Anderson Silva (23-4-0) in UFC 95? For MMA fans anticipating the return of Anderson “The Spider” Silva in UFC 95, you might have to wait a little longer. Despite UFC President Dana White stating that an all-Brazilian, middleweight title fight between Anderson Silva and Thales Leites (14-1-0) was a possible main event for UFC 95, that’s not likely to happen.
Tonight, “The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale: Team Mir vs. Team Nogueira” takes place live from The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada. Its main card will air live and free on Spike TV. BodogLife.com, the worldwide leader in MMA and Boxing have the best Sports Odds for this UFC “TUF” event. 
UFC 95, which is expected to take place on February 21st of ’09 in London, isn’t a good time for Silva to return, according to his manager Ed Soares. “With our timing and our scheduling, it just makes more sense to come back (in April),” Soares said.
“As of right now, nothing has been 100 percent decided yet,” Soares continued. “It looks like we’re looking to fight in April. We don’t know what can happen, but as of right now, I think we’re going to be fighting in April.” In tonight’s “TUF” 8 Finale, the two lightweight finalists are Phillipe Nover [-450] vs. Efrain Escudero [+275], and the light-heavyweight finalists include Vinny Magalhaes [-200] vs. Ryan Bader [+160].
Silva’s last fight ended in a successful, but controversial (middleweight) title defense against Patrick Cote (14-5-0) in October. The 33-year-old Brazilian (Curitiba) made a very successful debut at 205 (lbs) against James Irvin earlier this year. With not much competition left at 185, Soares indicated that another light-heavyweight contest was a real possibility for Silva’s next bout. “It’s not decided yet, but we’d be interested in doing a 205-pound fight,” Soares said.
He concluded by saying that even tough April would be an ideal time for Silva’s next bout, the possibility of UFC 95 isn’t completely out of the question. “As of right now, I’ll let the UFC announce when they plan on doing it. But as of right now, we’ve told (UFC President) Dana White we’d like to fight in April. But nothing has been confirmed either way.”
In other non-“TUF” bouts, Jason MacDonald [-105] is Sports Odds favorite vs. Wilson Gouveia [-125] and Kevin Burns [+200] is a huge underdog vs. Anthony Johnson [-260] have also been announced as part of the main card. The final televised bout will be between controversial cast member and semifinalist Junie Browning [-350], taking on Dave Kaplan [+225], in the live finale.
Here’s the rest of The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale Betting Odds fight (preliminary) card:
Shane Primm [+285] vs. Krzysztof Soszynski [-365]
Jules Bruchez [+450] vs. Eliot Marshall [-650]
Kyle Kingsbury [-130] vs. Tom Lawlor [-105]
Shane Nelson [-115] vs. George Roop [-115]
John Polakowski [-140] vs. Rolando Delgado [+110]
