Anderson Silva:
The Spider is Looking to Strike

November 27, 2008:
The last time Anderson Silva fought in the octagon was at UFC 90 against Patrick Cote. In that fight, Silva was declared the winner in the third round when Patrick’s knee decided to run away on him. Although not the performance people were hoping for from Silva, it was yet another successful middleweight title defense.

Now, the only real contender left at 185 is Yushin Okami. However, his methodical (some would substitute ‘boring’) style of winning fights has never gotten him the favor of the UFC brass. Okami’s next fight is scheduled to be on the preliminary portion of UFC 92 against Dean Lister. Obviously, the UFC is in no hurry to get Anderson Silva into another title defense until the middleweight division can sort itself out. So, let’s look at what interesting match-ups he can have at 205.

Chuck Liddell: This is a fight that has been heavily rumored to take place some time in 2009. I’m not sure if this is a good idea but I’m going to be objective about it anyway.

The good: It’s a high profile fight. Despite being the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world (I’m quoting Dana here, just don’t remind him about that Russian guy) he hasn’t been able to draw nearly the amount of PPV buys that Chuck Liddell has. This fight would be a good way for Anderson Silva to get some exposure to the big audience that Chuck carries with him. Stylistically the fight makes perfect sense because they’re both great strikers. This fight would almost guarantee a KO. If Anderson wins, he gets a nice notch on his belt. He could then continue to take on big names at 205 or go back to defending his title looking better than ever. As for Chuck Liddell, a win over Silva would instantly rejuvenate his career. It would show that he could still take on all the dangerous up-comers the UFC has to offer.

The bad: Chuck Liddell may not be ready for Silva at this point in his career. He’s lost 3 of his past 4 fights and doesn’t look to be getting any younger. He may not be Randy Couture’s age but we all know Randy is one of a kind. My concern with this fight is that if Chuck gets knocked out again he may call it a career. If Chuck gets a lesser-ranked fighter he’ll have a better chance of rebuilding his confidence. So, while this fight might be good for Anderson Silva’s career it doesn’t bode well for Chuck Liddell’s.

Randy Couture: This match-up looks very similar to Chuck Liddell in that both guys are legends in the UFC. I also have similar concerns for Randy as I did for Chuck.

The good: Much like a match-up with Chuck, this fight would be a great way for Anderson Silva to have a high profile fight. Randy’s name alone guarantees a certain number of buys. This would also be a good way for Randy Couture to drop down to 205. After fighting the monster that is Brock Lesnar, Randy may have little desire to stay at heavyweight. It’s been said that a guy with great wrestling is needed to negate Anderson’s ability on his feet. Randy Couture, the master of game planning, may be able to come up with a strategy that could take Anderson Silva out his element.

The bad: Again, I have to mention the danger of a man Randy’s age taking on Silva in his prime. Granted, Randy Couture has had a better relationship with Father Time than Chuck Liddell has these days. Randy actually gave Brock some trouble until he got knocked out. However it should be pointed out that Brock doesn’t have the most refined striking technique. We’ve seen in the Liddell vs. Couture saga (parts 2 and 3) that Randy has trouble with guys that have legitimate knockout power. Without question Anderson Silva has some of the best stand-up in all of MMA. I don’t know if the UFC wants to risk having Randy Couture get knocked out twice in a row, as that may force him to retire…again.

Lyoto Machida: Machida is someone who has been able to maintain a winning streak in the UFC for a long time. That’s no easy task. It could be time for him to take a step-up in competition and Anderson Silva could certainly fill that role.

The good: Lyoto Machida needs a challenge. He managed a victory over Tito Ortiz but that doesn’t count for too much in the year 2008. He’s shown in the past that he wins without taking chances. A fight with Anderson Silva would undoubtedly be a more volatile fight than anything he’s had in the UFC thus far. Machida could use his usual style of hit and run to frustrate Silva ala Patrick Cote or he could finally have a chance to open up a bit. Either way it would make for an interesting bout.

The bad: Silva and Machida are both personally and professionally connected and wouldn’t want to fight each other. I’d love to see a friend vs. friend fight to determine which one is worthy to get a title shot. However it’s more likely that they would refuse to fight each other on the count of them being friends. Anderson Silva has also stated that he doesn’t feel compelled to go after a light heavyweight title shot. I’ve heard talk that he has even stated that he is holding off on going for the 205 belt because he feels Lyoto Machida should have it.

Keith Jardine: This fight makes sense to me. Keith has been knocking on the door of contender status for quite some time. Each time he gets close, he suffers a knockout. Well, it could be that time once again.

The good: Keith Jardine wouldn’t be able to complain about getting a low-profile bout like he did when he had to face Houston Alexander. He’s put on his best performances when facing top ranked competition like Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin. I think he was caught off-guard in the Wanderlei fight because Wanderlei was coming off three consecutive losses. A win over Anderson Silva would force the UFC to give Keith a title shot. This also gives Anderson a chance to take a step up from James Irvin in the light heavyweight division. If Anderson Silva does win, the UFC won’t cry about it because they don’t regard Keith Jardine as being a valuable commodity. These two match-up well because they both like to strike. It would be Jardine’s herky-jerky style vs. Silva’s ballet of destruction. That sounds good to me!

The bad: Not much, really. Jardine’s been derailed before but he’s got enough years left that he’ll be able to mount a come back. Silva wouldn’t like losing to someone less than legendary like Keith Jardine. However, Anderson Silva is also the type of guy to not shy away from fights in which he has little to gain. I would still maintain that he has something to gain from this fight, albeit not as much as he would from Chuck Liddell or Randy Couture. I don’t think he’s as concerned with politics as some fighters are, even if there are times when he should be.

Concluding thoughts? Obviously, there are other matches that can happen that I didn’t discuss. Wanderlei Silva and ‘Rampage’ Jackson are set to do battle at the end of the year. Either of those fighters would pose a challenge to Anderson Silva. You could also take a chance on someone like Thiago Silva who is trying to make a name for himself.

I would argue that after the James Irvin debacle you’d need to give Anderson a formidable challenge. Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell both provide a very marketable match-up for Anderson Silva but it would be very risky to the career of the older man that takes the fight.

Keith Jardine and other top-ranked but not quite contenders make sense because Silva needs to fight someone who is more dangerous than James Irvine. It’s also nice to put a fighter in there that has time to build himself back up after a Silva face-rearranging. Looking at all the factors, I think Keith Jardine makes for a suitable opponent. However I think the UFC will want the most marketable fight for Silva. So, we’ll have to wait and see what they do. Either way, I’m not expecting Anderson Silva to lose any time soon! Of course, those are famous last words.

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