Ed Soares has reached out to MMAweekly in an attempt to end speculation surrounding a possible permanent move by his client, Anderson Silva, to the UFC’s light heavyweight division:
A recent column by Yahoo! Sports writer Dan Wetzel stated that Silva’s manager, Ed Soares, told UFC President Dana White that his client was willing to make the move to light heavyweight permanent, even if it meant dropping his middleweight belt in the process.
Not so Soares told MMAWeekly.com, saying he’s not sure where that information was drawn from.
“It’s not true. I never said that to Dana,” stated the Brazilian’s chief negotiator. “I never said he would move up and relinquish the title. I have said to Dana that he’d like to fight again at 205 (but not permanently).”
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This would appear to settle the issue of Silva’s permanent move to 205 and also the possibility that he’s trying to avoid the UFC’s champion clause in order to leave and fight Roy Jones Jr.
However, it will still be interesting to see if the UFC moves to extend Silva’s contract within the end of the year and how the UFC’s champion and exclusivity clauses influence potential negotiations in the future.
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