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Anderson Silva has reached some uncharted territory, at least as far as his boss is concerned.
The typically reserved UFC middleweight champion, who has become known for doing a minimal amount of promotion for his title fights, on Monday opened up in a way he hasn't done before. On a media conference call for his UFC 148 title fight against Chael Sonnen, Silva eschewed his infamous one-word answers in favor of promises to his opponent that he'll leave their July 7 fight with broken limbs.
And that seemed to surprise even Dana White.
"I’ve promoted every Anderson Silva fight since he’s been in the UFC and I’ve never heard him talk even remotely closely like this," White said on the call. "He usually doesn’t say anything negative or disrespectful. I’ve never heard Anderson so over the top like this."
For months, Sonnen (27-11-1 MMA, 6-4 UFC) has been the one carrying the promotional burden of the rematch, which takes place next week at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Since his loss at UFC 117 to Silva (31-4 MMA, 14-0 UFC) – after dominating him the first four rounds – Sonnen has been more than outspoken about what will happen in the rematch.
But on Monday, it was, suddenly and surprisingly, Silva's turn.
"Chael Sonnen is going to get his ass kicked like he’s never gotten his ass kicked before," Silva said through interpreter and manager Ed Soares. "What I’m going to do inside the octagon is something that is going to change the image of the sport. I’m going to beat his ass like he’s never been beaten before. I’m going to make sure that every one of his teeth are broken, his arms are broken, his legs are broken. He’s going to not be able to walk out of the octagon by himself. I can guarantee that. And I know that he’s listening, so the game’s over. No more(expletive) talking. It’s on now."
Not long after, Silva disconnected from the call. And about the same time that was revealed by the operator, Sonnen was gone, too.
White believes the middleweight title fight has the potential to deliver the UFC's biggest results in three years, at least from a pay-per-view buys perspective. The historic UFC 100 card in July 2009, which like UFC 148 was preceded by a UFC Fan Expo, hit a reported 1.6 million buys, a company record. The first Silva-Sonnen fight, at UFC 117 in August 2010, did a buyrate reported at 600,000.
But White all but guaranteed UFC 148 will trump the first fight.
"There’s no doubt that we plan on doing over a million buys here, and yes, we expect UFC 100 numbers," White said.
White is banking on the nearly two years' worth of buzz behind the rematch, and he got some unexpected help from his champion on Monday. Even before Silva's sudden interest in hyping the fight, White believed the rematch was of epic proportions. And he reiterated that on the call.
"This isn’t one of the biggest sporting events of the summer – it’s one of the biggest sporting events of the year," White said. "Anderson Silva is a very big star, and this is a fight that people care about and want to see all over the world. Very few people would dispute, not only is he the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, but probably the best mixed martial artist ever."
When Silva dropped off the call, White told the media that, in essence, there's no point in asking the champ any further questions, and he'd have gotten little argument from anyone on the call.
"I don't think there's too much more Anderson Silva can say," White said. "I think he's been pretty clear how he feels and what he wants to do and what's going to happen."
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