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UFC 7/19 Las Vegas card
By Zach Arnold | June 17, 2008

Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin (205 pounds)
Hermes Franca (coming off his steroid suspension) vs. Frankie Edgar
Over at AOL Fanhouse, Michael David Smith is suggesting that Affliction may as well cancel their Anaheim show in light of UFC running against them.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 59 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
I remember him being fodder for the middle of the card even after.
Really? Most MMA experts picked Jardine over Silva. It’s so easy to discount Jardine after he lost. Jardine was considered a legit light heavyweight after he beat Liddell. You have very selective memory.
Really? Most MMA experts picked Jardine over Silva. It’s so easy to discount Jardine after he lost. Jardine was considered a legit light heavyweight after he beat Liddell. You have very selective memory.
That’s fine and dandy that he was chosen over Silva (I did it myself, matter of fact). That’s not my point though. Jardine could have just as easily been in that position had he lost a close decision to Liddell. Jardine was not a major star. He wasn’t doing tons of TV interviews and selling tickets, PPVs, and t-shirts. There were a lot of questions about whether or not Liddell was totally finished as an elite level fighter. What any of this has to do with a guy who lost to Lodune Sincaid becoming a “star” for beating Anderson Silva I have no idea, because its not the best evidence in the world. I also have no idea why you keep bringing up TUF when Irvin was never on the show and has done nothing but lose to mediocre fighters that were on it.
You’re speaking of “star” as in money maker. I’m speaking of “star” as in a legit fighter.
We’re not even on the same page.
Which by your definition, Anderson Silva is not a star because he can’t sell PPV on his own or even with a co main event.
You’re speaking of “star” as in money maker. I’m speaking of “star” as in a legit fighter.
Even if Irvin beats Silva, does he really become a “legit fighter”? He would have beaten a guy who started fighting at 167. He’s never beaten a top light heavyweight in his life. He can’t cut to 185.
Which by your definition, Anderson Silva is not a star because he can’t sell PPV on his own or even with a co main event.
Yes, Silva, dominant middleweight champion, is a comparable to a guy who fights in unaired prelims. And it wouldn’t affect his career at all to lose to a nobody. Welcome to Cyph’s Dream World.
Anyone who beats Anderson Silva has to be considered legit. To even argue that is ridiculous.
Nice word play on your part. Where did I state that Anderson Silva is comparable to a prelim guy. I used your definition to define Anderson Silva as not a star because he ” wasn’t doing tons of TV interviews and selling tickets, PPVs, and t-shirts..”
I’m wise to your Jedi mind tricks, D Cap.
So, if, say, Colin Robinson beat BJ Penn, he’d be “legit”? Your standard is awful. Irvin is not respected. He is a journeyman. Silva is building his reputation as a middleweight and has none as a light heavyweight. If he loses, no one is going to furiously want to see Irvin. You can sit here and yell and scream to the contrary. It is nonsense. There is nothing that I can think of in the history of sports to support this claim.
Where did I state that Anderson Silva is comparable to a prelim guy. I used your definition to define Anderson Silva as not a star because he ” wasn’t doing tons of TV interviews and selling tickets, PPVs, and t-shirts..”
Silva is a legit headliner for the UFC, even if he’s not a megadraw. Irvin is not a legit headliner for anything above King Of The Cage.
Nice stretch of logic there. Colin Robinson = heavy weight. BJ Penn = light weight.
Irvin and Anderson is the same damn sized. Actually, Anderson is probably the bigger guy.
You win, D Cap. I can’t argue with you any more. Your logic exceeds my own.
Anderson is as tall as Irvin. “The bigger guy”? That is the most ridiculous claim I’ve ever heard. I guess he’s a bigger guy than Randy Couture or Fedor too.
As for BJ Penn being a lightweight, so what? He, like Silva, was a welterweight champion. He’s competed as high as 205. I mean, if Penn lost to Bisping, would that prove a significant amount about Bisping’s place in the elite class of fighters? Did Machida prove he was among the elite when he beat him?
Here’s a better question: How is it that you see Serra and Irvin as being equals as far as the public’s viewpoint goes while you alternately talk about how wonderful TUF was and what good work it did?