Dana White says he’s found “the next Anderson Silva”
July 4, 2008 by Adam Morgan
From Kevin Iole’s mailbag column at Yahoo! Sports:
He said he’s found “the next Anderson Silva,” a lightweight who is competing in Season 8 of TUF at 155 pounds, though he declined to release the fighter’s name because it might spoil the season. “I was going off when I saw this guy,” White said. “He’s 24 and he’s destroying people. It’s sick how bad ass he is. I’m getting goose bumps talking to you about him.”
“The next Anderson Silva” might be pushing it a little, but I do have to admit that I’m excited to see who it is that White is talking about. Don’t forget that C.B. Dollaway was hyped up to win this last season of TUF and he was somewhat of a bust when it came down to the end. Not saying that will happen this time around, but we’ve been fooled before.
And this comes from the same guy that continually puts Guillard on cards….Dana needs to rethink his view of talent.
Hi name is CB Silva. Dominant clinch, poor armbar defense.
Eh, it’s just typical marketing. 90% chance he found nobody, but there’s always a chance that he did. I wouldn’t take his word for anything more than a marketing ploy though.
adam, why must we always look for the negative, fu@# just try positivity, your first part of your statement would have been fine.
John,
It’s called skepticism.
Try it Adam..just try being positive for 2 weeks of your life. It really makes the day more enjoyable.
People didn’t know Anderson Silva was Anderson Silva until he destroyed Franklin the first time. It’s easy early in a fighters career to project glory upon them based on some early successes. How many basketball players have been touted as the next Michael Jordan. There won’t be another Jordan or Anderson anytime soon, if ever.
If this guy is so amazing (and anything is possible, including that Dana is right about how good he is, even if the comparison is nonsense) then there’s a fellow by the name of BJ Penn he might want to test his Anderson Silva-ness against in the next couple years, if BJ doesn’t get too comfortable at 170.
If you’re going to be an Anderson Silva you have to clean out your entire weight class in dominant fashion, to the point were you have to jump to the next division just to find competition. Let’s see if this kid can at least win TUF before we mention Anderson again. Then let’s see how he fares in the stacked LW division. There’s about 10 guys who could test him before it’s even necessary to think about BJ Penn.
I wish Dana White would just let these things play themselves out. I hate hearing that some dude is the next *insert star athlete*…
Let’s just see how this season shakes out and then we can all board the hype train.
@#7 If you watch MMA other than UFC it was obvious that silva was a beast long before he beat franklin. His KO’s of Rivera, Newton, and especially Fryklund (that crazy elbow is one of the flashiest KO’s I’ve ever seen) were classic wins against real opponents, and even if you only watch UFC, he put away Leben more effectively than anyone before him. Perhaps he wasn’t proven but it was plain to see that barring an accident or something he was destined for greatness.
Yeah, Anderson looked great in the fights you mentioned, and others as well, but none of those were top of the food chain guys. Newton held the belt at 170, so he had the best resume, but that is a weight class below and Newton wasn’t exactly a dominant WW champ (he beat an aging Pat Millitich and then lost to Hughes twice). It’s one thing to look great against solid competition and it’s another to come in and absolutely destroy a previously dominant champ.
Franklin, who is a very big 185, was sitting pretty as the MW king at the time. It’s easy in retrospect to say that he hadn’t fought the best competition (see Tanner, the Crow, Quarry, etc), but at the time it looked like he was going to be champ for awhile. Then Anderson shows up. And yes, he was well regarded based on the wins you mentioned. But Leben is a guy who couldn’t even get to the finals of TUF. It wasn’t until Anderson practically raped Rich Franklin that he became THE Anderson Silva. Beating Henderson in the style he did made it official. Great wins against lesser opponents cannot compare to dominating the best in the world at your weight class. Henderson, Marquardt and Franklin are by far his biggest scalps to date, in that order.
from CagePotato:
“Early message-board speculation is pointing to Joe “Hybrid” Duarte, a 24-year-old San Diego-based fighter who claims on his website that he’s been selected for Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir. Duarte is 3-0 in pro MMA, 9-0 in pro boxing, and 19-1 in Muay Thai. According to his bio page, he walks around at 185lb-190lb (remember, he’s a lightweight) and is “really, really, really RIDICULOUSLY strong,” thanks to his Chamorro ethnic background. And yes, he does destroy people.”
idk.. it really couldbe this guy.. i mean, 3-0 in MMA doesn’t sound that great, but then 9-0 in boxing? and 19-1 in Muay Thai? sounds like a beast to me..
Can anyone confirm if Duarte is 24? White said his age. Duarte confirms his TUF spot on his blog http://www.JoeDuarteMMA.com
Sorry for the last post. His blog says he is 24.
White has caused hype and interest so his job is done. #3 is 100% right and Adam is just being realistic when you consider that Whites job is PROMOTING!.
OCD….it is true he put guillard on cards but i think you may be talking out of your back side. compare any ufc card against the best of someone else. the dude knows what he is doing even if you don’t like one fighter on the undercard.
The great thing about MMA is that in the end everyone has to prove themselves in the cage/ring, so lets sit back and enjoy the fights. All the hype in the world didn’t stop Brock Lesnar from getting submitted, and being the next Cung Le didn’t stop Raymond Daniels from getting it handed to him in his first MMA fight. At most this guy has only made the TUF finals at this point.
Damn, you boys got this one. I am almost 100% sure it’s The Hybrid Dana is talking about. He posts on the UG, if you didnt know.
He did hint who this guy could be in his comments, HE’S 24.
I’m guessing it wasn’t Duarte….since he tapped