Matt Lindland is currently a part of Calvin Ayre’s Bodog organization and has 2 more fights left in that contract. His last match was against Fedor Emelianenko where he lost via submission-armbar.
Lindland is also coaching within the IFL organization, which helps him stay active almost all the time. He feels that he is at his peak in mixed martial arts and looks to only fight the best at this point in his career. He is very eager to come back to the UFC as he believes there is good competition in the American organization today. The person he respects, yet wants to fight the most is Anderson Silva, the current middleweight champion of the UFC.
Here’s a snip from Matt Lindland:
Regarding Anderson Silva and his
current MMA status:
"It’s been way too long since I’ve gotten back into the
ring…I have two fights left on my
Bodog contract, but I’m not exclusive with
them as contracts shouldn’t be. You shouldn’t have to be exclusive with one
promoter. I’m pretty much available to whoever wants me to come fight for their
organization…If somebody had somebody out there, like say Anderson Silva, that
needed to get beat up, I’d be more than happy to step in the ropes and take him
on. I think that would be a great match up stylistic wise…I thought he looked
phenomenal. I’ve always thought he was a good fighter, and he’s getting better
and better…His striking is, I think, the best in MMA. I don’t think anybody
else uses their striking skills as good as he does. I think my wrestling is the
best in MMA. And I think I’d like to match up with him and see if I can close
the distance and put him on the ground and out maneuver him on the ground, or
see if he can keep the distance and create that space that he needs to do
damage. And he doesn’t need much space…I would love to get back in there.
“If they want to deal like professional businessmen, I would
love to work with them…I just want to do it professionally and put everything
into a contract because this is a business, and it’s my profession, and it’s
how I do business. It’s truth and verify. You can say what you want, but if you
can’t verify it with a contract than it means nothing…I’ve fought good guys,
and I’ve never tried to not do that. I just, I don’t want to get stuck in one
of those long-term, low-paying contracts to do it. I just don’t think that’s a
wise business decision…I would love to come fight for that organization.
They’ve got a lot of good talent. They put on a good show. They’ve got a great
product. They understand how to market this sport. They understand how to
promote. They’ve got a lot of good things going on for them, but they’re
inflexible. It’s either our way or beat it….I’m with the IFL as a coach, and I
think that’s another sticking point possibly with the UFC. They want to control
every facet of your life. What I do outside of the ropes: coaching, managing
fighters, or any of that stuff is irrelevant to what I’m doing as an athlete
and who I’m fighting for…I think I’m in the prime of my career right now, and I
don’t want to squander it away by not fighting.”
current organization he is a part of today (Bodog), he goes on to say:
"I don’t know where they’re going or what direction
they’re heading. I think that’s a question we’ve got to ask from them."
(props to mmaweekly.com)
