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Chuck Liddell Vs. Wanderlei Silva Announced |
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Written by Ivan Trembow, MMA Weekly.com
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Sunday, 09 July 2006 |
 The UFC has announced that Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei
Silva will finally be fighting each other at a UFC event in November,
provided that Liddell is able to successfully defend his UFC Light
Heavyweight Title against Renato "Babalu" Sobral on August 26th at UFC
62.
Though the rankings vary, Liddell and Silva are widely
regarded as two of the top three 205-pound fighters in any MMA
organization in the world, along with Silva's teammate and fellow Pride
star Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, who won a 16-man Grand Prix tournament of
205-pound fighters in Pride last year.
When asked during the
post-UFC 61 press conference whether the Liddell-Silva fight will be a
title fight, UFC president Dana White reportedly said, "It will be for
the title." When asked by another reporter whether Silva is signed for
a certain number of fights in the UFC, White reportedly said, "Yeah,
three [fights]. We're probably going to have him for three." When asked
by another reporter whether there will be more Pride stars fighting on
future UFC cards, White reportedly said, "Possibly. Every year, we try
to take it to another level."
Though it wasn't specifically
mentioned by the UFC, a few other things will also have to happen (or
not happen) in order for Silva vs. Liddell to take place in November.
Liddell will need to not only beat Sobral on August 26th, but he will
also have to beat Sobral without sustaining any injuries in the process
if he is going to fight Silva in November. Liddell has been out of
action since February due to foot surgery.
In addition,
Wanderlei Silva will have to escape unscathed from his fight (or
fights) on the "Pride Final Conflict Absolute" card on September 10th
in Japan, which is just two months before his scheduled fight against
Liddell in November. Silva will be fighting on the Pride card in the
final four of Pride's 16-man Open Weight Grand Prix, in which the other
three semi-finalists are highly ranked heavyweights Antonio Rodrigo
Nogueira, Mirko Cro Cop, and Josh Barnett.
The semi-finals and
finals of Pride's Open Weight Grand Prix will both take place on
September 10th, so Silva will be fighting twice in one night if he wins
in the semi-finals. While Silva's fight against Liddell in the UFC
would not be dependent on whether Silva wins or loses in the Pride
Grand Prix, Silva would certainly have to emerge from the event
injury-free, win or lose, in order to be able to fight Liddell in the
UFC two months later.
It has not been announced whether Liddell
will also be fighting Silva in a Pride ring (under Pride rules) in
Japan at any time in the future.
Another factor that has not
been addressed by the UFC or Pride is how the Silva-Liddell match-up
will affect each fighter's potential title defenses against fighters
from their own companies. Prior to the Silva-Liddell announcement, Tito
Ortiz was believed to be #1 contender for the UFC Light Heavyweight
Title (after the Liddell vs. Sobral fight in August), while the top
contenders for Silva's 205-pound title in Pride are believed to be
Ricardo Arona and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
One also has to
wonder what exactly is going to happen if Silva manages to beat Liddell
for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title. One would certainly think that the
UFC would not sign a Silva-Liddell fight without having a contractual
guarantee that Liddell gets a rematch if he loses to Silva, but that is
pure conjecture and is just one of the many questions that MMA fans are
pondering right now.
In the big picture, though, it all boils
down to the fact that it looks like Chuck Liddell is going to be
fighting Wanderlei Silva in the near future, and that's something that
hardcore MMA fans have been waiting to hear for years.
From MMA Weekly.com
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