(Maia’s ever-improving boxing has made him a more dangerous fighter.)

One of mixed martial arts’ best jiu-jitsu players, Demian Maia’s stock rose immensely when the then-undefeated Brazilian fighter quickly subbed Chael Sonnen at UFC 95. Since then he has only lost twice, and although he may not get a chance to avenge his 21-scond KO loss to Nate Marquardt since “The Great” announced recently that he will be dropping down to welterweight, there isn’t a day that goes by that Maia doesn’t think about a second meeting with UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva.

The next rung up the title contention ladder for the 32-year-old, who has steadily improved his stand-up skills for each fight, is a June 11 meeting with scrappy former Division I wrestling champion Mark Muñoz at UFC 131 in Vancouver. We caught up with Maia yesterday and spoke with the humble middleweight about a number of topics, including his upcoming bout with “The Filipino Wrecking Machine,” his title aspirations and whether or not he would fight a friend if push came to shove.

Check out what Demian had to say after the jump.

(Belcher, seen here prior to getting that giant picture of Carl Perkins tattooed on his left arm. Pic: TigerMuayThai.com)

If Alan Belcher manages to return from the detached retina that nearly ended his career last year and can recapture anything close to the 4-1 form he showed during his five most recent fights in the Octagon, it’ll be one of 2011’s true feel good stories. Belcher has always struck us as one of the sport’s more likable characters, so when he tells Sherdog this week that he’s interested in returning to the UFC as soon as September, that’s great news. Only thing is, we wish Belcher would show just a touch more originality in deciding who he wants to fight in his comeback bout. Pretty much the usual suspects here:

“(Michael) Bisping is an asshole who disrespects the sport and his opponent,” Belcher tells the Dog. “A fight between me and Michael Bisping is something everybody wants except for Michael Bisping. It would be amazing to sign that fight and have him come to my backyard. He always gets to fight in Britain and other places, but it’d be good to see him come down to Louisiana. I’d love for that to be my comeback fight.”

Yep. Bisping. The ol’ standby. And in case you’re wondering, Belcher wouldn’t turn down a fight with Wanderlei Silva, either, though he sounds a little more reasonable about Silva’s standing in the division than some of the other dudes who’ve called out “The Axe Murderer” recently …

(“Thank you Jesus for letting me punch people asleep. bro.”)

Tatame.com recently caught up with Vitor Belfort to talk to him about what’s coming down the pipe and the UFC middleweight touched on a few interesting topics including the fact that an agreed upon match-up with Wanderlei Silva fell through for unknown reasons and his desire to make it on the UFC Rio card.

According to “The Phenom,” who says he has recovered from his UFC 127 loss to Anderson Silva and is in a “good state of mind,” in spite of UFC president Dana White’s recent assertion that “The Axe Murderer” accepted the bout, he says Silva decided that a fight with Chris Leben would be an easier test for himself.

(“I’m sorry, Chael’s not here right now. I’m his protector personality, Buck the beer-swilling Vietnam vet. Pic: ProMMANow)

Admit it, you missed this crazy son of a bitch. Fresh from his sentencing in federal court in Oregon last week and a few days further removed from what sounded like a contentious initial meeting with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Chael Sonnen made his first extended public appearance in recent memory on Monday on the MMA Hour over at MMA Fighting. Sonnen’s nearly 40-minute discussion with Ariel Helwani centered mostly on his continued efforts to reapply for a license to fight in Las Vegas, but also touched on many things UFC.

Listing back and forth between his two dominant personalities — sober, straight-talking manly-man and over-the-top middleweight contender — Sonnen admitted his main focus hasn’t been on fighting these last few months, but said he hopes to return to the Octagon sooner than later. The more human side of Sonnen admitted he still needs to “clear the air” with NSAC before moving forward with his athletic career, while his batshit crazy side couldn’t resist simultaneously tossing a few verbal barbs at most of the rest of the UFC roster. It’s not a mystery which quotes we’ll hit you with first after the jump …

(Wandy’s been waiting for this moment ever since his son told him he wants to be the Cat Smasher when he grows up.)

UFC.com confirmed last night that middleweight veterans Wanderlei Silva and Chris Leben will be meeting at UFC 132 (July 2nd, Las Vegas). It’s a matchup that’s been a year in the making. Following his upset submission victory over Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 116 last July, Leben called out Akiyama’s original opponent for the fight, Wanderlei Silva. Silva liked the sound of it, and has been mentioning Leben’s name ever since.

Unfortunately, with Silva recuperating from knee surgery, Leben was forced to take another fight in the meantime, and wound up getting KO’d by Brian Stann. But although Silva has been tied to everyone from Stann to Chael Sonnen to Vitor Belfort for his return bout, it seems that the Axe Murderer is getting his wish to fight the Crippler, in a match that’s as close to a guaranteed slugfest as you can get in this kooky sport. Silva expressed his joy via Twitter:

If your garbage cable company doesn’t carry HDNet (thanks, Time Warner) or if you had a hot date last night (yeah, right), you may have missed Michael Schiavello’s highly entertaining interview with Wanderlei Silva. Don’t worry, we got you covered. This lengthy, up-close look at “The Axe Murderer” showcases the jovial, caring personality that so bizarrely compliments the skull crushing beast we all know and love. A few short notes and parts 2, 3, & 4 after the jump.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/edelsonmoura)

Just a reminder that HDNet will be airing the latest episode of Michael Schiavello’s The Voice vs… series tonight featuring UFC  and PRIDE favorite, Wanderlei Silva.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/WandFightTeam)

Trainer Rafael Cordeiro and Wanderlei Silva spoke this week about the impending tilt between UFC light heavyweight champion and their former Chuteboxe teammate Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and challenger Jon Jones.

According to Wand, the fight will likely be the first of several for the pair, but he feels that Shogun will take the bout via leglock.

(Who says you can’t go home? Pic: SB Nation)

Sometimes it feels like nearly every middleweight fighter not crippled, crazy or comatose has gone on record in the last few months expressing a desire to fight Wanderlei Silva. At the risk of turning this post into a glorified game of MMA telephone, the reconstructed timeline looks something like this … buckle up, because this is going to get complicated …

Chael Sonnen called out Wanderlei a while back – and the two were briefly rumored as “TUF” coaches – before it turned out Sonnen had a little something-something he had to take care of first. That left Chris Leben to call out Wanderlei following his win over Yoshihiro Akiyama, only to fall to Brian Stann and then see Stann steal his idea. A bout between Stann and Silva was even fleetingly confirmed, before it seemed like Wanderlei begged off, saying he didn’t want to play the heel against an American Hero. Silva himself then turned around and called out Vitor Belfort, but Belfort ignored that come-on and said he wanted to fight Michael Bisping. (Bisping being the guy you call out if you haven’t already called out Wanderlei Silva, we guess.) OK, deep breath. You with us so far?

This week Leben reiterated his desire to fight Wanderlei and then Wanderlei supporters allegedly launched a Twitter revolution directed at Dana White, urging him to make the fight between the two sluggers. Guess what, though? White ain’t even trying to hear that, see. He wants Wanderlei to fight Belfort, maybe in a big money fight at UFC Rio later this year. But NOW guess who may not want to fight Vitor? That’s right, Wanderlei. Wait, what? An attempt to make sense of it all after the jump …

(Video courtesy of YouTube/WandFightTeam)

If DoggedTV keep putting out awesome videos like this, there may be a challenger to The Reem’s title of “Cage Potato’s favorite mini-web documentary series.

The latest instalment opens with Wand telling the camera as he walks into the doctor’s office to find out if his knee is healed sufficiently to resume training and competing, about how emotionally taxing being faced with the prospect of not being able to fight again has been since he sustained a potentially career-ending knee injury. After getting the all clear from his surgeon to begin upping his training intensity if he can quell the tendonitis in his leg, “The Axe Murderer” outlines his plans to get back on top as one of the best fighters in the UFC’s 185-pound class.

Winning — it feels good, man. Lots more fighters enjoying the moment, after the jump.

(Chris Tuchscherer)

From Fedor Emelianenko to Dwayne Lewis, gruesome eye injuries are so hot right now in MMA. So we thought we’d make them the subject of our latest photo tribute. Because it’s all fun and games until…you know. Lots more after the jump.

(Marcus Davis)

(Knocking out Wanderlei Silva at PRIDE 33 was “definitely a much bigger accomplishment than anything else I’ve done.” / Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

With 14 years of battles under his belt, Dan Henderson has bridged the gap between the old-school and the new-school. He started competing in 1997 — long before “Zuffa” and “the Unified Rules” entered the MMA lexicon — and his first four appearances were in single-night tournaments, where he was often pitted against seasoned fighters with years of experience. (Luckily, Henderson had his Olympic-caliber wrestling background to fall back on, and went 9-0 in those tournaments.)

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Henderson evolved with the sport, and has managed to remain one of the world’s top fighters. Coming off a first-round knockout of Renato Sobral in December, Henderson returns to the cage this Saturday in the main event of Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson, where he’ll be challenging Rafael Cavalcante for the promotion’s light-heavyweight belt. We caught up with Dan to get some war stories about his long career and his thoughts on what lies ahead…

Becoming ‘Hendo’: The Brazil Open ’97 (6/15/97)
def. Crezio de Souza via TKO, 5:25
def. Eric Smith via technical submission (guillotine choke), 0:30

(Video courtesy of YouTube/gregorybayne)

- An open letter to ‘Sons of Anarchy’ creator Kurt Sutter (ScreenJunkies)

- Rampage vs. Matt Hamill in the works for UFC 130 (Heavy)

- Belfort says Anderson got Lucky Saturday night (LowKick)

- Report suggests Anderson Silva used Steven Seagal for publicity (MMA Convert)

-Sonnen says fight would have been stopped if Anderson punished him like he did “The Spider” (PaulLazenby)

-Holy Taco’s guide to improving your online dating profile (HolyTaco)

- Vitor Belfort welcomes rematch against Wanderlei Silva (Tatame)

- Golfball launcher (TheRugged)

- SFHWGP R1 weigh-in results (FightersOnly)

- Brooklyn Decker promotes SI swimsuit edition (TuVez)

- “Fear and Loathing” by Michael The Voice Schiavello (TheGarv)

(“Duck you? No, bro. I joined a monastery in Istanbul.”)

In spite of the fact that he has a May dance date with Brian Stann set for UFC 130, Wanderlei Silva seems more focused on erasing a nearly 12-and-a-half-year-old loss from his record than his upcoming opponent.

Speaking with Tatame yesterday, “the Axe Murderer” called out fellow Brazilian Vitor Belfort — the man who handed him the second loss of his MMA career.

Read what Wand had to say after the jump.

UFC Ultimate Insider 125 – Watch more Funny Videos

Well, it’s official. Brian Stann will look to pull the rug out from under Wanderlei Silva’s UFC career by attempting to hand the former dangerous PRIDE champ his fourth UFC loss and preventing him from picking up his third win in the past five years when he steps into the Octagon with "The Axe Murderer" May 28 at UFC 130 in Las Vegas. The news was confirmed at the tail end of the latest episode of the UFC’s Ultimate Insider show released this morning.

It’s interesting to note that the majority of UFC middleweights on the cusp of becoming contenders  –  from Michael Bisping to Alan Belcher – ask specifically to face Wand despite the fact that he hasn’t been a contender for quite some time. It’s like he’s the guy guarding the gate to the title shot queue and they have to go through him to get there. 

Both fighters are likeable and it’s unlikely that there will be much (if any) pre-fight smack talk. This one is about the fight, and it’s pretty much a given that’s what we’re going to get on May 28. The tough part will be trying to decide who to root against.

Alan Belcher has been hinting for a while with tweets like the one above that he will soon be returning to the UFC.

"The Talent" has been sidelined since sustaining a career-threatening partially detached retina last summer while training for his UFN 22 bout with Demian Maia, but according to one of his Remix MMA students he has been given the OK by his eye specialist to compete once again and is eyeing (no pun intended) a May or June return to the Octagon.

Here’s what amateur fighter Rodney Derouen said about the situation on MixedMartialArts.com’s Underground forum today:

A Maia redo or a scrap with Bisping both sound good to me. Discuss.

(props: burchfootball3)

CagePotato reader Stephen B. writes:

"Not sure who I should send this to, but I thought you would like to see a video from an MMA seminar I went to this past weekend in Charleston, WV. Wandy was in attendance and after demonstrating various techniques, he began sparring with individuals. This was all going pretty well, being that most people understood that he was an animal and respected that at any moment he could destroy their ability to operate their limbs. That is, until a young upstart at the age of 16 chose to show off in front of everyone. It turned out less than favorable for him…Enjoy."

That 16-year-old kid is lucky to be alive after disrespecting Master Silva with his insolent turning side kick. The ensuing bear-slap is pretty epic, and you gotta love how the entire class groans when the kid starts into his Royce Gracie-style heel-chops at the 0:37 mark. I think everyone there learned a valuable lesson at that seminar — when Wanderlei Silva asks you to spar with him, don’t. A reverse angle of the video is after the jump.

("I trust this dude so much, I’d let him be my chauffeur if he needed a job. We could make it into a reality show and call it ‘Driving Mr. Dana.’")

Dana White helmed a Q&A session at Fort Hood last week ahead of the Fight for the Troops II show Saturday night and the UFC president dropped a handful of interesting tidbits during the hour-long forum.

Perhaps most noteworthy was White’s proclamation that former UFC light heavyweight kingpin Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will likely get the next crack at the winner of the UFC 128 championship bout between current champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Rashad Evans. White pointed to Jackson’s win over Lyoto Machida at UFC 123 — a fight many thought should have gone to "The Dragon" — as being the main factor in his title consideration. He also hinted that the winner of next month’s UFC 127 tilt between Ryan Bader and Jon Jones will likely get dibs on the winner of Jackson versus Evans or Rua.

"There are so many guys at 205. Rampage is probably next in line. Rampage is still in the mix. We’ve got Jon Jones and Ryan Bader fighting on the fifth [of February], which is going to be a great fight and catapults one of those guys to the top five.There’s so many great guys in the 205-pound division," White said. "The big problem has been ‘Shogun’s’ injury has been clogging up the division. Now he’s healthy and going to fight, and we’ll get everything rolling. [Shogun's] recovered now and back in training."

Surprisingly, White said that Machida, who just as easily could be sitting in Rampage’s place in line had the judges given him the split decision nod over Jackson, needs to win his upcoming UFC 129 bout in Toronto with Randy Couture, stopping short of saying that he could be on the chopping block if he loses.

"I didn’t think [Lyoto] was ever going to lose," White admitted. "Shogun beat him, and then he just lost to Rampage, too," he explained. "Now he’s fighting Randy Couture. It’s a must-win for him."

White also touched on several other topics, rumors and bout signings. Check the most pertinent ones out after the jump.

(“Think of this next right hand as my way of thanking you for the opportunity and expressing what an honor it was to meet with you here this evening.” PicProps: Las Vegas Sun)

OK, so maybe “calls out” is a little bit strong in reference to Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre, but the American-Hero-turned-mediocre-light-heavyweight-turned-newly-minted-middlweight-comer certainly didn’t shy away from candidly assessing his skills against both the UFC 185-pound and 170-pound champions while also mentioning his desire to fight Wanderlei Silva and Michael Bisping during a recent interview with the UK Telegraph. Read on to hear Brian Stann’s respectful, but classicly fighter-centric take of most of the rest of the middleweight division, and beyond. Also, be warned that we took the liberty of changing the British English spellings back to ’Merican, for obvious reasons.

Reasons like the Revolutionary War.

"Hopefully, my next fight will be Wanderlei Silva, who is obviously a legend in the sport, and it would be an honor to fight your guy from the UK, Michael Bisping, an amazing fighter who has truly distinguished himself in the weight class …” Stann tells the Telegraph’s Gareth Davies. “He has proved himself to be an exciting, all-round fighter and has the ranking. Guys like Michael Bisping and Wanderlei have what I want in the sport — the respect and the rankings, and that’s where I want to be.”

(We immediately regretted not wiping down that rowing machine.)

Due to the torn knee ligaments and broken ribs that forced him to pull out of a scheduled UFC 116 meeting with Yoshihiro Akiyama, Wanderlei Silva hasn’t competed since his unanimous decision win over Michael Bisping last February. According to a new report by MMA Fighting, Silva will be ready to rumble in the spring, and his opponent is likely to be Brian Stann, who’s coming off a first-round smashing of Chris Leben at UFC 125.
 
We expect Leben to be all kinds of pissed once he hears about this. After replacing Silva against Akiyama on very short notice then scoring a miraculous submission victory, Leben called out Wanderlei Silva, and Silva happily accepted the challenge. But instead of keeping Leben benched until the Axe Murderer recovered from his injuries, the UFC decided to throw him into a fight with Brian Stann on New Year’s Day. Stann won in dominant fashion, then he called out Wanderlei Silva. His wish was granted. Life’s not fair, Chris.

Personally, we would have liked to see Silva and Chael Sonnen settle their beef, but then Sonnen had to go and get his contract frozen due to that little money laundering misunderstanding. If Silva can successfully rebound against Stann, it’s always a possibility for down the road…

(Video courtesy YouTube/UFCGaming)

Besides his prepared impromptu interview with HDNet’s Mike Straka hours after his suspension appeal with the California State Athletic Commission, Chael Sonnen has been uncharacteristically quiet about the ordeal.

During Thursday’s episode of MMA Live, Chael was asked for a synopsis of his thoughts on the hearing and his reduced suspension and in true Sonnen form, his answers didn’t disappoint.

"Rules are rules and they have to be followed. A government agency, which is the commission, has to be transparent, clear and decisive. They said that I didn’t disclose. I proved three different ways that I did. I had an email command, I disclosed it directly to the executive director [of CSAC] and we wrote it down on a form that was signed and dated with the head of the testing agency," Sonnen explained. "We proved all of these things, but we were still told that we didn’t disclose. I don’t know what dictionary they consult to get a definition of the word, ‘disclosure,’ but according to the ones that I read at the University of Oregon, that’s disclosure."

 
(Chael has this posted on his fridge.)

Since he doesn’t really have a lot to do at the moment, given he quit politics, his suspension and the fact that he isn’t going to be on The Ultimate Fighter, it’s not surprising that Chael Sonnen spends a lot of time trolling people on Twitter.

Responding last night to comments Wanderlei Silva made recently about not being in a hurry to fight Chael since he already "killed him" in the gym, Sonnen, as usual, pulled no punches in denying "The Axe Murderer’s" claims.

A little eyeliner WOULD help to improve Wanderlei’s new staredown face considering he can’t stop smiling or furrow his brow since his surgery.

(Video courtesy YouTube/TheFightNetwork)

Despite the growing hype surrounding a fight between him and outspoken former number one UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen, Wanderlei Silva says he’s still hoping he will be matched up with fellow slugger Chris Leben for his return bout following knee surgery. Silva mentioned a couple months back that he would be fighting Leben in Toronto, which seems like it must have been in the works, at least at the time considering "The Axe Murderer" was privy to the info that the UFC was likely holding a show in the Canadian city in the spring before it was announced.

"I want to make my next fight for here in Toronto, maybe in April. I started my rehab for my knee right now and I started to lift weights, but I don’t train martial arts right now. I’m gonna wait two weeks to see what’s gonna happen with my knee," Wand explains. "If it feels better I’m gonna fight on the first show in Toronto. [Chris Leben] is a really good opponent. His style’s like my style. He likes to fight. He’s no afraid to fight toe-to-toe, so he’s a good opponent. He’s going to fight right now in one of the next UFCs, but I want to fight against him."

As far as a possible fight with Sonnen goes, Silva thinks that unlike Anderson Silva, he’ll have the upper hand if the bout comes to fruition, citing a certain sparring session he had in Vegas with the testosterone deficient, smack talk abundant middleweight to support his opinion.

"Sonnen, he’s more of a wrestler. I think that’s a good fight for me, too," Silva says. "I trained with him one time at [Xtreme Couture] and I killed him there, you know? I think he’s a good opponent too. He’s tough.

Although calling the announcement  "a monumental one" may have been a bit of an overstatement, the UFC announced today at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro today that it would be returning to Brazil for the first time since Zuffa bought the organization in 2000 and only the second time ever August 27, 2011.

UFC president Dana White made the announcement of the yet-to-be named event in Rio city hall alongside Zuffa CEO Lorenzo Fertitta,  mayor Eduardo Paes and Brazilian UFC luminaries Royce Gracie, Anderson Silva, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Vitor Belfort and Jose Aldo.

Although he would not commit to naming names of Brazilian fighters who will likely appear on the card because the event is more than eight months away and injuries may change the planned card several times between now and then, White intimated that all of the currently contracted fighters at the presser and guys like Demian Maia, Junior Dos Santos and Wanderlei Silva are all being considered for the card.

("There is only four things I not like in this world. One is Justin Bieber; the other three is Chael Sonnen.")

At the tail end of Chael Sonnen’s exclusive post-CSAC hearing interview he did with Mike Straka last week, the former UFC number one middleweight contender told the HDNet reporter that he knew what was up next for him, he just couldn’t say because it was "a secret at this point."

Now I may be reading into that statement and the fact that Sonnen has been hellbent lately on calling out Wanderlei Silva at every turn, but if I had to wager a guess as to what the UFC had on tap for "The Most Interesting Man in the World" it would be a TUF coaching slot opposite "The Axe Murderer."

Sure the season would require subtitles pretty much every time Wand opens his mouth, but they had to do the same with the Brits on the USA vs. UK season, so it’s not like that will turn away viewers, especially when you have as polarizing of a persona as Sonnen opposite him.

I interviewed Chael prior to his fight with Nate Marquardt and he was unusually complimentary of his opponent. When I asked him why, he told me that he basically wasn’t in character yet that far out from the fight and that if I called him a few weeks before the fight he’d be on his game. He also said that it’s tough to smack talk a guy he likes like Marquardt.

To me, that says one of two things about the Wanderlei Twitter assault he launched the day after his CSAC meeting using his account which has been inactive since the news of his positive drug test hit and which he used to repeatedly roast Anderson Silva and his manager, Ed Soares leading up to his last fight: 

He must really want a fight with Wand.

or

He must already have a fight with, or a slot on TUF coaching opposite Silva lined up.

Here’s the backstory and the evidence that prompted my educated guess after the jump:

Sometimes a fighter connects with his opponent so perfectly that he can confidently peace out to collect his check before the ref even stops the fight. It’s called a walk-off knockout, and it’s what all other knockouts aspire to be. Here, presented with limited commentary, are our favorites.

#8: Brad Kohler vs. Steve Judson @ UFC 22 (9/24/99)

(Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva at UFC Brazil. Jesus, they’ve been talking about "the old Vitor" since 1998??)

According to a new report, the UFC will make a long-overdue return to Brazil in November 2011. GracieMag.com sources claim that the event will be held at the HSBC Arena in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, a 15,000-seat venue that will host the basketball and gymnastics events at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The rumored event would mark the first time the UFC has held a card in Brazil since "Ultimate Brazil" in October 1998, which featured Frank Shamrock defending his middleweight belt against John Lober, Pat Miletich becoming the UFC’s first welterweight champion after outpointing Mikey Burnett, Pedro Rizzo’s UFC debut against Tank Abbott, and Vitor Belfort‘s legendary knockout of Wanderlei Silva. With a renewed rivalry brewing between Belfort and Silva, we can’t think of a better occasion for a rematch.

Semi-related: Speaking of Pedro Rizzo…the three-time UFC heavyweight title challenger is currently preparing for a fight against former champ Tim Sylvia, which will take place in the War on the Mainland promotion sometime early next year. According to Rizzo, "Dana White mentioned that the winner should get another chance in the Ultimate Fighting Championship." Both fighters are currently riding three-fight win streaks.

(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."

(The UFC should make it interesting and let Leben get hammered for the bout)

UFC middleweight Wanderlei Silva is pretty sure his next opponent will be Chris Leben and that the fight will take place in Toronto in April.

The Brazilian MMA icon revealed the news in a recent interview he did with Fighters Only.

“I think I want to fight in April in Canada — I want to fight in Toronto. I think against Chris Leben. I want to fight with him next,” Silva informed Fighters Only when asked about his eventual return to the Octagon.

“I think he is interesting, he is my size, he is aggressive, he fights to the front (comes forward)," he explained. I think we are going to make an interesting fight.”