Lindland claims Dana tried to coddle the MW posterboy Franklin...

In a recent interview with The Fight Card, Lindland talks about how Dana got rid of him because he didn't want him to beat Franklin. He goes on to say that Marquardt would not be a problem for him at all.

Check out the full interview at: www.myspace.com/thefightcard

http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=466104

It is a plausible theory; although Lindland is a talented fighter, he is not as marketable as Franklin is.

I wouldn't mind seeing Lindland in the UFC. Not holding my breath, though.

Thanks for the interview. That's been the "Conspiracy Theory" since it happened. What it that or the sports gambling t-shirt, who knows?

I am soooooooo sick of hearing how the whole world is against Matt Lindland. what kind of idiot would even bring this up. The whole point is avoided if the cry baby would have listened to his boss, and not worn the shirt after the president of the company told him not to.

Maybe the UFC and Dana were trying to protect their poster boy, but Matt could have done many things to prevent that. Obviously he could have chose not to wear a gambling shirt to the ring after the UFC told him he couldn't. He could have defeated Bustamantle when the UFC gave him a title shot. He could have not lost to Niko Vitale. He also could have not lost to David Terrell when the UFC put him in a tune up #1 contender match. The UFC didn't put that together for Evan Tanner to fight Terrell for the belt. It was for Matt's benefit. Last but not least he could have chose to not insult the entire organization after defeating Lutter on the same day he wore a sponsor shirt Dana personally told him not to. Matt made his own bed, but just like always he doesn't want to lie in it.

Lindland...he does like his excuses. Franklin does not duck anyone and I dont think Dana really though that Franklin was going to be the next Couture or Liddell so I really dont believe White had him tagged as the next "poster boy"

Lindland should worry about winning fights he is in. For example, Fedor. Could he have beat him? I dont know, but to say he grabbed the ropes is foolish and a cop out.

I'm really not much a Lindland fan and I continue to be disappointed with him

lindland is overrated. hes a baby. and franklin would beat him hands down....done....

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Posted by johny_rotten

I am soooooooo sick of hearing how the whole world is against Matt Lindland. what kind of idiot would even bring this up. The whole point is avoided if the cry baby would have listened to his boss, and not worn the shirt after the president of the company told him not to.

Maybe the UFC and Dana were trying to protect their poster boy, but Matt could have done many things to prevent that. Obviously he could have chose not to wear a gambling shirt to the ring after the UFC told him he couldn't. He could have defeated Bustamantle when the UFC gave him a title shot. He could have not lost to Niko Vitale. He also could have not lost to David Terrell when the UFC put him in a tune up #1 contender match. The UFC didn't put that together for Evan Tanner to fight Terrell for the belt. It was for Matt's benefit. Last but not least he could have chose to not insult the entire organization after defeating Lutter on the same day he wore a sponsor shirt Dana personally told him not to. Matt made his own bed, but just like always he doesn't want to lie in it.

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Ive really gotta agree with u, i listened to the whole interview and I dunno, he seems pretty arrogant and thinks very highly of himself but he wasnt that successful in the UFC, especially after getting embarrassed by Bustamante.

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Posted by kerazzle

Ive really gotta agree with u, i listened to the whole interview and I dunno, he seems pretty arrogant and thinks very highly of himself but he wasnt that successful in the UFC, especially after getting embarrassed by Bustamante.

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embarassed by bustamante? even more embarassing is lindland vs david terrell...i mean come on...that was pitiful

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Posted by mkiv9secsupra

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Posted by kerazzle

Ive really gotta agree with u, i listened to the whole interview and I dunno, he seems pretty arrogant and thinks very highly of himself but he wasnt that successful in the UFC, especially after getting embarrassed by Bustamante.

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embarassed by bustamante? even more embarassing is lindland vs david terrell...i mean come on...that was pitiful

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True, but he really made an ass of himself against murilo. Denies tapping out and then just gets subbed again. haha

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Posted by mkiv9secsupra

lindland is overrated. hes a baby. and franklin would beat him hands down....done....

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Lindland has beaten some really good middleweights, but I don't think he should have been ranked at #1. While I kind of, kind of, agree that Lindland is overrated, he's a talented fighter.

But to say that Franklin would beat Lindland hands down, no problem, is going a little far.

Lindland is a sick wrestler who could either tap Franklin out, or control him for 15 minutes.

He would have to get past Franklins strikes first, though.

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Posted by hook_tothe_body

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Posted by mkiv9secsupra

lindland is overrated. hes a baby. and franklin would beat him hands down....done....

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Lindland has beaten some really good middleweights, but I don't think he should have been ranked at #1. While I kind of, kind of, agree that Lindland is overrated, he's a talented fighter.

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no no no...lindland is a good wreslter....thats pretty much it. hes got weak hands and halfway decent subs....

not saying franklin is anymore rounded than lindland but strikers just arent his forte... and especially against quick strikers....

True Lindland gets talked up a bit too much. BUT... who else have we got.

Filho- prob'ly the best in the world @ that wght, but unproven.
Silva- a lot of ppl think his past losses against less than stellar comp. deny him #1. Some ppl just think his ground game couldn't take Lindland.
Franklin- to me has always been suspect. Now that he has shown such a weakness for MT we'll see how he trains for the adjustment in his game for the comeback.

Denis Kang and Nate Marquardt are def too green to take #1. He's not absolute without a doubt #1, but he's def one of the only top runners. I've got him at #1. I've always made the argument tho that 170 is unnecessary and just breaks up MW too much. It'd be much more competition with guys like Hughes not affected by the weight change at all.

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Posted by mkiv9secsupra

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Posted by hook_tothe_body

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Posted by mkiv9secsupra

lindland is overrated. hes a baby. and franklin would beat him hands down....done....

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Lindland has beaten some really good middleweights, but I don't think he should have been ranked at #1. While I kind of, kind of, agree that Lindland is overrated, he's a talented fighter.

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no no no...lindland is a good wreslter....thats pretty much it. hes got weak hands and halfway decent subs....

not saying franklin is anymore rounded than lindland but strikers just arent his forte... and especially against quick strikers....

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Not so fast. Quick strikers? Phil Baroni is one of the quickest I have seen, and Lindland owned him twice. Matt is much more than a wrestler. He gave Fedor a shit load of stitches with one punch. He stopped Jeremy Horn with strikes only the 2nd man out of over 100 to do that. He has submitted great submission guys like Fabio Leopoldo, Carlos Newton, and Van Arsdale. Matt is a very good fighter, and on any given day can hang in there with the best of them. My problem with Matt is when you reach the level of success he has, and train with the guys he has you should learn humility.

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Posted by mkiv9secsupra

lindland is overrated. hes a baby. and franklin would beat him hands down....done....

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I am gonna have to agree, i never liked lindland. He used to be in the UFC before and i dont think he could beat Franklin at all. I would bet anyone on the fight! But if you think about it 2007 is the "year of upsets" so you never know what could happen, i guess.

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Posted by johny_rotten

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Posted by mkiv9secsupra

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Posted by hook_tothe_body

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Posted by mkiv9secsupra

lindland is overrated. hes a baby. and franklin would beat him hands down....done....

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Lindland has beaten some really good middleweights, but I don't think he should have been ranked at #1. While I kind of, kind of, agree that Lindland is overrated, he's a talented fighter.

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no no no...lindland is a good wreslter....thats pretty much it. hes got weak hands and halfway decent subs....

not saying franklin is anymore rounded than lindland but strikers just arent his forte... and especially against quick strikers....

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Not so fast. Quick strikers? Phil Baroni is one of the quickest I have seen, and Lindland owned him twice. Matt is much more than a wrestler. He gave Fedor a shit load of stitches with one punch. He stopped Jeremy Horn with strikes only the 2nd man out of over 100 to do that. He has submitted great submission guys like Fabio Leopoldo, Carlos Newton, and Van Arsdale. Matt is a very good fighter, and on any given day can hang in there with the best of them. My problem with Matt is when you reach the level of success he has, and train with the guys he has you should learn humility.

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Exaclty, Baroni is such a good/quick striker, and looked what Lindland did. Anyone who thinks Franklin can beat Lindland easy is underestimating Matts skills.

He is a good wrestler who is good in the clinch. Matt could just as easy work his way to locking in a guillotine choke from the clinch (like he did against Travis Lutter,) as Franklin could (T)KO Lindland.

Would be a good fight, I think.

I have to say, I'm kind of tired of hearing Matt Lindland hyping himself up, while talking everyone else down. I mean, the UFC coddled Franklin? I agree with whoever else said it; if he had beaten Terrell, he would have moved on to Tanner. If he had beaten Tanner, who would his first defense have been against?

Lindland is just one of those fighters who always seems to have an excuse when he loses. He's got great talent, don't get me wrong, and he's definitely one of the top 185 pounders, but still. . . Fedor grabbed the ropes, the UFC kicked him out to protect. . . whoever, when he knocked himself out, the padding wasn't up to regulation standards. It just gets old.

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Posted by JimiMak

Denis Kang and Nate Marquardt are def too green to take #1.

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Not to go totally off topic or anything, but Kang and Marquardt have more fights, and more time in MMA than everyone you've mentioned, so I can't see them being too green. I think Lindland might have been fighting longer time wise, but not matches wise.

Even though I am not a Lindland fan, I think if the UFC did sign him, he could probably beat most of their middleweights.

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Posted by hook_tothe_body

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Posted by johny_rotten

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Posted by mkiv9secsupra

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Posted by hook_tothe_body

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Posted by mkiv9secsupra

lindland is overrated. hes a baby. and franklin would beat him hands down....done....

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Lindland has beaten some really good middleweights, but I don't think he should have been ranked at #1. While I kind of, kind of, agree that Lindland is overrated, he's a talented fighter.

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no no no...lindland is a good wreslter....thats pretty much it. hes got weak hands and halfway decent subs....

not saying franklin is anymore rounded than lindland but strikers just arent his forte... and especially against quick strikers....

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Not so fast. Quick strikers? Phil Baroni is one of the quickest I have seen, and Lindland owned him twice. Matt is much more than a wrestler. He gave Fedor a shit load of stitches with one punch. He stopped Jeremy Horn with strikes only the 2nd man out of over 100 to do that. He has submitted great submission guys like Fabio Leopoldo, Carlos Newton, and Van Arsdale. Matt is a very good fighter, and on any given day can hang in there with the best of them. My problem with Matt is when you reach the level of success he has, and train with the guys he has you should learn humility.

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Exaclty, Baroni is such a good/quick striker, and looked what Lindland did. Anyone who thinks Franklin can beat Lindland easy is underestimating Matts skills.

He is a good wrestler who is good in the clinch. Matt could just as easy work his way to locking in a guillotine choke from the clinch (like he did against Travis Lutter,) as Franklin could (T)KO Lindland.

Would be a good fight, I think.

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BARONI?! He is quite possibly one of the worst fighters ive seen! he gasses in the first round every damn fight?!..evan tanner owned him twice as well. he cant beat top level fighters. Lindland didnt do anything to horn!!! horn goit hit and he dropped to protect himself...he does that EVERY SINGLE TIME he gets hurt a little. the ref called it when lindland just hit him once. thats not even giving horn a chance. it was a bs call. i dont remember who said it but matt cut fedor because someone else cut him before so the skin is very weak in that area. not because matt is superman. did you see what david terrell and bustamante did to him? probly not....he got embarassed.....BIG TIME

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Posted by Ultimate_fighter

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Posted by mkiv9secsupra

lindland is overrated. hes a baby. and franklin would beat him hands down....done....

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I am gonna have to agree, i never liked lindland. He used to be in the UFC before and i dont think he could beat Franklin at all. I would bet anyone on the fight! But if you think about it 2007 is the "year of upsets" so you never know what could happen, i guess.

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calm down dude if lindland were to defeat franklin that would not be an upset by any means.

He is a good wrestler who is good in the clinch. Matt could just as easy work his way to locking in a guillotine choke from the clinch (like he did against Travis Lutter,) as Franklin could (T)KO Lindland.

Would be a good fight, I think.

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BARONI?! He is quite possibly one of the worst fighters ive seen! he gasses in the first round every damn fight?!..evan tanner owned him twice as well. he cant beat top level fighters. Lindland didnt do anything to horn!!! horn goit hit and he dropped to protect himself...he does that EVERY SINGLE TIME he gets hurt a little. the ref called it when lindland just hit him once. thats not even giving horn a chance. it was a bs call. i dont remember who said it but matt cut fedor because someone else cut him before so the skin is very weak in that area. not because matt is superman. did you see what david terrell and bustamante did to him? probly not....he got embarassed.....BIG TIME

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I agree with you that Baroni isn't really a good fighter. He does gas all the time I think he has too much muscle.

But anyway, Baroni still has knockout power, and he is a fast puncher. That is all I was getting at. Franklin is a striker, and Lindland would cause some problems for Franklin. It wouldn't be an easy fight for Rich.

In the end, I think Rich would keep to the outside, land shots on Lindland and TKO or KO him. But Lindland would put up a good fight, I think.

Where's David Terrell out to knock some sense into Lindland? He's always got an excuse no matter what. He's trying to start beef with the UFC in hopes of getting a job there.

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Posted by Svartorm

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Posted by JimiMak

Denis Kang and Nate Marquardt are def too green to take #1.

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Not to go totally off topic or anything, but Kang and Marquardt have more fights, and more time in MMA than everyone you've mentioned, so I can't see them being too green. I think Lindland might have been fighting longer time wise, but not matches wise.

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I'm talking more in terms of big fights. Both have a bigger number of fights but to me have done nothing to prove they are the top. I think Franklin and ASilva are the only two that really have resume's that compare to Lindland's. That will soon change as some of the new Zuffa cards try to figure out who was worth. Some will argue about Nate, but I personally have never been that impressed. I'll be really surprised if he can take Silva.