New Ed Soares Interviews Reveals the Future for Key Members of Black House

Some love him, some hate him, some don’t even know who he is. He’s Ed Soares, and he’s the manager and translator to some of the biggest UFC stars currently fighting: Lyoto Machida, Anderson Silva, and many more. Ed Soares is closely tied to the Black House gym, the camp that by far contains the most elite Brazilian MMA talent currently fighting in MMA. Soares recently spoke in a video with MMAWeekly and had several interesting things to say about his fighters.

Some of the highlights include the following: “I think the Light Heavyweight Division is very deep in the UFC, so I think [Antonio Rogerio Nogueira] will definitely be ‘in the mix’ [if he beats Ryan Bader]…[Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira] has had surgery on his knee and we’re waiting on when he’s going to do his hip surgery, probably within the next couple of weeks. I think he’ll realistically be out six months…[Lyoto Machida] is very excited to get back in there [against Quinton Jackson] and fight. He feels like a better, more complete fighter now, and I guarantee you he’s going to have that Light Heavyweight belt around his waist again, and soon… This year’s been great for us.”

You know what I think, fans and friends? I honestly don’t understand why everyone is so quick to judge Ed Soares. I’ve heard him called a coward, a cheat, a clown, a swindler, all manner of negative comments. And I honestly see nothing to base that negativity on. Soares almost always comes off very humble, and he’s basically never gotten a big head despite the fact that he’s in charge of some of the biggest names in the UFC. Soares actually seems like a pretty stand-up guy, and I don’t see any reason to vilify him. He may be “famous by association”, but so are guys like Greg Jackson and John Hackleman. I just don’t understand why so many people dislike the man.

I’m very interested in the things he has to say, and I think he gave us a lot of great information in this short interview. If you forced me to, I’d list Black House as my favorite camp in MMA, with the American Kickboxing Academy and Jackson’s Submission Fighting closely tied for second. So of course I’m very interested in their developments. I agree with Soares that a big win over Bader will put “Little Nog” into prime championship contention. It’s already been announced that the winner of Bader/Nogueira will more than likely face the surging Jon Jones, and if that fight ends dramatically, I can see the winner getting an immediate title shot.

I’m really pulling for “Big Nog” and hope that his surgeries are a success. I still think that he can have a good run in the UFC’s Heavyweight division, and I look forward to seeing him step inside the Octagon once again. I’m looking forward to the return of Lyoto Machida even more, since I’ve been a fan of “The Dragon” ever since he debuted. Long before he KO’d Thiago Silva and Rashad Evans, back when the war over whether Machida was elusive or afraid seemed to rage without end, I was one of the ones that vehemently stood by him and predicted that he’d hold a championship one day. And believe me, he’ll hold one again. Machida is down but definitely not out.

I think the sky’s the limit for those at Black House, and that we’ll continue to see some amazing fighters coming out of this elite camp. But what about you, fans and friends? What do you think of Black House, and more specifically, what’s your taken on this recent Ed Soares interview?