The last time we saw Anderson Silva’s manager Ed Soares, he was telling Inside MMA — with a straight face! — that Michael Bisping would be a good option for Silva’s next middleweight title defense. After all, it’s Soares’s job to help his client get big fights that the fans want to see. (His response when Bas Rutten suggested that Anderson fight UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones: “AhhhhhhIdunno.”)

So now that Bisping has fallen short in yet another “win this one and you get a title shot” match, Soares finally has to accept the reality that Chris Weidman is the most worthy contender to Silva’s crown, right? Right? RIGHT? Well, if you believe that, then you simply don’t know the enigma that is Ed Soares. He’s got another Plan B in mind, and it’s about as left-field as matchmaking gets. Here’s what he told CageFanatic in an interview last week, as transcribed by MMAMania:

“(Silva’s next fight) is still up in the air man, we don’t know who that is. Unfortunately Bisping lost which was a big thing but I’m not too sure. I’m not too sure who could be next…we want to fight someone who has a little bit of a name, someone that has as big of a name as possible and that’s on a winning record or a winning run right now. Right now it seems like most of the guys with names have had losses very recently. So, when I think about it, like the only thing that comes to mind and I don’t even know if that would be a possible fight is, you know, like Cung Le is coming off of three wins or something like that [Ed. note: Yeah, or something like that.] where he’s got a little bit of a name, but I mean it’s really hard in that division because it’s so evenly matched all the opponents on any given day one of those guys can beat each other, so you know, once again whoever the UFC decided we’re in…

(Props: AXS TV Fights)

It’s time to admit to ourselves, once and for all, that Anderson Silva isn’t the kind of champion we’d like him to be. After thoroughly conquering the middleweight division, fans assumed that the logical next step for the Greatest UFC Fighter of All Time would be to take more competitive matches against the elite in the light-heavyweight division. Of course, that’s not happening. Silva clearly has an agenda in the final stage of his career, and it doesn’t involve fighting non-superstars, or 205-pound phenoms who actually have a chance of beating him.

As Silva’s manager Ed Soares reiterates in this clip from Inside MMA, Anderson wants to fight UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre next, at a suggested catchweight of 177.5. And after that…well…Michael Bisping, maybe? The idea that Anderson Silva would fight Jon Jones is immediately dismissed by Soares, and the name Chris Weidman — remember him? the UFC’s actual #1 middleweight contender? — isn’t even mentioned.

(“How to Kill Zombies with Daron Cruickshank” sneak peek, via TheFightNerd. It’s like The Walking Dead, only, y’know, not like that at all.)

- A Guide to Playing a Complex Blame Game in the Wake of UFC 151′s Cancellation (MMAJunkie)

- Ellenberger vs. Hieron Moved To UFC On FX 5 Co-Main Slot (HeavyMMA)

- Jon Jones Installed As Massive Favorite in UFC 152 Opening Line vs. Vitor Belfort (MMAFighting)

- The Jon Jones Photoshop Gallery of Hate (TitoCouture)

- Ed Soares Clears Air On Lyoto Machida’s Decision For Turning Down Jon Jones Fight (Fightline)

- “Yes, those gashes are from elbows. Tough way to make a living, this MMA.” (Facebook.com/CagePotato)

- MMA: Inside the Cage #108 – “Armbars and Polish Stars” (MMA: Inside the Cage)

- 20 Disney Girls Who Got Hot (MadeMan)

- The Hilariously Depressing Theme Songs of Classic TV Sitcoms (EgoTV)

- Why Stressed-Out Men Are Attracted to Overweight Women (MensFitness)

- Kate Upton in Italian GQ (TurdFergusonBlog)

- Girls With Two Big Things Going for Them [Photos] (WorldWideInterweb)

Defense exhibit I: You can clearly see Feijao’s teammate slipping him something behind his back. Don’t waste your time, Feijao, it’s been tried before. (Photo: MMAJunkie.com)

If Dana White has been hexed with an “Injury Curse“, surely someone has placed a “Banned Substance Pox” on poor Scott Coker. After losing two stars in Cyborg Santos and Muhammed Lawal to failed drug tests earlier this year, he’ll now likely have to soldier on without the services of former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante.

As first tweeted by Gabriel Montoya and reported by MMAFighting.com [thanks for doing the heavy lifting, guys], the California State Athletic Commission has suspended ‘Feijao’ for one year and fined him $2,500 after testing positive for a banned substance following his quick destruction of Mike Kyle last month at “Strikeforce: Barnett vs Cormier”. ‘Feijao’ stunned Kyle with a big knee in the opening moments of the bout then swarmed him with ground and pound before pulling guard, sinking in a guillotine choke, and drawing the tap—all in a cool 33 seconds.

CSAC’s George Dodd has yet to reveal which banned substance Cavalcante was popped for, but his manager, Ed Soares, isn’t buying it…

(“Do you need a manager?”)

Anderson Silva wants Ed Soares to take his name out of his mouth — at least when talking to reporters about the career decisions of his marquee client.

Silva took exception to Soares’ recent interview with GLOBO recently during which he explained that Silva will likely retire after competing four more times in the Octagon. The usually jovial Brazilian fighter refuted Soares’ assertion and hinted that he may split with his longtime manager as a result his insolence.

“Not true. As one of my coaches, I still have many bottles to sell. I think we keep fighting for another six, seven years. Four years ago, I was a little stressed,” Silva explained in an interview with GLOBO this week. “I decided with my teacher Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira that after another year I would stop. He said he had no reason to, and then I stopped to think, I had one more fight, and then said, ‘I will postpone my retirement for some time.”

(Lindland, weaseling his way out of a fight with the Grim Reaper)

UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen may believe he can talk his way into another battle with Anderson Silva, but he has no illusions that he’s already secured the rematch. While “The American Gangster” continues to call out the champion as often as possible, fellow Team Quest member Matt Lindland is piling the pressure on Silva.

Black House manager Ed Soares has made it clear in recent interviews that Chael has already had his shot at the belt and that it would be a shame to squander any of Anderson’s few remaining bouts. According to “The Law”, not only is Sonnen the number one contender, but it may take a contractual mandate to force Silva into that fight.

(“How’s taste my pee pee?”)

It looks like Anderson Silva has had just about enough of Chael Sonnen’s pro-wrestling schtick.

UFC president Dana White mentioned during the post-fight presser that the UFC middleweight champ took umbrage with Sonnen’s recent comments about kicking in Silva’s back door, slapping his wife on the ass and telling her to go cook him a steak.

“Those guys really don’t like each other,” White said. “I don’t know if Chael really hates Anderson, but Anderson – I don’t know if any of you saw his face when [Chael beat Brian Stann], but he wasn’t doing the whole joking around thing. He was pissed. He’s really upset bout the smack-his-wife-on-the-butt thing.”

(El Cigano manages to make Roy Nelson even uglier than usual at UFC 117. Props: 5 oz.)

Only a few months before his scheduled title fight against Cain Velasquez, UFC heavyweight contender Junior Dos Santos has made a drastic change in his supporting cast, parting ways with longtime manager Ed Soares. JDS confirmed the development yesterday on Twitter, announcing that he’s now being represented by the Guedes Group.

In an interview with Tatame after the news broke, Soares says he was saddened by Dos Santos’s departure, but harbors no ill will against his former star client. Some highlights…

Dos Santos has announced you are no longer his manager. Is it true?
It’s all fine, he made his choice and it’ll be the best for his career. There was not much talking, that was it. He’s the captain of his own boat, we’re just there to help him guide it the right way. We’ve done a great job, bringing him to the place he is now in a little over two years, but it’s a matter of opinion. He wants to go a different way. If that’s how he feels, God bless him on his journey.

Did he tell you why?

("On our way in here, we totally walked under a ladder. Anybody got an umbrella? Pop that shit open." PicProps: Us.)

In other sports, they have rules about this kind of thing. In baseball, dude has a perfect game going, you’re not allowed to go anywhere near him in the dugout, let alone fuck around and say some dumb shit like, “Hey, Nolan! I sure hope you can close out this perfect game!” In football, whenever you hear a play-by-play announcer say something about how a kicker hasn’t missed a field goal all year, well, you pretty much know what’s coming next, right? In MMA these rules seemingly don’t apply, as manager Ed Soares made a recent appearance on MMA Weekly radio and spoke with an apparent disregard for Anderson Silva’s current 12-fight win-streak in the Octagon, and 13 consecutive victories overall.

“In a perfect world, I’d like to see Anderson retire going undefeated in the UFC,” Soares said. “If I could have my perfect world, that’s what I would love to see.”

Well shit, Ed, you unbelievable jinx, you.  If Silva goes out and immediately drops the strap to Vitor Belfort next month, I guess we know who to blame …

(Belfort has no problem with Brazilian on Brazilian crime.)

During an interview with Tatame earlier this month, number one UFC middleweight contender Vitor Belfort was asked to respond to recent remarks made by Wanderlei Silva that Anderson Silva is going to, "beat the hell out of ‘The Phenom’" and let’s just say he wasn’t overly impressed.

"I don’t think anything, he’s a spectator and he can think whatever he wants to. If you have a mouth, you can say whatever you want and Wanderlei has a big mouth. But it’s about cheering, everyone can cheer for their favorite, and the important is to be respectful and know how to choose the right words," Belfort said. "In February I’ll have my chance for the belt and let’s see how it’ll be."

(Video courtesy MMAWeekly)

When UFC president Dana White confirmed that Vitor Belfort would be stepping in to face Anderson Silva next while Chael Sonnen tries to talk himself out of a one-year suspension for testing positive for steroids, one piece of info that he left out was when we can expect the fight to go down.

Silva’s manager, Ed Soares revealed in an interview with MMAWeekly yesterday that Anderson is still experiencing pain in the rib he injured in his four-and-a-half round war with Chael Sonnen at UFC 117 and he may not be ready in time for UFC 125 on January 1 so the fight may have to wait until February 5.

"His rib is stil very tender. They’re very sore. That’s what I’m talking to him about. It’s still a bit sore, but it’s healing up. It’s still not 100 percent. He needs to be training at least 10 weeks with his ribs not being hurt. It’s still tender and it really hurts [him] to throw knees and stuff like that," Soares explained. "I think at this point, we don’t know what date it’s going to be. It’s definitely going to be some time next year. We just don’t know if it’s going to be January first or SuperBowl weekend."

(Cain Velasquez‘s new Lugz commercial. Yeah, he smashed that. Props: YouTube.com/MMAFightClub)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

– Punch Drunk Preview: WEC 50 (Heavy.com/MMA)

- Cro Cop Says He’s Not Ready for UFC 119 but Still Guarantees a First Round Knockout (MiddleEasy)

– Backstage: Ariel Helwani vs. Ed Soares (MMA Fighting)

– Total Fighter Payroll for Strikeforce Challengers Phoenix: $53,250 (MMA Convert)

– 10 Taekwondo Knockouts That Will Blow Your Mind (MMA Scraps)

– Shane Carwin still silent on steroid connection; media as well (Watch Kalib Run)

– Pettis: ‘Roller Doesn’t Want Any Part of My Stand-up’ at WEC 50 (Versus MMA Beat)

– Chael Sonnen Syndrome: Urijah Faber trash-talking his way to the WEC Bantamweight Title shot? (LowKick)

- Rafael Cavalcante: “I have been working hard for not just this fight, but for my dream, every day for six years.” (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Strikeforce Houston: Noons & Gurgel on Standing and Banging for a Title Shot (FIGHT! Magazine)

(Video courtesy YouTube/MMAScraps)

Ed Soares, the manager of a large contingent of the UFC’s Brazilian roster including Lyoto Machida, Anderson Silva, Junior Dos Santos and the Nogueira brothers, was on MMA Scraps radio last week and was asked about Vitor Belfort calling him a clown for mistranslating his fighters interviews.  

Although he didn’t address the actual issue of him allegedly misrepresenting what his clients say on the mic in this clip, (he admits doing it in another portion of the interview) Soares did say that he has spoken to Belfort and has since "squashed" any beef they had.

(Video courtesy YouTube/MMAPrime)

When Chael Sonnen came within an arm’s length of tasting victory against Anderson Silva Saturday night and instead got a mouthful of Anderson Silva’s sweaty cup and his arm nearly torn off for the effort, Vitor Belfort’s chances of getting the next shot at "The Spider" may have gone out the window.

Had Anderson dominated Chael or vice versa, the need for Belfort to challenge either man would never have been greater.

But since Sonnen shone a light on weaknesses in Silva that we had never seen exposed before in the dominant champ and Anderson revealed after the fight that he wasn’t firing on all cylinders due to a nagging rib injury, many fans are now clamoring for a second glimpse at these two fighters in the Octagon. Now it’s looking like if it does come to fruition, the fight may not happen until next spring.

So where does that leave Belfort?

(Photo courtesy of allelbows)

After pulling off his miracle win against Chael Sonnen at UFC 117, Anderson Silva mentioned to Joe Rogan that he had hurt his ribs coming into the fight. Could that have played a factor in the extended beating that he endured before snatching that Hail Mary triangle-choke submission? Silva’s manager Ed Soares shared details to FightHype (via BloodyElbow):

"It was really close because the doctors didn’t want him to fight. He hurt his rib last Friday in sparring. He hurt it, but he didn’t think it was hurt that bad and then Sunday morning, I had about 13 missed calls in a matter of 25 minutes. They were all from Anderson and he was calling me to tell me he was in pain. He couldn’t breathe. I took him to the hospital and they X-Rayed each rib and they noticed that it was a bit swollen, but there was no fracture. They said it was bruised ribs, but the way he reacted when they touched it and how tender they were, they said it was in the muscle as well as the bruise. I’m not a doctor, but this is just what they told us. They prescribed some Ibuprofen 800 for him because it was so close to the fight, they couldn’t do any Vicodin.

("No no you backed me in a corner so just shut up and listen / I’ve got a long list of complaints and a shit-ton of suspicions.") 

Y’know, if this fighting thing doesn’t work out, Chael Sonnen could have a future in humiliating his enemies through long-winded online essays. (There’s money in that, right?) The UFC’s #1 middleweight contender used FightMagazine.com as a venue for an "open letter to fans" published yesterday, in which he discussed his infamous interview with hapless journalist Jon Lane, and called out Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, who recently claimed that Anderson Silva will beat Sonnen like a child. But Sonnen saved most of his bile for Ed Soares, criticizing the prominent manager for not being able to control his star client. Read on for another unvarnished glimpse into the possibly-deranged mind of the UFC’s greatest anti-hero…

*****

“Hi, everybody! Remember me? Your ol’ buddy Chael? Y’know I spend most of my time fightin’, which doesn’t leave much time for writin’, but things being what they are, I’ve decided to take a moment or two, and fire up the ol’ Olivetti typewriter, put in a fresh ribbon, and share some of my recent thoughts with you….

Firstly, I’ve gotten a significant amount of feedback regarding my “correspondence” with MMA…..”Journalist” Jon Lane…So….To any and all members of the media: I’m always happy to talk and share my time and ideas with you. And I appreciate your efforts in contacting me, and instead of ‘circling the wagons’ around a “fellow journalist”, for applauding my efforts to….FIX things. Do me a favor, guys. Don’t be so hard on JonJon. He’ll get it. Bring him along, help him out here & there. I kinda like him. And Jon…..No hard feelings. Really. If you re-read our correspondence in the cold, hard, light of day, you’ll see I was trying to….HELP you.

I never expected you to be Umberto Eco; but those questions… guy! I mean COME ON. So buck up, little soldier. If you fall off, just get right back on – even if it’s only a keyboard you’re getting on.

And Lil’ Nog…..I read your appraisal of the upcoming fight betwixt your pal Anderson and yours truly and, I’ll be damned, you are one sharp dude…. about as sharp as a bag of wet mice.

(Video courtesy YouTube/MMAFighting)

I’m not sure if Anderson Silva is using Billy Madison as a benchmark for what Americans act like, but I half expected the UFC middleweight champ to wet his pants during this strange interview with MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani. 

I get that he’s trying to be funny, but I can’t picture any other world class athletes clowning around like ritalin-starved six year olds with ADD during an interview. Ariel seemed a bit thrown off by Anderson’s weird behavior, but was able to keep his composure. He did seemed really uncomfortable dancing with Silva at the end of the video, but then again, who wouldn’t be?

Personally, I’d like to see this guy interview Anderson.

(Video courtesy YouTube/MMAFighting.com)

Somebody needs to explain to Ed Soares how a bet works. Unless you’re Pete Rose, you never make a wager that favors the other team.

MMAFighting.com reporter Ariel Helwani challenged the MMA manager today drink a cup of his own urine if his fighter, Lyoto Machida, retains his belt Saturday night in Montreal against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, which begs the question: Who is the winner in this bet?

The unsatisfying post-fight explanation has become something of a tradition for UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva. After putting on performances that are either bizarre, boring, or both, he inevitably ends up at the press conference after the event, trying to explain through his manager/translator, Ed Soares, why he just forced us to sit through another fight that featured only occasional bursts of offense among extended periods of posturing and playing.

After a decision win over Demian Maia at UFC 112 that saw Silva essentially stop fighting altogether in the final two rounds, the story went that he was trying to punish Maia for his “disrespect.” In the lunchtime video interview above, Soares repeats that claim, insisting that Maia “talked a lot of crap before the fight, and said a lot of things personally about Anderson.” Because of such an unprecedented show of disrespect – who ever heard of talking trash about an opponent before a fight, after all? – Silva got emotional and “wanted to make him pay.”

Here’s where we could ask why making Maia pay didn’t include any sustained attempts to knock him out at any point during the fight. We could also ask how spending the final two rounds running in circles was supposed to make Maia suffer. But we won’t. Instead we’ll ask, how exactly did Maia disrespect Silva before the fight?

Anderson Silva is a tough nut to crack. We know he doesn’t want to fight friends, and we know he doesn’t want to fight guys he’s already beaten, and we know he doesn’t want to fight guys who got middleweight title shots in the UFC without ever competing in the UFC at that weight class. New #1 contender Chael Sonnen doesn’t fit into any of those categories, so you’d think there wouldn’t be a problem. But as Silva’s manager Ed Soares has proven, you can find an excuse to duck pretty much anybody:

(Doing the bird dance. Feeling the flow. Working it. Photo courtesy of LasVegasSun.)

Don’t know about y’all, but Anderson Silva‘s flawless victory over Forrest Griffin at UFC 101 made the prospect of a second fight with Dan Henderson even less interesting to me; if the Spider’s competitive days are truly numbered, I’d much rather see him rumble with guys like Quinton Jackson, Tito Ortiz, and yes, even Lyoto Machida, rather than sit through sequels to old fights. Luckily, it seems that Silva feels the same way (except for the Machida part). According to this Yahoo! Sports article, Silva’s manager Ed Soares approached UFC president Dana White after Saturday’s event and suggested that Silva vacate his middleweight title and move to light-heavyweight permanently. White was very receptive to the idea, saying:

(A brief glimpse of an offense. Photo courtesy of SI.com’s UFC 97 gallery.)

Since Anderson Silva doesn’t seem terribly interested in defending his UFC 97 performance against critics, and because his lack of English skills makes that difficult anyway, his manager, Ed Soares, has been doing it for him.  Soares said in a recent interview that he didn’t think Silva’s fight with Leites was “a bad fight,” and even partially blamed the UFC for putting a “one-dimensional” fighter against the champ.  He also made the case for Silva’s dominance by pointing out the lack of damage he took in the fight:

"After watching the fight on TV, I thought [Silva] fought a good fight. He didn’t finish him, but I thought he fought a good fight. Technically, I really didn’t see anything wrong with the way he fought. Who goes in there and fights five rounds with somebody and doesn’t even have a mark on his face? Not too many people can do that."

[…]

"I don’t know. People have to look at it that way instead of always thinking that Anderson is going to go in there and knock people out or submit them really quick. It just doesn’t happen sometimes."

Soares is right.  It is unrealistic to think that even Silva is going to finish everyone in spectacular fashion, especially if he’s facing an opponent who doesn’t want to engage with him.  But that’s only part of the problem. 

(‘Let my people go!’)

EliteXC fighters have apparently had enough of waiting around to see what becomes of their contracts, and are now threatening to get tough.  MMA Payout reports that many of the fighters have joined forces with the Mixed Martial Arts Fighters’ Association to bring a formal complaint against the organization for holding them in limbo all this time.  EliteXC is said to have been given a week to respond before the fighters file their complaint in court.

Some high-profile agents, such as Ken Pavia and Ed Soares, are thought to be involved with filing the complaint, just as they were in banding together to stop the auction of the remaining fighter contracts.

Let’s hope the outcome is that EliteXC finally admits the jig is up and lets everyone get on with their lives.  But if that was acceptable to them you’d have to wonder why they haven’t done it already.  At least the clock is ticking now, so we should at least be moving in the direction of some sort of resolution.

(A chubby Filho tries to muster the interest to block a jab. Photo courtesy of WEC.tv)

True to their word, Paulo Filho’s camp will be sending Chael Sonnen the WEC middleweight title belt that he wants so badly, according to Josh Gross. Sonnen didn’t officially win the championship, what with Filho not making weight, and he may not have looked dazzling in his decision victory but he still clearly deserves the strap more than Filho. Ed Soares, Filho’s manager, said he’d be shipping Sonnen the belt “as soon as he could.”

What’s perhaps more interesting is Soares’ description of Filho after the bizarre fight. Apparently, he didn’t even seem to realize what had happened, which is sort of odd for a guy who made it all the way through three rounds:

Having returned to his locker room after refusing to engage for 15 minutes, Filho (16-1), told several times he’d lost, reacted as if he was unaware the fight had even reached its conclusion, Soares said.

Soon, Filho drew attention from doctors when the dilation of his pupils didn’t match. Later that evening, however, the 30-year-old grappler was released from a local hospital, his eyes functioning as close to normal as they’d done all night.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get weirder. The confusion on Filho’s part might help explain his performance, though. If he was unaware the fight had ended, perhaps he was also unaware it had ever started. Wait until he sees the tape of the fight. Boy, is his face going to be unemployed. I mean red.

(‘You dance very good, little woman. You are negative for the STD’s, yes?’)

Poor Anderson Silva. The UFC middleweight champ just can’t find enough playmates in the UFC middleweight neighborhood. Yes, there’s that nice Patrick Cote boy, but then what? Silva is basically being forced to go door to door and ask, in broken English, if there are any middleweights or light heavyweights who can come out and play. Next up could very well be Chuck Liddell, according to Silva’s manager, Ed Soares:

“I think he wants to fight those big mega fights because that’s the kind of fight we want to be involved with right now,” he said about Silva’s future fights. “I think it’s a combination of seeing what the potential opponent is and also seeing what the UFC wants to do. At the end of the day, this is a business, and they need to sell fights. They need to sell a lot of pay-per-views, and they need to sell tickets. So, we want to be involved with those types of fights.”

“We’re not looking past Patrick Cote, but I think we’ll take one step at a time and see what happens. But yeah, if a Chuck Liddell fight came up, we’d take it,” stated Soares. “Whoever the UFC wants to put in front of us, he wants to fight the best, and whoever that may be at the time, that’s who he wants to fight.”

The very idea of a Silva-Liddell superfight is probably enough to give Dana White an erection, and for good reason. The pay-per-view numbers on this would likely be record-breaking, and no matter how it goes someone gets a big boost. Liddell, however, is probably a little less enthusiastic.

For one, he recently made known his belief that a victory over Rashad Evans should be enough to net him a title shot. Chances are he didn’t mean the middleweight title. For another, beating the champ from a lower weight class is sort of like being the toughest kid in eighth grade after being held back a year. There’s always a ‘but’ attached to that victory.

Silva has more to gain from this fight than Liddell does, but if there’s one thing we know about “The Iceman” it’s that he’ll do the UFC’s bidding, whatever it happens to be. He’ll also probably make a ton of money to do it, and everyone can go home fat and happy if this fight materializes on a pay-per-view at year’s end.

…so said Silva’s manager Ed Soares, when asked by ProMMARadio about a potential Georges St. Pierre/Anderson Silva superfight:

“That sounds great, I think GSP is an incredible fighter. But I think GSP needs to prove himself. He still hasn’t had a successful title defense (at 170 lbs.). I don’t really feel that he deserves (a Silva fight) yet. Go defend your title a few times and then we’ll talk.”

The thing is, St. Pierre has proven himself many times over to be an elite-level fighter, and Soares is veering uncomfortably close to Juanito Ibarra territory, wild statement-wise. But what makes his dismissal of GSP particularly ironic is that Spider’s next fight is likely going to be against Patrick Cote, who doesn’t deserve to be in the same room as Silva or GSP. With Yushin Okami suffering a broken hand, Cote is really and truly next in line for a title shot; that little shitshow could happen at UFC 88 (September 6th, Atlanta).

A relatively one-dimensional striker, Cote doesn’t bring any more to the table than James Irvin did, and their bout will almost certainly be another brief exhibition for Silva. The silver lining is that with this belt-defense obligation out of the way quickly, Silva will be free to “test the waters” at light-heavyweight again — and he does plan on fighting at least one more time before the end of the year.

Sort of related: “UFC Silva vs. Irvin” was a ratings smash. The broadcast averaged 3.1 million viewers, peaked at 3.8 million viewers, and according to SpikeTV, beat all basic cable and broadcast networks in that timeslot for the “males 18-49″ and “males/females 18-34″ demographics.

(Anderson working the hands.)

By CagePotato Guest Contributor Ben Fowlkes

Roy Jones Jr. refuses to let go of the idea of a boxing match with Anderson Silva. Ed Soares, Silva’s manager, says that he spoke with Jones personally on Easter Sunday and Jones expressed serious interest in the fight.

“He told me that he thought that this was a good fight and he wanted to make it happen,” said Soares. “I restated the situation we’re in, that at this moment we have a contract with the UFC, an MMA fight contract, but if there’s a way to make this happen we would love to.”

Now that it’s clear both Silva and Jones want the fight, there’s just one question: What does the UFC think? Turns out, they’re not so crazy about it. Not yet, anyway.

“We’ve spoken about it,” Soares said. “At first, I think there was a lot of resistance. They don’t seem too into it, to be honest with you. We’ve heard from certain people that there’s just no way that this can happen. But never say never, you know.”

Recently the jokesters over at Bodog went ahead and handicapped the bout, despite the fact that it’s only talk at this point, and they pegged Jones as a heavy favorite with a -2800 line. Silva is going off at +1400, which is understandable since he’s never had a real pro boxing match and Jones, you know, has had a few.

Soares, who may well be biased, warns us against underestimating Silva.

By CagePotato Guest Contributor Ben Fowlkes

Ed Soares never stops. For the MMA manager and owner of Sinister Brand clothing, there’s really no such thing as spare time.

It’s the day before Easter when we finally catch up with him. He’s driving down to San Diego to sign an endorsement deal with Bad Boy clothing for Lyoto Machida, one of many in his stable of high-profile Brazilian fighters. With a client list that includes Anderson Silva, both Nogueira brothers, and WEC champ Paulo Filho, it’s easy to see why Soares might not be getting much rest these days.

In this exclusive interview, Soares talks to us about riding the highs and lows along with his fighters, the many jobs a manager does, and what it means to be the go-to guy for Brazilian mixed martial artists in the U.S. and abroad.

CagePotato: Ed, tell us a little about all the different things you do. How are you spending your time these days?
Ed Soares: The responsibility that consumes ninety percent of my time is my fighter management business. We manage some of the best athletes in the world — Anderson Silva, Antonio Rodrigo (and) Rogerio Nogueira, Rafael Feijao, Lyoto Machida, Paulo Filho. We’ve got a lot of up-and-coming talents, too. Most of my time is spent handling their business, from endorsement deals to scheduling media events. I’ve had to hire an assistant to help me, and it still takes up most of my time. I also own Sinister Brand Clothing, but about eight months ago I hired a president to run my company, so I don’t handle too much of the day-to-day stuff. My two partners take care of that. And I have a partner in my management company who lives in Brazil. He takes care of everything in Brazil and I take care of everything up here in Los Angeles.

It seems like you’ve created a niche for yourself, managing so many of the top Brazilian fighters. How did you get started doing this?
Well, I’m Brazilian. Both my mom and my dad are Brazilian, and I’m actually the only one in my family who was born here in California. Before I started managing MMA fighters I started out as a nightclub promoter, and I also worked with and managed hip-hop groups. There’s actually a lot of similarities between managing a music group and a fighter, because at the end of the day they’re both entertainment. You want to create a following for your band or your fighter and you have to fill seats and sell pay-per-views.

I’ve always been interested in pro fighting and MMA, but the way I actually got into it was by producing a TV show called Passing The Guard with Jorge Guinarias, who’s a TV celebrity in Brazil — kind of like what Larry Merchant is to boxing here, he is to MMA in Brazil. When we started that in April 2004 it was basically the only MMA-related show on free television, even before The Ultimate Fighter. We did the show through December 31st of ’06, and through that we started building a good rapport with the fight organizations, simply because we were giving them exposure for free. And of course, we’ve always had a good relationship with the fighters, because that’s who we were interviewing. With my background in management, it was just a natural evolution for us to start representing fighters.