UFC chief Dana White nixed a potential boxing match between the superstar MMA-er and the past-his-prime boxer, refusing to allow Silva to risk himself in a boxing ring while he is under contract with the UFC. According to Jones, White had said that he didn’t want Silva and the UFC embarrassed if Jones were to knock out the UFC’s star attraction.

But recently, Jones said that he is willing to turn it around and meet Silva in the Octagon, and fight him under UFC rules. How would White respond to that, and is there a chance it could happen?

White’s response: None chance.

According to CBS Sports, via BloodyElbow.com, White confirmed that the offer was presented to him and that he passed on it.

“You won’t see a Silva versus Jones fight while Silva is under contract with me,” White said Tuesday. “I don’t want to say anything bad about Roy Jones, I like Roy Jones and was a fan of his, but he mattered like fifteen years ago. He’s not anywhere near the best boxer in the world. He must’ve spent all his money.”

…..

“I could do it, make it huge, make money, but I could have done a fight like this when we were bleeding money (in the early 2000s),” White said. “The fight would make some money, but it hurts MMA in the long term. We don’t do that because we love the sport. That’s a Pride or K-1 matchup. It’s not what we do.”

In White’s defense, he’s right. It would be a novelty match that would not be good for the overall image of the UFC.

But on the other hand, it may be what the fans, his fans, want to see.

In the never-ending boxing vs. MMA debate, it always seems to be that the MMA fans are the loudest and proudest. Boxing fans tend to stick to the “boxers will win at boxing, MMA guys will win at MMA” argument, but many MMA fans (from my experience) seem to want to have a chance for the MMA world to prove its dominance over boxing.

I subscribe to the theory that the fighter fighting in his professional discipline has a nearly insurmountable advantage in any mixed action fight. But of the two, I give a boxer a better chance in the Octagon than a mixed martial artist in the ring. The simple reason being that most MMA fighters have limited boxing skills and nothing else to fall back on in the ring, while boxers are experts at at least one discipline in MMA. Roy Jones stands a better chance at landing one great punch in the Octagon then Silva does at either winning a decision or beating Jones at his own game in the ring.

To me, White’s argument hasn’t changed. A Roy Jones win over Silva in the Octagon would cripple the UFC. A Silva win does nothing but land the company some great promotion. It’s a bad fight for White to accept.

I personally would love to see it for the sport of it. But White can make whatever decisions he wants. He’s managed the UFC pretty well so far, and if he doesn’t want to risk its reputation, I can respect that.

What I don’t get, and the argument that many are ignoring in this scenario is this: The UFC was created to measure different combat disciplines against each other. To answer the age-old questions of what is better. Karate or wrestling? Jiu-jitsu or taekwondo? Why can’t boxing be a competitor in the game?

Perhaps it’s as simple as the fact that the UFC has evolved. It is no longer a battle of martial arts, but a sport of one thing: mixed martial arts. No one seems to really be one discipline anymore, but a combination of many of them. If things were how they were back in the day, there would be a legitimate complaint from a boxer being excluded.

In Dana White’s UFC, however, it is no longer a battle of several combat arts. It is a league of mixed martial artists, and apparently boxing isn’t enough of a martial art to get a seat at the table.

I would love to see it happen, but the UFC of today is not what it was years ago. Roy Jones vs. Anderson Silva would make for great debate and a great event, but right now, White clearly isn’t ready to risk his empire on one fight.

Chuck Liddell was knocked out — again — and this time for good. His BFF Dana White won’t let him back in the Octagon, and rightfully do. Liddell is done as a fighter. Hell, he was done three fights ago, but there was too much money to let him walk away then. Now, he has no choice and the face of MMA in the United States has left the stage for good, even if he wobbled away from the stage on shaky legs.

Anderson Silva has now bored the shit out of UFC viewers in consecutive fights. He may be the pound-for-pound king, but UFC and MMA fans aren’t watching for the titles or dominance, they are watching for the action and blood. In back-to-back fights, Silva has offered nothing but sleep inducing dancing — this time enough of it to get the wrath of Dana White sent in his direction.

Said Dana White, as quoted by Yahoo! Sports’ Cagewriter:

“After being in this business for almost 10 years now, I’ve never been embarrassed of a UFC fight like I was in the main event tonight.”

White was clueless in trying to explain what is going through Silva’s mind:

“I’m trying to wrap brain around this thing and figure this out, I just cannot.”

White said it got so bad in the middle of the fight he wanted to be anywhere but cageside in the midst of 21,000 angry fans”

“I was seriously sitting in my seat going, ‘No, no this is not happening again.’ I swear to god I wanted to leave tonight.”

The UFC is changing. Sure, the frat boy fans may not notice it because they are too busy trying to get someone to bite on their “boxing is dead” argument, but make no mistake about it — the UFC is in trouble.

Not only do you have a guy like Dana White running the show (a man I wouldn’t let run my Burger King, much less a billion dollar industry), but the action in the ring is suffering. I know that White played a big part in building the UFC into what it is, but that doesn’t mean that he should get lifetime immunity from any actions he takes. As long as he is in charge, the UFC will not progress from where it is. For a while, people put up with it in exchange for action and quality fights. Now what?

Out of 12 fights in UFC 97, seven of them were decisions. This is not the action that their demographic wants. I don’t doubt that the serious and hardcore MMA fans enjoyed the show. But what the UFC can’t afford to lose is the casual fan. Cards like this will drive casual fans away. Minimal action and a terrible main event will make people hesitant to fork over $44.95 the next time it comes around.

There is no excuse for putting on a main event like the one in UFC 97. And I don’t blame the UFC or White for making the fight. I blame the two fighters in the ring that would not engage. Thales Leites made no effort to strike Silva, and Silva made no effort to finish a fighter that he should have been able to finish.

UFC 97 will be seen as a colossal failure, no matter what the PPV numbers say. White was right to apologize, but more will need to be done to please the casual fan. Nobody is going to want to watch Silva as a headliner again anytime soon, and now there is no face of the franchise (Liddell) to fall back on for some PPV buys.

The next two or three UFC events will show a lot about White’s ability to deal with adversity in his sport. Let’s see how he handles it.

In the 53 seconds that White allotted to his most recent video blog to the apology, White apologized only to the gay community, apparently for using the word “faggot” to describe an anonymous source.

He later went on to tell Mary Buckheit of ESPN.com’s Page 2 that he was sorry for offending the gay community, but he absolutely meant to attack Hunt.

“I absolutely meant to attack Loretta Hunt and her story and that Web site,” White told Buckheit. “There are times when I will go after people on purpose.”

I’m sorry, but the media treatment of this rant is as bad as the rant itself. Here you have the CEO of a multi-million dollar company calling a reporter of his product a “fucking bitch,” and “fucking retarded,” along with calling the anonymous sources she used a “fucking faggot.” What part of that makes you believe that the choice of using “faggot” and “retarded” is the bad part.

I’ve been around sports for a long time and I’ve been around people for a long time. I’ve heard the words “faggot” and “retarded” on thousands of occasions. Those are poor choices of words. But in the bigger scheme of things, the story here is that the CEO of a major company was calling a reporter of his company a “fucking bitch.”

In no other business and in no other sport can a “businessman” like White go on the record with this kind of attack and get this kind of soft-handed treatment.

ESPN should be ashamed of themselves for only covering the gay angle of this story, and not the White vs. Hunt angle. And ESPN.com has a partnership with Sherdog.com! You would think that they would support their colleague. Instead, they gave White a free pass for acting like an asshole, simply because he has a solid track record of being an asshole.

Here’s the video of his apology.

Clearly, this apology was only made because he felt he had to. There is no sincerity — none more than the typical “I love gay people…one of my best friends is a gay,” type of canned responses. I don’t doubt that White is not a homophobic or anti-gay. I don’t think that using the word “faggot” in the way he used it is anti-gay. It’s a word that many of us grew up hearing and/or using in completely non-sexuality type ways. That is not my problem with the video.

The problem I had with the original video and with the subsequent apology video is that White handled the original article and his thoughts about it (and Hunt) completely unprofessionally. That is not the way the sports/sports media relationship is supposed to be.

For a guy that has been desperate for years for the coverage/approval of the mainstream sports media, this was no way to get some national attention. And then when the story blew up, he should have, like it or not, apologized to Hunt for his unprofessional behavior. He can stand by his version of the story all he wants, but his treatment of her was uncalled for and she deserves an apology.

I enjoy the sport of mixed martial arts, but I can’t fathom how anyone in their right mind would willingly do business with this guy.

No one in sports runs their business so unprofessionally, and instead of counting all the money that the UFC is losing because of this guy, everyone insists on repeating the same talking points (lies) that White uses to show how he reinvented mixed martial arts and is a genius.

Here’s the summary of the story:

A writer for sherdog.com writes a story that includes anonymous sources about how the UFC is cracking down on issuing credentials to managers and agents. The point of the article isn’t about how these managers and agents need the access for personal pleasure, its about the UFC’s different reasons that different parties are getting and the potential power-play that White and the UFC may be making.

According to the unnamed quotes in the article, there is a belief that White and the UFC are trying to drive a wedge between fighters and their representation, in an effort to possibly get into that aspect of the business themselves down the line. The entire article was speculation, and the UFC passed on an opportunity to comment before it went to print.

In comes Dana White. In his YouTube video blog, White unleashed an expletive-laced tirade against the writer of the article, Loretta Hunt.

Here’s a sample, with transcription via Deadspin:

“fucking retarded story … you fucking moron … fucking dumb … you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about … shut the fuck up … whoever gave you that quote is a pussy and a fucking faggot and a fucking liar … maybe you’re the liar … everything that comes out of your mouth is fucking stupid … You fucking dumb bitch. Fuck you, Loretta Hunt.”

Watch the video for yourself and tell me this guy is not a full-fledged asshole. Yeah, this isn’t safe for work if you didn’t figure that out yet.

That is all class. Really, who else do you want running your business than this guy? I know he was in charge while the UFC went from bankruptcy to billions, but there comes a time when a guy no longer deserves to be in charge. The time is now for this guy. I know that being an asshole is something he’s probably proud of, but there is no way that he is not personally costing the sport money. If I were an advertiser or investor, I wouldn’t want my logo behind him and I wouldn’t want him handling any business decisions that affect my investment. I know I’m not alone in thinking that.

Now White is planning on apologizing, also via YouTube — but not to Hunt. He will apologize for his remarks that may have hurt the gay community. I got news for you: calling a nameless source a “faggot,” is not as bad as calling a woman a “fucking bitch” by name. White needs to apologize to Hunt first and foremost. What he did was completely unprofessional, and his refusal to allow his sport to be properly covered is a big mistake.

Even the good folks at BloodyElbow.com are sick of this act, and when White loses UFC fans and blogs, he’s lost the UFC. Why he is allowed to get away with acting like this is beyond me. I’ve covered sports long enough to know that if he were in any other sport, he’d be out of a job right now.

Compare this rant with John Rocker’s comments that effectively ended his career and see which one is worse. White is an asshole loser who has no business being in the position he is in. If it weren’t for the Fertitta brothers, he’d still be an aerobics instructor somewhere.

White thinks he can get away with anything because he knows he has a legion of mindless fans that will buy anything he sells, but he forgets that without sponsors, his sport is done. He always acts like he is in a bubble and can do anything, and one of the reasons is that the mainstream sports media doesn’t cover UFC, so his gaffes can just slip away.

Now that the mainstream media is on this, White could be in for a very long week. This may not end well for him, and if it doesn’t, I, and many others, won’t lose a wink of sleep.

You always wanted mainstream coverage, Dana. Well, enjoy it while you still have a job.

Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

By all accounts, the MMA side of the card is bad at best. From a boxing perspective, the card is equally bad. But overall, the card is intriguing. Nobody seems to think that there is a good matchup in either sport on the entire card, but the card is the first of its kind, and how the production goes may be far more important than the quality of the fights.

In the main event, Jones takes on Omar Sheika, a fighter with a solid, but by no means great career. The card will also feature B.J. Flores and a bunch of other boxers that most people haven’t heard of.

On the MMA side, well I’ll let Jake Rossen of Sherdog.com (via ESPN.com) fill you in:

For their part, MMA fans are being courted into purchasing the show based on two fights that defy comprehension: Jeff Monson versus Roy Nelson and WWE expatriate Bobby Lashley versus Jason (brother of Clay) Guida, a late replacement for Ken Shamrock. (Contrary to expectations, I suspect this won’t be the end of Shamrock. He refuses to take hints, cosmic or otherwise, to retire and remains “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” only to himself.)

Lashley, who might actually possess the lean muscle mass of both Guida brothers put together, is being courted as a hot prospect in the sport. Jason Guida has been around the block a few times, knows a few tricks and might be able to pull one out. As fights go, it’s all right. As main events go, it’s best paid for with Monopoly money.

So why make the event?

It’s simple enough really. If this card can show any success, either in ticket sales, pay-per-view sales, fan enthusiasm or critical review, then there is something to build upon.

For years, Jones has refused to partake in the ridiculous boxing vs. MMA argument, and has consistently offered support and respect for his colleagues in the mixed martial arts world. He is not trying to resurrect boxing and he’s not trying to defeat MMA. He’s simply taking a shot at having a business model to work off of after boxing.

Jones famously got close to sharing a ring with Anderson Silva last year in a boxing match, before UFC top-dog Dana White put the kibosh on it. Jones has always spoken highly of MMA and seems to truly want to enter a business partnership with the sport, but despite Silva’s desire, Jones will never fight him or any other UFC fighter.

If this event can please the folks down in Pensacola this weekend, or at least break even financially, expect to see this happen more.

The problem is, what boxing promoters are going to want to let their guys share a stage with MMA fighters, and what MMA league is going to allow their sport to not even have top billing at an event. For these reasons, barring some type of partnership with a major organization, Jones’ Square Ring company will only be able to put on average to below average cards.

But the bigger picture is beyond Jones. The bigger picture is the potential for a major event down the road, if this model can prove successful. Let’s face it — if this card has any success, then a card with real matches and real draws could be huge.

Don’t expect Dana White and the UFC to share a card anytime soon — why would they want to — but there is potential for some of the smaller, struggling organizations to mix shows.

Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions has a partnership with Affliction and is beginning to dabble in MMA. Count on Golden Boy’s eyes to be firmly fixed to Pensacola Saturday night, taking notes of what works and what doesn’t. With the Golden Boy stable and Affliction’s MMA name recognition, they could potentially put a massive crossover card on at some point in the future.

Jones’ respect for MMA has allowed him to make this card happen, but at the same time, he may put to rest once and for all the notion of boxing fans and MMA fans uniting. Mature and knowledgeable fans of both sports understand that they are different and only minimally in competition with each other. Getting them to coexist on the same stage is a much bigger issue.

You might not care about a single fight on this card, but I assure you — it’s one of the most important fight cards of the year.

***

Originally published at BoxingInformer.com

Sometimes the talk is just better than the fight. This is the closest I’ve seen Rampage to being sane in quite some time, and for my money, he wins the smack-talking showdown.

Summary:

“I would like my belt back.”

“I’ll fight you for it, but I think I’m going to knock you out.”

“I disagree with that hypothesis.”

“I’m so confident in my abilities that I’ll give you the first punch.”

“Thank you, but I’d rather not win that way.”

At that point, they shook hands before Rampage grabbed Joe Rogan’s microphone and got a bit fired up, yelling “there’s going to be some black-on-black crime. Seacrest, out.”

I think that sums up most of the conversation (I might be paraphrasing a bit), but go ahead and watch it for yourself.

Here’s what happened.

Thiago catches Koscheck with a perfect uppercut, putting Koscheck on queer street. He’s practically unconscious as he falls like a sack of bricks, before regaining some of his wits as he hits the ground. By the time he bounces off the canvas and the referee approaches, he’s got some focus in his eyes and his arms are up to attempt to defend himself?

To quote 1980’s NFL commercials — “you make the call!”

The debate is, do you stop the fight, seeing that Koscheck was pretty much knocked out with one clean punch, stepping in for his own safety. Or do you give it a few seconds to see if A) he can defend himself, or B) Thiago finishes him off?

In boxing, it would be a clean knockdown, and it was in no way the kind of knockdown that would trigger an immediate stoppage. But in MMA, there is no standing eight count, and the next blow to a defenseless fighter could be very dangerous.

Exactly where is the line here?

Jordan Breen from Sherdog.com chimed in first, giving us the money quote of: “It may sound ridiculous, but a couple of perfunctory hammerfists aren’t about to jeopardize any fighter’s health.”

I’m sorry, but that’s exactly what a few extra defenseless blows to the head do. If MMA is going to have to fight the unfair reputation that it has of being along the lines of “human cockfighting,” then the supporters of the sport need to come up with more intelligent arguments than this.

“Kid Nate” over at BloodyElbow.com goes on to indirectly support this statement by saying, “A fighter might briefly lose consciousness but be able to regroup in a split-second. There’s too much on the line to stop fights every time a fighter is stunned by a blow.”

Luckily, Brent Brookhouse came in to save the day at Bloody Elbow. He responds to Breen’s “hammerfists” quote by dropping a bit of science:

Replays of the Josh Koscheck fight show that he was unconscious following the uppercut and was “brought to” by his head bouncing off the ground as he landed. As far as I’m concerned there is no arguing the fact that he was out prior to hitting the ground. Even as he is “recovering” while on his back his left leg is slightly quivering as his brain is trying to get back on track.

The quivering leg (and more importantly the fact that he went out completely to begin with) is a sign of the failure in neurotransmission that is a part of being knocked out and concussed. When you are knocked out or concussed your brain undergoes trauma which does include the failure of your brain to be able to transmit messages and your brain does not immediately go back to full function in that split second that you regain consciousness. Furthermore, after undergoing such trauma the victim can undergo changes in blood flow to the brain which can result in increased pressure on the brain. Striking the head of someone who is undergoing an increase of pressure on the brain can result in considerable brain damage and potentially even death.

Reading between the big words, he is pointing out the scientific facts that come in to play here. Taking a human and knocking them unconscious puts them in a very vulnerable state, even after they “appear” to regain consciousness and their brain starts working again.

Simply put, a few “perfunctory hammerfists” are absolutely putting a fighter’s health in jeopardy. To say otherwise is idiotic and is a crystal clear example of why MMA has the reputation that it has.

It’s not that the sport is barbarous and disgusting, it’s far from it. It’s that the fans of it (some of them, at least) want it to be. The fact that people are going out of their way to say that these fights may have been stopped prematurely is an indirect way of saying that they want more blood and carnage, and these damn safety rules are getting in the way.

What makes MMA safer than boxing is the lack of blows to the head of a fighter that has already had enough. Boxers stand to suffer greater head injuries because of the prolonged punishment they take with bigger gloves. Mixed Martial Arts is extremely safe, comparatively, because of the smaller gloves which lead to quicker, more decisive knockouts. Attempting to prolong the beatings that a beaten fighter takes is just asking for serious injuries.

I’ll admit, when I watched the Thiago-Koscheck fight live, I thought the stoppage was premature. But I would never in a million years try to make the argument that a few extra blows to finish him off would be acceptable, and not a risk to Koscheck’s health. My argument would have been simply, give him one second to see if he looked as if he could defend himself. If Thiago jumped on him and Koscheck looked to be in further danger, stop the fight. It would have been clear in about one second. More than likely, Koscheck would not have recovered and survived the impending beating that he would have taken on the ground. But on the other hand, I thought it was a very quick decision. At the end of the day, I have to yield to the referee, who had a much better view. Watching it live, I could not see Koscheck’s eyes as he fell. Standing next to him, the ref could. Upon watching the replays, I think the ref made the right call. That is why he was standing where he was, and I’m watching from home.

It is a legitimate debate, one that has good arguments on both sides. Unfortunately, the first wave of “too soon” arguments are not good ones. The “perfunctory hammerfists” line is the perfect example of what I don’t like about MMA (MMA fans, at least). This is a combat competition, where each fight should be decided when a winner has made himself clear — not when a loser has been beaten to the viewer’s delight.

Arguments like this make you believe that it is just a matter of time before the UFC and MMA learn the hard way that you are better to err on the side of safety than to watch a fighter get beaten to death.

The truth is, as we all know, that neither is going anywhere, and realistically, there is no real competition. Sure, they overlap a demographic, but they are different sports, and the majority of fans realize and appreciate that.

But tonight is an example of boxing dropping the ball in the battle for undecided watchers.

Kelly Pavlik and Miguel Cotto co-headline a split-location pay-per-view from Ohio and New York. They are both fighting bums and should put on a nice, gory display. That’s just what boxing needs to be getting to the masses in this day and age.

Meanwhile, UFC 95 from London (Spoiler Warning: Results) is airing on a tape-delay on Spike TV. For free. It’s one of the worst cards they’ll put together all year, and it’s going to be a huge success. Why? They put it at the right price for their fans. Simple as that.

Boxing could not have had a better chance in the head-to-head battle, but they missed it. My guess is that boxing promoters continue to underestimate the drawing power of mixed martial arts, while they drastically overestimate the loyalty of boxing fans.

Trust me, this PPV will be a bomb. UFC will be a relative success, even if it’s a tape-delay. Dana White and his crew will flaunt their average ratings, because they will certainly draw a larger number than the boxing.

But the point is that boxing had a golden opportunity here. They have two bona fide stars, both in fights that they should win by vicious knockout, and nobody is going to see it. This is the kind of card that could win over the undecided viewers that just want to see some blood, but aren’t necessarily drawn to the wrestling that has overtaken the UFC.

But alas, boxing dropped the ball again. At the end of the day, the boxing PPV will be considered a failure, while UFC 95 will be considered a massive success.

And you wonder why people have the perceptions that they do?

Enzo Maccarinelli, one of the world’s top cruiserweights, has said he is interested in fighting British UFC star Michael Bisping and is confident he can knock him out.

Enzo met with UFC head-asshole Dana White last week to discuss the move, but it appears as if the UFC will pass on the move, saying that Enzo lacks the well-rounded skills that you need to survive in the Octagon.

According to UFC UK president Marshall Zelaznik, there was some talk about casting Enzo on The Ultimate Fighter.

Using typically flawed logic that often comes from UFC suits BBC Sport reported the following:

However, Zelaznik said Maccarinelli did not possess the “well-rounded skills to be successful in MMA”, let alone the tools to beat seasoned mixed martial artist Bisping.

Zelaznik said: “Enzo’s boxing career speaks for itself – he is very impressive. We were all surprised to learn that Enzo also trained between boxing bouts in both kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which are two of the many skills vital for any well-rounded MMA fighter.

“[But] with no wrestling experience and only keep-fit type training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Thai boxing, he would not have the skills that would allow him to succeed in MMA.

“As boxing fans, we would love to one day see Enzo competing in our great sport. But Enzo would really need to focus a lot of energy on the nuances of the MMA ground and striking game before we would ever see that image realised.

“If you understand the sport of MMA, you understand that any boxer, no matter how good, would not be able to effectively compete in the Octagon. It would be like a world-class sprinter entering the decathlon.

I don’t doubt that a boxer would struggle in MMA, but it’s not likely to be as drastic as they are making it sound. How often do you watch MMA and see a fighter that is trained in one aspect of the sport, then rounds out his skills with minimal training in the other disciplines. That is why some fighters are better on their feet, and others better on the ground. To discount the ability of a true world-class boxer is as insulting to boxing as it is to all of the great MMA fighters that also lean heavily on one discipline.

If put in the ring right now, Enzo would instantly become the best striker in the UFC. He may struggle on the ground, but his immense striking skills should not be discounted.

This is not the first we’ve heard of a boxing/UFC crossover. Welterweight boxer Kermit Cintron, who was an All-American wrestler, challenged Sean Sherk after Sherk called out Mayweather, only to have Sherk and Dana White say no thanks. Then, Anderson Silva wanted to fight Roy Jones in a boxing match, only to once again have Dana White put the kibosh on it.

Fighters fight, and I have no doubt that many MMAers would love to fight Enzo, win or lose. But White is so overprotective of his brand that he is not willing to risk what he would consider humiliation if a boxer beat a world-class mixed martial artist.

Of course, he couldn’t be happier that a professional wrestler with one dominant discipline came in and won the heavyweight title. Go figure.

Fans want to see interesting fights, not the same old retreads. Ninety-nine percent of UFC fans would prefer to see Bisping vs. Maccarinelli over Liddell vs. anyone. Trust me on that.

I don’t know if Enzo could hold his own or not, but wouldn’t it be great if we could make this happen someday? I think it will eventually, but never on Dana White’s watch. Once he is gone, then the UFC can prosper once again. Until then, I guess we should just get used to paying to watch the same guys mix it up a couple of times a year.

Silva may be the best mixed-martial arts fighter in the world. He’s certainly the best in the UFC. We’ll never get to see him fight Fedor Emelianenko, who is the man many feel is the pound-for-pound king of the MMA world. I’d love to see him fight Roy Jones, only because he wants to and it would make him financially set for life, but Dana White wants no part of it.

Speaking of White, he still doesn’t know when to shut up, as he gloats his way through the demise of ProElite and EliteXC. White doesn’t know it, but there will come a day when no one wants to do business with him because he’s an asshole, and that will be the end of the UFC. He can’t do it by himself, and he’s losing big name fighters faster than he can bring them in. The day the UFC is Dana White-free is the day the UFC can continue to grow again.

Anyway, here is a collection of previews of UFC 90:

Sherdog.com:

“Calling Silva a peerless striker at this point is about as revelatory a proclamation as standing up in a room full of your closest friends and shouting “I ENJOY YOUR COMPANY GREATLY!” Granted, Cote is known for having hands that rival the density of Bill O’Reilly’s head, but Silva’s chin is stout like Guinness and it’s never so much as shown a crack.

Of course, we’ve seen Cote play it conservative before — most recently against Ricardo Almeida. But the clinch is obviously Silva’s domain, and heading to the mat would be counterproductive for Cote, who hasn’t shown much in the way of jiu-jitsu save for pure defense. Contrast that with Silva, who has shown a flair for the spectacular on the ground in bouts with Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt. Best to call a spade a spade and say that Silva has all his bases covered against Cote.”

The Big Lead:

“Silva will take on Patrick “The Predator” Cote tomorrow night. Cote himself has won 5 straight fights dating back to the beginning of 2007. He’s a man on a roll, yet we just seem to be counting down the minutes until he’s knocked out. Good luck, Patrick. You’ll need it.”

Sportsnet.ca:

“If Cote can take Silva down to the ground, keep his arms and neck out of danger, he can eat away precious seconds by controlling the champ with some ground ‘n’ pound. By doing so, he may be able to win the majority of rounds, but if he chooses to engage with the Brazilian, I do not like his chances. I see Silva winning this fight, but look for Cote to take him for a scary ride prior to being announced the victor.”

MMAFighting.com:

“Here’s the question: Where is Patrick Cote safe? On the ground, he’ll have to worry about submissions. On his feet, well, Anderson Silva is staring back at him. In the end, as tough as Cote is, he just doesn’t appear to be a good match up for his Brazilian adversary.

Anderson Silva wins via second round TKO.”

Also, BloodyElbow.com, variety of entertaining picks.