White argued w/ Silva 75-mins. to convince him to fight Sonnen in Vegas
It took the UFC president 75 minutes to convince him to fight Chael Sonnen in Las Vegas instead of Rio…
It took the UFC president 75 minutes to convince him to fight Chael Sonnen in Las Vegas instead of Rio de Janeiro and this was the reason for the press conference delay yesterday, reports Gustavo Noblat of OGlobo.com.
The talk was heated – initially Anderson refused to change the venue of what could be the rematch of the century. Two years ago, the Brazilian middleweight champion defeated Sonnen in an epic combat. The upcoming confrontation was set to occur at Stadium Engenhao in Rio, and would have been the biggest show of UFC history with 80 thousand tickets to be sold.
But the date coincided with international events in the city and White alleged Rio would not have the infrastructure to hold the fighting event. There wouldn’t have been enough hotel rooms, he said.
The champion was frustrated and insisted on fighting in Brazil. Anderson told Dana that Sonnen had been disrespectful with him, his family and all the Brazilian. He deserves to taught a lesson here, I owe this to my people”, repeated Silva. But Dana was adamant. If there is no way how to make the event in a stadium, it has to be in Las Vegas, said the company president.
Dana explained that Las Vegas is a city that has structure to promote the UFC from one day to the next. The capital of betting and fights is there, remarked the boss. He reminded Silva of the appeal that the bout will have in the United States landing as it does in the week of the celebrations for Independence Day.
He spoke about the potential of the Pay-per-view sales it would generate and in the end, he guaranteed a good percentage of the pay-per-view share to Anderson. As with so many things in life, money talks louder than anything.
After a lot of discussion Anderson concluded by turning to White and asking Okay, so tell me – what do you want from me? White answered, I want you go to Las Vegas and perform well, make it a great fight. It was then the champion formally accepted the mission. If it has to be like this, I will beat this guy wherever. He deserves a lesson.
