Thiago Silva pulls out of UFC 131; Rashad Evans steps in (update)
Posted on February 9, 2011, 12:02 PM by Daniel CassidyIn breaking news, UFC Light Heavyweight Thiago Silva has pulled out of his UFC 130 bout with Rampage Jackson, with Rashad Evans set to step in. While no details are available yet of Silva's injury, it is believed to be serious enough that it will prevent him from competing in his scheduled bout with Rampage, which was originally set for May 28th in Las Vegas.
Rashad Evans recently slipped out of title contention with a small injury that will prevent him from facing Lightheavyweight Champion Shogun Rua on March 19th, believed to be caused in training. "Suga" stepped aside rather than have the fight postponed, allowing Team Jackson team mate Jon Jones to step into place. With a rematch with Rampage not until May 28th, it gives Evans plenty of time to recover from his injury.
Evans currently only has one defeat on his record, a knockout loss to Lyoto Machida. Interestingly, his opponent, Rampage Jackson, was last seen at UFC 123, taking a spli decision win over Machida.
Both fighters last met in what was Rashad's most recent UFC fight, back at UFC 114. Evans had chose to sit out and wait for the title shot he earned with the win over Jackson, which ultimately backfired on him. An official is expected in the coming days.
Source: MMA WEEKLY
UPDATE:
Interesting, things aren't as straight forward as they at first appeared, when approached by TATAME, Thiago Silva claimed to know nothing about any injury:
"Injured? Me? I’m very healthy and looking forward to fighting Rampage. That’s not true."
Head of American Top Team, Conan Silveira, aslo added:
"Nobody called us about anything, the fight is on"
Fighters Only later contacted the Wolfslair Gym, who also knew nothing of the switch. When asked via twitter, Rashad Evans manager, Malki Kawi, said no fight had been offered to his client against Rampage Jackson. The magazine later confirmed that following the release of UFC 125 drug test results, all but one of the drug tests had come back clean, with one still under investigation. This lead to speculation that Silva may have possibly failed a drug test, however nothing has been made official yet, and as a result, remains just speculation for now.
According to MMA JUNKIE now, several sources have confirmed to them that talks on a possible rematch between Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans are now at the preliminary stages.
Stay tuned to this one folks, there will no doubt be more to follow!
Comments
Didn't see that one coming, finally an injury pull out I enjoy to hear.
I am excited for a rematch too as Rampage seemed a different animal vs Lyoto than when he fought Rashad after his layoff. Now we will see who is actually better. If Rashad wins he gets lots of respect and if Rampage wins we will know if he's back.
it's an interesting move for rashad. having recently beaten rampage, he doesn't have much to gain.
I guess that just goes to show you that they really do hate each other!
Sucks for Thiago...he keeps getting injured, that kind of stuff is holding his career back....as for Rampage/Evans II good match up should be exciting and we'll get some great trash talking again and Rampage won't hve ring rust this time but I still rather see Rampage/Griffin II
@EVILWAYS
Your happy wow.I'm not thiago and rampage would have been an exciting kick boxing match.rampage v evans 2 won't be
lol ...! oh suga! stop it !
Yeah I wanna see Griffin fight too. I think he is always the underrated fighter but is very good at pulling the Randy scenarios.
no way!!! has to be fake!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3ALwKeSEYs&feature=related
Usually, when two fighters talk trash&stuff; like "im gona rip his head off" I ignore it. But in TUF 10, Evans & Rampage spoke so much s**t about each other and how they gona KO each other. So when the fight started, and Evans just layed & prayed on Rampage, I kinda lost all respect towards Evans.
I mean that winning is important if you want to stay on the top of your weightclass, but if you you are going to lay on someone for 15 minutes, then dont say that "I would KO you here & I put my hands down"-kind of stuff.
What about the very beginning of the fight?
With that said, after that it was mostly Rashad out-wrestling him, but to be honest that's mostly Rampages fault. Rampage has quite a bit of size on Rashad, and (used to) be known for his wrestling.
Rampage had a late training camp, came in bad shape, did not have the cardio he typically does, and did not have a game plan based around Rashads strongest aspect. Noone to blame but himself.
What Rampage needs to do is revert to more than just a 1-dimensional fighter. All he does now is come at you with punches. The wrestling is gone - we havent seen a throw from him since he has been in the UFC, and he no longer uses his wrestling. He has taken a step backwards from his Pride days. He needs to bring it back!
My happiest moment during a Rampage match in the last 3 years was in the Machida fight when he actually was going to attempt a slam. Felt like I was watching the Rampage of old. I hope a switch flipped when that happened and he continues to use that aspect of his arsenal.
Are you sure the wrestling is gone? Rampage did take Machida down- something that has proven damn near impossible for all his other opponents, including Rashad. As far as his gameplan, you can't blame the guy for wanting to use his best weapon, but he would definitely benefit from throwing more knees and attempting more takedowns like he did in Pride. Lets be honest, he never really used kicks.
I agree though that with the exception of his fight with Wanderlei, Rampage has not been the same agressive fighter he was in Pride.
I think is all bull. And let me explain;
SF has come out with a great HW tournament that has everyone looking at them, and UFC HW gets injured and sidelined so they bring back Brock Lesnar to coach TUF against JDS, then Rashad gets injured and loses his tittle shot against Rua and they give the shot to Jones which could be a more exciting fight that Rashad vs Rua, then Thiago Silva gets injured and get sidelined and Rashad steps in to fight Rampage for a rematch, right after he said that they were slaping each other at a club in las Vegas, and all this happened after the "fight of the centurty" did not lived up to the hype...
This bullshit but do not get me wrong this exactly why SF is needed, UFC is finally understanding that they need to put on more exciting fights, remember that they are trying to get Silva vs GSP to happen this year...
so why would they make rashad vs rampage to make a more exciting fight? did you see their last one? it was mainly rashad pinning rampage against the side of the cage for 3 rounds.
silva on the other hand is a great striker who would probably be able to keep the fight on the feet with his improving wrestling, and he'd have good enough submission skills to threaten with if rampage did take him down. that would have been a much more exciting fight and I'm really disappointed it isn't happening now..
They are going to keep bringing the grudge match and all that crap, there is no bab blood between Silva and Rampage but it is a different story with Suga vs page, I guarantee you this one will sell more...
thanks for the update. fingers crossed for the fight to go ahead.
part 2 of evans and rampage should be interesting.. wat happened to thiago sliva?
sleepy, apparently it has to do with a failed drug screening from UFC 125. not sure yet though..... Silva was tested at 125 and its still under ''investigation'' ..... but still, cant say for sure yet though.
I was really looking forward to this fight. Damn it. But seeing a rematch between evans and rampage isn't too bad either. It would be nice to see rashad finish rampage. that maybe would gain him respect that he kind of doesn't get right now. But to be honest i would rather see rampage win, seeing him in in a title fight once again would be really cool.
Brasilian reporters talked to Thiago Silva after this rumor came out and he said that he is healthy and that he can't wait to fight Rampage.
Am puzzled as to what idiot weaked you for that bit of information.
eehhh.....I'm not too excited about this one. I see Rashad doing the same thing he did the in the first fight. He doesn't wanna strike wit rampage so he's gonna use his speed to press him against the cage and take him down for 3 rounds. But who knows, maybe someone will get knocked out. ...damn it Thiago! i wanted to see a brawl between two great strikers!!
if jon jones does win the title then rashad is pointless at 205 cause if he beats rampage then what.
yea conflicting reports, I think mmaweekly got this one wrong
Evans vs Miller?? You kidding me? I mean, Dan Miller is great fighter who comes in there to fight. But when Evans comes in to fight and not just lay&pray;, they are two completely different fighters. You cant compare them.
Apparently whats going on is T. Silva might fail a drug test or something from UFC 125 and the UFC has asked Evans to be his replacement if Silva gets suspended.
This is exciting but it's going to turn into Lesnar/Mir because they are having a rematch too soon. Same with Edgar/Maynard, all of these guys are staying in the top 10
I'd have rather seen Rampage get the fight with Shogun, would have been an epic rematch and Jones fight Rashad.
Last time they fought, Rampage was coming off a long layoff. This time Rashad will be coming off an injury AND the longest layoff of his career. While Rashad won a clear although not exactly dominant decision, It was Rampage who came closest to finishing the fight in the third round.
I'm sure Rashad will get a takedown or two in this fight, and he may win a round or two. However, I think Rampage's boxing skills and power will give him opportunity to finish Rashad just like they did in the first fight. Only this time, Rampage will be the sharper fighter and Rashad will be the one battling ring rust. Rampage wins by 2nd round KTFO and I do mean KTFO.
Hopefully there's more action this time.
I was at the MGM for UFC 114, that fight did have it's moments but overall dissapointing.
Fcuk, I really see Thiago as a contender at 205, excellent Muay Thai, great ground game, and an amazing team behind him. Injuries just seem to eat at him though :/ Rashad and Rampage 2 will be pretty buck though.
LOL after reading around, Media is just twisting sh*t
someone ask dana white if there fighting cause now im confused
this better just be a bunch of bullshi*
im really looking forward to seeing thiago fight again
HMMM I smell conspiracy! The UFC would make a lot more dough with a Evans v Rampage II match than the SIlva match-up.
Damn! Update sucked. I would love to see the rematch.
Rampage Jackson vs Matt Hamill