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For many years, Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva was the ultimate MMA dream fight. Liddell and Silva were arguably the top two 205-pound fighters in the world, top stars of their respective promotions, and strikers known for exciting fights. Liddell vs. Silva was a fight that UFC President Dana White longed to make and hardcore MMA fans greatly anticipated.
The only problem was the fight seemed destined not to happen. Many times it appeared the fight was on the verge of taking place, and every time it fell through. It has been a long journey, but at UFC 79 Liddell and Silva will finally face off.
Speculation about a Liddell-Silva fight began in 2002, with Silva on a long winning streak in Pride and Liddell on a long winning streak in the UFC. Silva was the Pride Middleweight Champion, having defeated Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba. Liddell beat a who's who of UFC fighters, and his victory over Vitor Belfort established him as the number one contender for UFC's Light Heavyweight Title.
Tito Ortiz was still the UFC's top dog at 205 pounds, but Liddell and Silva was the inter-promotional dream fight. Silva and Ortiz had already fought, and stylistically a fight between strikers Liddell and Silva was more appealing.
Politics got in the way of the fight. Neither Pride nor UFC wanted to jeopardize their planned fights. Silva was doing big business by taking on a series of Japanese opponents. Liddell had a UFC title fight on the horizon.
The situation changed in 2003. Liddell suffered a surprising loss to Randy Couture, setting up a Couture-Ortiz showdown. That left an opening for Liddell to fight elsewhere, and he was designated as UFC's representative in Pride's 2003 Grand Prix tournament.
By this time, Liddell made clear his interest in fighting Silva in the tournament. That wouldn't happen in the first round, where Liddell defeated Alistair Overeem and Silva defeated Kazushi Sakuraba again. Since both men advanced to the semifinals of the tournament, Silva-Liddell was again a possibility.
Pride placed Silva and Liddell on opposite sides of the bracket, which meant that if both won they would meet in the finals. Silva advanced and won the tournament, but Liddell lost in the semi-finals to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. This derailed the Silva-Liddell discussion, and Liddell returned to UFC.
Interest in Liddell-Silva only increased over the next few years. Liddell won his next seven fights, becoming UFC's biggest star. His wins over Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture cemented his reputation as UFC's top 205-pound fighter. Meanwhile, Silva continued to excel in Pride. His brutal knockouts of Quinton Jackson still stand as two of his most impressive victories. Silva and Liddell were the respective champions of Pride and UFC, and talk again turned to a Silva-Liddell battle.
In 2006, UFC officials thought they had finally put the fight together. With great pleasure, White brought Silva and Liddell into the UFC octagon at UFC 61 and announced the fight would take place. The announcement proved to be premature, as talks between UFC and Pride fell apart. Pride was planning an American debut, and didn't want to lend one of its most marketable fighters to UFC.
While the fight didn't look like it would happen, that didn't stop the grandstanding. At Pride's Real Deal debut in the United States, Silva came to the ring and challenged Liddell. It was just a tactic to grab attention, but Silva's passion made it clear he very much wanted the fight.
While Silva/Liddell wasn't likely to be negotiated between UFC and Pride, the opportunity to make the fight presented itself again when Pride began suffering financial difficulties. Pride was sold to UFC and UFC reached an agreement with Silva. Silva vs. Liddell again seemed possible.
UFC looked to put together Silva vs. Liddell for its September event in Anaheim, but Silva wanted more time to prepare for the fight. UFC still wanted Liddell to fight on the card, and brought in Keith Jardine as an opponent.
This decision ended up putting Silva/Liddell in jeopardy again. Liddell lost via decision to Jardine, and UFC executives were non-committal following UFC 76 as to Silva's next opponent. Ultimately, the company decided to go ahead with the fight. At UFC 79, the years of build will finally culminate in the Liddell-Silva fight.
The fight itself has many question marks. Both Liddell and Silva are coming off consecutive losses. There has been greater focus on a potential decline of Liddell because he is 38 and his losses were viewed by significantly more American viewers. However, Liddell didn't look particularly bad in either fight. He got caught by Jackson and suffered a close defeat to Jardine. Neither was the sort of crippling psychological blow that can lead to a precipitous fighter decline.
The fighter with more questions to answer is Silva. Silva is younger than Liddell, but he has been in many more fights. He also has to deal with a transition from Pride back to the UFC, which means different rules and testing procedures. The most problematic factor is that Silva is coming off a pair of brutal knockout losses. Silva was devastated by strikes from Mirko Cro Cop and Dan Henderson. Physically and psychologically, those losses will be difficult to overcome.
Liddell vs. Silva is a very different fight than it was when first proposed. It won't determine the best 205-pound fighter. Rather, it is a legacy fight that will help to frame the career of each man. The stakes are high, and a standup war is likely. Regardless of how the fight turns out, many in mixed martial arts will be pleased with the simple fact that the fight finally ended up taking place.
