(Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle)

It’s good to see some people have honor when it comes to competition. Too bad not everybody does. From Fighters Only:

Appearing on Brazil Combate TV yesterday, [Wanderlei] Silva said: “I’ve received a letter from someone offering training with Juanito [Ibarra] to me, but I didn’t care to accept it.

The letter “contained phone numbers that I could use to get in touch with Juanito, but I threw it away,” he added.

“I think it’s unethical to accept the former coach of my opponent, and if Juanito is doing this with Rampage, he may do the same with me later.”

It’s pretty despicable to think of Quinton Jackson‘s former coach selling secrets to the enemy, so to speak. (Not that Silva needs much help as far as game-planning for Jackson. Repeatedly kneeing him in the face has worked like a charm so far.) It’s particularly unfortunate because Jackson’s little meltdown last July was spurred by some perceived betrayal by Ibarra, and hearing that Ibarra wants to join up with his arch-nemesis can’t be good for Rampage’s psyche.

But hey, if Rampage is interested in the "formula" to beat Silva, Ibarra’s got that too…

In a new two-part interview with Fighthype, Juanito claims he has strategies for both fighters, and seems to be under the impression that Silva was seeking him out:

“I have the formula that can make Wanderlei Silva beat Rampage easy; easy! And I also have the formula where I think Rampage can beat Wanderlei Silva easy and I’ve always said that. I don’t care how many times Wanderlei beat Rampage and how he beat him, I just know this and I told people because they were telling me Wanderlei was asking for me. I ain’t believing nothing until I get the phone call from him. Otherwise, it’s just a big rumor to me."

Fair enough; could have just been a misunderstanding. Plus, Ibarra still seems to have some concern for his old protege:

If I was still with Page and there were some problems and we got over them, I would say…"Son, I think we should take another fight"…My concern for Rampage is him being Quinton Jackson. He has to go in there being sane enough, healthy enough, knowing where his money is at and making sure our team was all back in order; the smaller the better. And then I’d tell him, "It’s time to go after this guy." But with it not being that way, I just don’t feel like everything is there for him to beat a guy like Wanderlei Silva right now.  

We’d have to agree, extra help or not. But even if Ibarra has been rebuffed by Wanderlei Silva, it doesn’t mean he’ll stop approaching MMA stars and offering to help fix the holes in their game:

I left Chuck [Liddell] a message recently just to say, "Hey man, if you ever need some advice, give me a call." I’ve known his trainer for years [Ed. note: And I'm sure he appreciated that call] and I just wanted to tell him good luck and if he needs some tips, I know I can show him some things…

If I was some kind of influential guidance in his career, I would have him fighting at heavyweight. He’s 40 years old. He’s a heavyweight anyway because he drops weight; get in shape and fight at heavyweight. He has a big punch; use it and go for the heavyweight title. He keeps coming down in weight to these guys that are younger and faster and they have more tenacity now and a little more confidence going in to fight Chuck than they used to…

He’s gotta know what punches he starts with and ends with and why. He shouldn’t just be throwing punches and looking to knock a guy out. That’s why I think he should be fighting at heavyweight because it’s a different tempo.