg, Manhoef (signed with K-1).

This fight will most likely not happen due to the obvious, Wanderlei is getting ready for the Final round of the Open Weight Grand Prix in which he will possibly fight 2 top 5 HW's and will of course be outweighed by these top HW's and the chances of him winning are still good but him coming out of the fights uninjured is not so good.

And i don't believe he has signed any 3 fight deal, he is a Pride fighter and has stated he is not going anywhere, Dana is most likely talking about they have signed a contract stating Wanderlei will fight possibly 3 fights in the UFC and that the UFC agrees to pay his Pride salary (problem for UFC in the past and is why they turned down DSE's offer to send Kharitonov, Ninja, CroCop). Pride paid Vitor's and Chuck's UFC salary to fight in Pride and UFC must do the same, stop and think, would a Pride fighter take a pay cut to fight in the UFC? Highly unlikely and promotions must pay the fighters contracted salary.

Why don't you think he signed a 3 fight deal? his contract with Pride is only through next August. Also, with Pride making its way over to the US and other big MMA events coming up, such as WFA and IFL, why is it so hard for people to understand that working together will probably help both organizations. i also understand that Fujita and Phil Baroni will be on the same card in November, representing Pride.

**BITTAPART2** · 07-12-2006, 10:33 AM

silva will KO chuck VERY VERY VERY VERY badly no question. chuck is not even close to silvas level. silva will stand and bang w/ ANYONE (knocked rampage TFO!) and rampage beat the snot balls off of chuck so do the math

**zodiac666** · 07-12-2006, 11:31 AM

if they do fight and both fighters come in healthy silva will destroy chuck, no question at all in my mind

**Phreak101** · 07-12-2006, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by zodiac666

if they do fight and both fighters come in healthy silva will destroy chuck, no question at all in my mind

Ditto..no UFC fighter can go toe to toe with a Pride fighter...it's just two different leagues of MMA.

UFC is the minors, Pride is the majors..end of story..

**BullDogg20** · 07-12-2006, 02:11 PM

Originally Posted by Phreak101

Ditto..no UFC fighter can go toe to toe with a Pride fighter...it's just two different leagues of MMA.

UFC is the minors, Pride is the majors..end of story..

I wouldnt go that far

**Quil** · 07-12-2006, 02:52 PM

Originally Posted by BullDogg20

I wouldnt go that far

Yeah, that's taking it a little too far.

**zodiac666** · 07-12-2006, 06:27 PM

who is the pride equivelent of matt hughes? just curious, ive always been impressed with him.

i hope they keep mixing pride and ufc though. they should just have a ufc vs pride tournament, they would make a killing

**rar1015** · 07-12-2006, 06:36 PM

Originally Posted by zodiac666

who is the pride equivelent of matt hughes? just curious, ive always been impressed with him.

i hope they keep mixing pride and ufc though. they should just have a ufc vs pride tournament, they would make a killing

Yeah that would be pretty good to see.

**catabolic kid** · 07-13-2006, 12:10 AM

Originally Posted by muriloninja

When asked about PRIDE, Sylvia said: "Bring 'em on. All I ever hear about is people b---ing that the UFC heavyweight division is weak. I want to take on Fedor, I want Cro Cop, I want Sapp. Fedor has never fought someone my size who's primarily a standup fighter. I think this is great, bring it on."

Dana White was a bit vague in talking about the Wanderlai Silva-Chuck Liddell fight, saying he'd have more details next week. He did say Silva is contracted for three fights and that UFC will be able to use PRIDE footage to promote the show.

http://blogs.foxsports.com/FOXSportsMMA

Sylvia deserves respect for beating Arlovski twice in a row, but he should think before he speaks.

The Silva contract talk from Dana is amazing. 3 fights. 3 fights from Wanderlei Silva. This is the best news in a long time. Perhaps Chuck v Wanderlei as the first fight on HBO is the announcement next week?

I will continue to dig around and get more shit as time goes on....and Sylvia is a ****ing retard..i swear Fedor needs to maul him and show him what fighting a real HW is like.

Semmy Schilt...K-1 GP winner...over 7 feet tall....does that count?

Maybe he does not have the take down defense, then again, wh ohas Sylvia fought that has good takedowns? Sylvia is out of his mind.

**BITTAPART2** · 07-13-2006, 06:09 PM

Originally Posted by zodiac666

who is the pride equivelent of matt hughes? just curious, ive always been impressed with him.

i hope they keep mixing pride and ufc though. they should just have a ufc vs pride tournament, they would make a killing

LMFAO but your avatar is/WAS his equivlant. mark kerr

**zodiac666** · 07-15-2006, 03:13 PM

Originally Posted by BITTAPART2

LMFAO but your avatar is/WAS his equivlant. mark kerr

but kerr weighed like 250, hughes is a middleweight.

what pride fighter would you choose to fight hughes in his weightclass.

**USfighterFC** · 07-15-2006, 03:39 PM

Originally Posted by zodiac666

but kerr weighed like 250, hughes is a middleweight.

what pride fighter would you choose to fight hughes in his weightclass.

There is no 170 pound weight class in pride. But I guess Pound for pound toughness and skill it would be fedor.

BG · 07-15-2006, 04:40 PM

Originally Posted by USfighterFC

There is no 170 pound weight class in pride. But I guess Pound for pound toughness and skill it would be fedor.

I dont agree, atleast if your comparing Fedor to Hughes.

**USfighterFC** · 07-15-2006, 11:58 PM

Originally Posted by BigGuns101

I dont agree, atleast if your comparing Fedor to Hughes.

Well i know comparing anyone to fedor is a big no no. But i'm thinking in terms of purely dominating opponents.

**USfighterFC** · 07-15-2006, 11:59 PM

Now that I think maybe takanori gomi would be a better fit.

**Sta11ion** · 07-16-2006, 07:41 AM

After seeing the last event with shamrock in UFC. It was so disappointing...People were booing what garbage, thank god I didnt have to pay $50 to watch it on pay per view. At the same time I would of not paid for it either. They better step up to plate..