There was another thread that touched on this, but I think it deserves it's own topic. This is from Frank Trigg on mmaweekly in regards to Silva's opponent for the Pride US Feb show.
"Let me tell you what, once I'm allowed to tell the answer, you guys are going to s*** yourselves," stated Trigg boldly. "It's going to be a great fight; it will be an epic battle. It will be worth the price of flying from the east coast to Las Vegas just to watch that one fight and go home."
Who would fit that criteria, and could actually happen? I'm thinking it might be Randy. Randy has stated in the past that he would love to fight Silva, and I could see Dana letting that happen, if Couture is still under UFC contract.
Think about it, if Couture loses, it doesn't hurt the ufc's image since Chuck has already ko'd him twice. But if Couture were to win, the UFC could point to this fight as evidence that Pride fighters are inferior. The more I think about, the more I think there's a legitimate chance we might finally see Silva-Couture.
Although Silva-Nogueira wouldn't be too bad either, but I don't think that fight being announced would shock anybody.
Could also be Tito, Chuck, Fedor...and about 5 other guys...I would be VERY SUPRISED if it were Randy, given how involved he is with the UFC, and how pissed the UFC seems to be with PRIDE.
I don't see it being Chuck or Tito for a couple of reasons. Both of those guys are active fighters under UFC contract, and they're both fighting on 12/30. The way Trigg was talking it sounds like they've already got somebody lined up. I doubt either of those guys have signed on for their next fight yet.
I guessed it would be Couture too. I see no reason why this wouldn't happen. Been expecting it ever since Randy retired and PRIDE expressed serious interest in the US market.
"I doubt you could just retire and then come back without any contractual obligations. If so, then Dana screwed up the contract."
That's actually what Ray Mercer did to get out of his contract. He wanted to do a K-1 fight with Remy Bonjansky(which turned out to be a really bad move, but that's another story), so he "retired" from boxing to get out of his promotional contract. He was actually scheduled for a boxing match and that was how he got out of it.
"It is not a great move for Pride. Randy lost to Chuck convincingly, twice. If he beats Silva, what do they say?"
True, but that would be a huge draw for Pride. Even the most casual mma fan knows who Randy is and if Pride would be able to have him on their card, it would give them instant credibility and marketability in the US.
On a side note, I think that's a tough fight for Silva under Pride's US rules. It would be much better for Silva to have that fight take place in Japan under full Pride rules. Of course that would diffuse the whole marketing thing with Couture in Vegas, so what can you do.
I wouldnt walk a block to see tyson vs anybody, especially Silva. Why waste Silva's time? I have 10th row FLOOR seats so I'll be gettin a pretty fuckin good view of the action and I hope it aint Tyson. Couture or Liddell would be fucking insane but doubt it. Better chance of Silva vs Caol Uno...(yep it was a joke) F.P.
