Anderson Silva vs.Yushin Okami set for UFC: Rio
Posted on April 13, 2011, 09:02 PM by Joey Santosus
It appears, win or lose in Toronto, Georges St. Pierre will not be next to face Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. Instead, "The Spider" will take on top contender Yushin Okami at UFC: Rio in August.
Following earlier reports from Tatame.com, UFC President Dana White confirmed the bout with USA Today on Wednesday.
Okami was expected to get his long awaited title shot after defeating Nate Marquardt in November. However, those plans were thought to be sidelined when he learned shortly thereafter that he may have to await the outcome of Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre's UFC 129 bout with Jake Shields. If victorious, UFC President Dana White had stated that St. Pierre, not Okami, would likely be next in line to face Silva.
Since the announcment however, "GSP" has insisted that he would need adequate time to properly put on the neccassary weight to accept the fight, which may have led to the promotion's decision to keep Silva active in the meantime.
This past February, Silva (28-4) extended his record for most consecutive title defenses to eight by knocking out Vitor Belfort in the opening round of their UFC 126 match-up. It was his fourteenth straight victory, thirteen of which have come under the UFC banner.
Okami (26-5), meanwhile, is the last fighter to claim a victory over "The Spider," after the Brazilian was disqualified due to illegal strikes during their 2006 match-up at Rumble on the Rock 8. In addition to his recent win over Marquardt, "Thunder" has amassed a record of 10-2 with the promotion, with victories over Alan Belcher, Evan Tanner, Mark Munoz, and others.
UFC: Rio is set to take place August 27th from the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event will mark the promotion's first trip back to Brazil since 1998. The Middleweight title bout between Silva and Okami will likely serve as headliner for the landmark fight card.
Photo: Anderson Silva before his fight with Forrest Griffin during UFC 101 at the Wachovia Center on August 8, 2009, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Francis Specker
Comments
Well I guess this confirms GSP vs. Silva won't be happening anytime soon....
Unless this fight was setup to allow George time to bulk up .... either way I'm not really too interested in watching Silva knock out Okami.
We knew it wasnt happening soon anyway, with the amount of time GSP said he would need to prepare for the weight gain.
@Spyridon
Wake up and smell the coffee GSP moving to MW was the idea of fans and mma media not Dana or GSP. They have pad lip service to the idea but this outcome does not surprise me one bit. GSP has a good thing going at MW and doesn't want to lose that. Silva is the same why do you think he hasn't moved up to LHW permanently or faced any top 5 LHW after he destroyed Forrest, the same thing was said about Silva moving up two years ago now and he still hasn't and never will. It's funny how Dana bashes boxing for it faults but at least in boxing fighters like GSP and Silva who have the potential to move up and conquer other divisions do so. The UFC don't like champions beating up other champions it ****s up their business model simple as that. Bj is the exception coz his fans are extremely loyal, but there are LOADS of GSP and Silva haters.
theres a big diffrence in moving up in weight in mma compared to boxing. theres a weight class like every 5lbs, in mma its at least 10lbs. for welterweights its 15 and for middleweights its 20.
your talking shit
Thats very pessimistic, some of the best in world can get caught in unexpected situations by fighters that are "underneath" them. We'll wait and see.
Nice, this is going to be a good fight, havent seen Okami fight that much so i dont know how this will turn out for sure
it will be a closer contest then its already being made out to be
he will probably get knocket out
This time for good.
Ya its a good match up but I think Okami matches up horribly with Silva....this time Silva will legally KO Okami
lol yeah, japanese are known for getting knocked out. Not trying to be racist here!
cool doesnt matter if he's shadow boxing i want to see silva fight early and often at this point the opponent doesnt matter of course anything can happen but the siper is soo far ahead of the majority of MMA fighters that watchin him fight now is all about "can silva top his last highlight reel finish??"
@Joo44
I'm with you on that, Silva has done things at the highest level other haven't done and most likely will never do. The only thing i've seen at a good level level at mma that surpasses Silva highlight reels is the Showtime kick other than that he's in a league of his own. It amazes the haters he has he should be cherished. People talk about Jones begin once in a life time talent Silva is too imo.
Its not as bad as Griffin vs Ortiz II and anyways the potential this card has is crazy, we mite see Big Nog, Lil Nog, Shogun, Alves, Belfort, Barboza etc all on this card
its not a bad event,
A.S all day every day
Good. I want see see AS fight again soon--he barely worked up a sweat with Belfort--so he is ready.
Even though no one give Okami a chance, Okami has earned his shot, and he is a decent wrestler--and is no fool--he saw the blueprint in the Sonnen fight.
AS will be fighting in his home--so it should be exciting to watch.
Yea.. but that blueprint won't help him when he eats Silva's elbow... if you think Silva will make the same mistakes as he did in the Sonnen fight, you're delusional..
Silva by TKO/KO within the first 2 min. of the first round.... (im puttin money on that)
I am not a big fan of okami but he did beat nate...and i cant wait to see this lets see what okami brings to the table...better yet Anderson!
wow he beat nate lol! silva KOed nate! beat sonnen who beat okami and he was workin over okami before the illegal kick. silva by ko/tko
Okami deserves this shot and he's a stronger opponent than most people think. He can do everything Sonnen did and more.
The thing about Okami is that he is a boring fighter....
I wouldn't be writing of Okami just yet. While he might not have been that impressive in his DQ 'win', it happened 5 years ago.
Silva was just beginning to peak, where as Okami was only 24. Now Okami is the one who is at his peak, in terms of age.
At 36, I think Silva is past his peak. His only dominant performances since 2008 were against Griffin and Belfort. I like Forest but he's a grinder, and I think we all now Belfort was stage managed by the UFC to look like a bigger threat than he really was.
Silva is a fighter who has relied on his quickness as much as technique. Once you hit your mid-30's, everyone slows down.
That doesn't mean the Spider will lose, but unless he changes his fighting style, his days as champion are numbered. I think he has one or two high level fights left, and then if he doesn't retire, someone will do it for him.
36 and past his peak??? U must be an MMA newby...
I only have 4 words for you: Randy Couture Dan Henderson
GSP shouldve sought out Thiago Silva or Sonnen..They coulda helped him put on some adequate weight, Ya DiGG?! lol
Great way to keep Anderson busy & allow GSP time to bulk up. I'm sure we'll be hearing plenty about how Okami is the last man to defeat Silva...
Its only fair to give Okami his title shot first. He will put up a better fight than Belfort gave Silva. This could be a coming out party for Okami to mainstream fans.
your right its time for you and okami to come out of the closet lol silva will add another victim to his highlight reel! in okami case he will be on there again lol
This is actually a good match and Silva has the honor of headlining in his homeland to do it. I think he'll be more than ready especially since it's the last "blemish" on his record. I hope to see another brand new Silva highlight reel. Who knows, maybe we'll get a KO via backflip kick or maybe he kicks a hole into Okami's chest or something :-D ..Good stuff
Now that Anderson is nearing the end of his career I just feel lucky every time I get to see him fight...
Okamis biggest weapon in this fight is his improving wrestling but i still dont think he will be able to take silva down or atleast keep him down. As for his stand up, it has improved since their last bout but its still no where near Silvas and I think Anderson will be able to man handle him like last time and eventually KO him
Okami needs to bring in some real big guns and lure a MR. Steven Seagal away from A.S. And Lyoto...
He needs chuck norris in his corner to counter steven seagal in andersons.... maybe make chuck vs steven the co-main event??
Anderson Silva meets his kryptonite, aka japanese guys
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okami only hit silva twice in the 1st fight! sorry okami your gonna be saying who turned out the lights!! lol sucks we got to wait till august to see silva fight again