Nov 17, 2008 - 10:03:08 AM By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The UFC will be heading back to the UK, and the O2 Arena in London, for UFC 95 on February 21st. This will be the UFC's third go-around in the O2. The U.K.'s The Sun newspaper is reporting on a possible massive main event for that show between Middleweight Champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva and Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell. This would be Silva's second jump up to light heavyweight in the UFC, the first coming with his first round destruction of James Irvin this past July. This would be Liddell's first fight following his knockout loss to Rashad Evans at September's UFC 88.
Penick's Analysis: There are reasons to both love and hate this fight. You love the match up because of what Chuck Liddell has been in the past and what Anderson Silva is now. It's in some ways a clash of titans, although with Liddell having lost three of his last four fights, the luster is off of him at the moment. This could, however, end up being a a very bad situation regardless of the outcome; a Liddell loss will almost certainly necessitate retirement for "The Iceman," and a Silva loss would break that unbeatable aura that's been built by his domination in the middleweight division. Although, to be fair, showcase fights are really all that Liddell has left, really being knocked out of any title consideration anytime soon by his loss to Evans. The problem is that this would be another division being held up for the Champ to take on a "super fight." We've already got that problem at lightweight and welterweight with the Penn-St. Pierre fight coming up, and this would just be more of the same. At the same time, however, Silva's shown such dominance in the division that it also gives some of the lower tiered fighters time to make their case for getting a shot. The Demian Maia's and Michael Bisping's of the division aren't yet ready to challeng "The Spider," so perhaps in a way giving time to establish a clear #1 contender would not be so bad. Again, though, should Silva lose, that creates a whole other mess for the perceptions of him. This will create months of back and forth I'm sure when and if this fight is announced, so we'll get to more on this once we get an official announcement either way.
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The middleweight division is going to be held up anyway. We still have
Hendo-Franklin with the winner coaching against Bisping on TUF. Then the
coaches will fight after the show to determine a #1 contender for the
middleweight title. We may not only see Silva fight Liddell, but he may
take another "superfight" after that before he finally returns to defend
the middleweight crown.
ginrog
17 Nov 2008, 22:57
So far Silva has proven that he can move up and down rather quickly to
fight in both divisions so I don't see this as that bad considering he will
probably defend in April or May. This is totally different from Penn who
hasn't fought since May and probably won't defend til May.
Jamie Penick
17 Nov 2008, 23:26
Ginrog, that's very true, and I honestly think if this fight takes place
that Silva handles Liddell fine and goes back to defend his title sooner
rather than later.
