Chuck Liddell vs. Anderson Silva
By Curtis Clontz on Nov 04, 2008
Chuck Liddell is fading fast – sliding down the rankings right before our eyes. He has lost his last 3 out of 4 fights and trouble could be brewing in his California home. Anderson Silva on the other hand is on fire! He is the best fighter in the world and seems to be unbeatable. Yet both of these fighters seem to be at a stalemate in their careers. Could a fight between the old face and new face of the UFC be on the horizon?
This fight would be a record breaker. Everyone would order this fight. It would eclipse the record that Lesnar and Couture are sure to set. They both are known for their striking, and they will both be in the UFC’s Hall of Fame one day. One helped put the UFC in the mainstream, while another keeps it their. There are a few reasons this fight should happen but I think like many of the dream match ups that fans want to see, this one will never happen.
Then again we did finally see Chuck vs. Wand, and we are about to see Wand vs. Rampage in the cage. The difference between those fights and this one are astronomic in proportions. First of all Chuck and Anderson fight at different weight classes. Silva is the world’s leader at the 185 pound division, and Chuck is fading into a proving ground type of fighter at 205. The fight could happen at a catch weight such as 200 or something, or they could just schedule it at 205 to suit Chuck since he would be the overwhelming underdog.
Weight aside the other main reason that this probably won’t happen is strictly money. The fight would draw a huge viewing audience, but the UFC would have to pay both fighters big time, and could be the biggest payout for one fight in the UFC ever.
Another downside becomes visible when you think, what if Chuck takes another loss? Who cares if it is to Anderson Silva, it is still a loss. What if Chuck lands one of those haymakers and puts down Silva? It does nothing but put an asterisk on his superb UFC career. Right now Chuck can’t afford any loss. One more could mean he hangs up the gloves and calls it a career. Other fighters have been cut for a lot less than 3 straight losses. I don’t see Chuck being in trouble of being cut by no means, he will always have a home in the UFC, but he wont keep fighting if he can’t win.
Enough of the negativity, there are reasons that the UFC should put this one on. Of course money is a big factor, they would make plenty of it! They could possibly generate enough popularity to make it the most popular fight in UFC history! They would be able to sell air time and promos all around the world, especially if they marketed it in Brazil. It would be features on ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and tons of other journalism.
One reason I can see this fight happening is that Chuck may not have too many fights left in his career. He is not Randy and will not be able to use an all around game to generate a game plan and beat his opponents. What better way for the UFC to cap off of his name one last time than to match him up in this super fight? Use the Iceman one more time as a cash cow and rack up some big bucks.
At the end of the day, I am not sure if this fight will happen. There are arguments for and against. In their primes this would be an intense battle of stand up. One that could rival the Griffin vs. Bonnar 1 fight. This fight would do great. Fans would love it, and it is something the UFC should look into. However, they must know what would happen to the loser and if it would put an end to an era at 205.
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Damn, this is long!)
Rival the Griffin vs Bonnar fight. No. Neither fighter were technically sound strikers, they just put on a brawl. Neither Liddell or Silva will simply swing for the fences. They both have technical approaches and they’re both great counter strikers.
That’s why I really don’t think this fight will be as great as it potentially can be. Besides that, Chuck has been recently KOed (Evans), dropped (Jardine), and TKOed (Jackson). He’s definitely rethinking his approach and may be gun shy. One thing for sure, Anderson Silva will not be gun shy and his reflexes are way faster than Evans and Jackson.
This fight will feature to counter-strikers circling each other often. While Liddell may be looking to add more tools to his game, Silva will be sharpening and refining his Muay Thai, and his underestimated ground game.
I don’t think Hackleman would want his guy to enter the ring against Anderson Silva. Hackleman has already stated he doesn’t want Liddell to Machida for obvious reasons. He is elusive, and not willing to blindly engage. Chuck prospers when fighters are coming straight at him, something Jardine and Evans did not do. We already know Anderson will not outright attack any fighter in the first minute, well, except the Sandman James Irvin. Anderson is also very slick, creative and . . . elusive.
End note, we really need to stop echoing the Anderson Silva is the greatest 185 fighter in the world. After all there are a number of top fighters he did not face, Matt Lindland, Cung Le, Dennis Kang(?) now in the UFC, Mousasi (11 fight win streak), Damian Maia, Radach, Jacare, the list goes on. And I’ll add Patrick Cote. I guess we can scratch Dan Henderson off the list. I’m not sold on Bisping yet.
Are you saying he isn’t the best in the world?
I think Jardine and Evans were matched up against Chuck to try and give him a win. If that really is the case, I’m glad he lost both fights.
The UFC can match Liddel against a killer like Silva, and force Chuck to train his butt off to have a shot at winning, or they can match him up against another one of those guys who Chuck should almost certainly beat and watch as Chuck comes in unmotivated and gets defeated again. It’s their call. I hope he loses again if they choose the second option.
Unfortunately I think the UFC does that from time to time. Cote vs. Silva for example…
Curtis, I’m an Anderson Silva fan. The dude is phenomenal, entertaining, etc.
But he has holes in his game. Ask MMA scholar, Matt Hughes.
(just kidding)
Anderson is the UFC champion. Currently the best in their division BUT . . .
he hasn’t “cleaned” out the division nor has he beat the fighters considered to to be top fighters at 185lbs, many of whom do not fight in the UFC.
But not the best in the world. Along with P4P, that’s just a phrase to market a fighter. A stronger argument for the best HW in the world can be made for Fedor Emelianenko. That’s about it. The 2nd Affliction card will solidify his status. Arvloski better pray he doesn’t get taken down. Did Ben Rothwell look great on the floor or what?!?
haha couldn’t resist could ya? haha
I am not truly a Silva fan but I feel he is the best 185 in the world (right now).
Rothwell was a lot more impressive than I assumed he would be!
I think Sylvia is one of the best in the world. He still has great competition out there like Vee said that are not in the UFC. It is hard to label a guy the BEST when he can’t fight other fighters in other orgs.
That said…Sylvia has better striking technically. He would pick Chuck apart. Chuck’s best game plan would be to try and G-N-P him, but, Sylvia has some good jits to counter that. Chuck needs to re-evaluate his striking as he is getting picked apart in recent fights. I would still love to see this fight though.
Thanks for the great post, I have added it to my RSS feed for your future posts! Great!