“We don’t have a tremendous amount of guys in comparison to some who are out there. I’ve seen some management companies with 60, 70 guys that they’re representing. I kind of look at it as a car dealership. When you look at the car dealership, well, thank God there are Toyota dealers. There’s nothing wrong with Toyotas. They’re great cars, reliable cars, but there are 3,000 of them on the lot. Walk into a Bentley dealership, though, and there are only 12, 15 cars in the place. There are two things about that: The guy’s walking in to buy the car, and you know they’re not going to be negotiating price when they’re buying a Bentley. And that’s how I feel about our fighters. You want one of our fighters, you’re going to get a high-performance fighter. I like to keep it that way…. We have what I consider our ‘Three Kings.’ Anderson Silva is the pound-for-pound king. Lyoto is the king of karate, and we have Nogueira, who is the king of heart because he has so much heart. Those are our three big cards. In a card game, if I were playing poker and I had three kings, I’d think I had a pretty good hand.”
– Ed Soares talks to Yahoo!Sports.com about his path to becoming a manager and spokesperson for several of the top mixed martial artists on the planet. The Portuguese-speaking 37-year-old prefers quality over quantity when it comes to fighters who he represents. And with his “Three Kings” from Brazil it’s clear that he and his partner have a recipe for success. Of course, his job is not all sunshine and roses. He often finds himself caught up in the middle of various difficult situations — look no further than Anderson Silva’s win over Thales Leites and Lyoto Machida’s decision over Shogun Rua for proof of that. Nonetheless, his fighters win more than they lose, making Soares one of the more successful and high profile managers in the sport today. Will that success continue in early 2010 when Silva is supposed to take on Vitor Belfort or will he keep him parked in the garage until something better rolls around?
Props: Terra Magazine
Quoteworthy:
“Anderson pulled out some pieces of bones damaged because of the use of his elbows along the years. It’s a simple procedure and he will start training in a month. The surgery took place two and a half weeks ago so he will face Vitor Belfort. Everyone wants this fight, I want this fight. I just think it would be at 88kg whereas Vitor just returned to the event. Be calm people, Spider will throw his web again.”
Anderson Silva’s coach, Josuel Distak, is confident that his star pupil will be healthy enough to throw hands with Vitor Belfort at UFC 108, which is scheduled for Jan. 2, 2010. “The Spider” underwent a minor surgical procedure to remove bone fragments that had been giving his elbow trouble after many years of fighting. Like team mate Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, the recovery time is very quick and “The Phenom” should have his chance to do what no man in the UFC has done before him: Defeat Anderson Silva.
That’s the latest ominous word from “The Spider” camp”
“They found some things that they weren’t aware of (during the surgery), which is a good thing. If we’re going to be fighting for the title, we want to make sure Anderson’s 100-percent…. Vitor has not fought in the UFC at 185 pounds. Now, I know people can say Anderson fought for the belt after one fight, and that’s true, but he fought at 185 pounds. At 195 pounds, he didn’t make weight, at first. So he couldn’t make weight at 195 pounds, but now he’s going to fight for the title at 185 pounds?”
Ed Soares, who manages Silva, indicated that out of respect for company president Dana White that they will accept the UFC 108 match, which is scheduled for Jan. 2, 2010, despite their reservations about Belfort’s weighty issues (although he competed twice at 185 pounds before the 195-pound catchweight fight against Rich Franklin last month). Ultimately, he said, it’s a “doctor’s decision” that should come within the next 10 days. Until then, we wait. Impatiently.
That’s the latest ominous word from “The Spider” camp”
“They found some things that they weren’t aware of (during the surgery), which is a good thing. If we’re going to be fighting for the title, we want to make sure Anderson’s 100-percent…. Vitor has not fought in the UFC at 185 pounds. Now, I know people can say Anderson fought for the belt after one fight, and that’s true, but he fought at 185 pounds. At 195 pounds, he didn’t make weight, at first. So he couldn’t make weight at 195 pounds, but now he’s going to fight for the title at 185 pounds?”
Ed Soares, who manages Silva, indicated that out of respect for company president Dana White that they will accept the UFC 108 match, which is scheduled for Jan. 2, 2010, despite their reservations about Belfort’s weighty issues (although he competed twice at 185 pounds before the 195-pound catchweight fight against Rich Franklin last month). Ultimately, he said, it’s a “doctor’s decision” that should come within the next 10 days. Until then, we wait. Impatiently.
