Mark-I really like the Nader comparison because Nader is a legit politician. At the same time, no one really pays attention to anything Nader does, they just pat him on the head, call him cute and move along. That’s the same thing you should be doing to Mousasi right now. Mousasi is legitimate, but he still needs to make the leap to one of the two big parties so we can see just how legitimate he can be. He’s a big fish in a small pond at this point and Dana White needs to bring him to the UFC because I think he is one of the top five middleweights in the world. Of course, moving up a weight class and trying to box are just two more things that will keep him in Ralph Nader’s scope. He’s in the discussion but only as a sidebar at this point, whereas he should be in the mix with the big boys at that weight level.

Is Anderson Silva trying to fight his way out of his contract?

Mark- Anderson Silva has been telling Dana White he wants to fight every three months. After his lackluster (depending on how you view it) performance at UFC 90, he told White he wants to fight again only a month later. White likes to say this is because Silva loves to compete and loves to fight, yet at the same time all Silva wants to talk about is retirement. I don’t want to believe it but it sure looks fishy and it wouldn’t shock me if Silva was just trying to get done with his six-fight contract sooner. I can’t imagine him leaving the sport, especially if he beats some big-name light heavyweights, but he also wants to box Roy Jones Jr. and was bummed when he couldn’t put that together. Maybe he wants to get out of his contract when he’s still young enough to make that happen (I don’t think we will ever see it) and maybe he’s just trying to finish up this contract so he can get more money the next time around, but I’m not buying that he wants to fight every month because “he loves it so much,” especially while he talks about having nothing left to prove and discussing his retirement.

Kelly- Although I had the good fortune of meeting him once, you are much more in tune with The Spider than I am. He’s a gracious guy who will honor his contract with the UFC without complaint (unlike someone whose name rhymes with Shmotoure), but he’s also bored. Whether he admits it or not, he was toying with Patrick Cote the same way BJ Penn toyed with Jens Pulver. Silva is like Alexander the Great, who stood on the edge of his empire and wept because there were no more worlds to conquer. It will be a year or longer before any of the promising 185 pounders are ready to challenge him and he doesn’t want to sit around waiting for that day as his thirties pass him by. I think he keeps throwing these bones out there-move to heavyweight, box Roy Jones, retire-because he’s dissatisfied with where he is now-on top of the world.