Chuck Liddell and Anderson Silva
The remnants from UFC 97 seem to be falling into place. UFC president Dana White claims there will be “war” if Chuck Liddell won’t retire gracefully, all but ensuring we’ve seen the last of Liddell in the Octagon. Is everyone cool with this? Anyone still want to see Liddell fight?
I may be in the minority, but I feel like the guy has earned the right to go out any way he wants. He’s already a legend in the sport and sticking around too long left fans with unpleasant memories of Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali, but hasn’t he earned that? If White is going to let Mark Coleman come back in his mid-40s, he should at least let Liddell have another fight or two so he doesn’t go out on a loss.
I think the guy can still fight and while he will never be a contender anymore, I’d still be interested to see him have a few more fights (maybe a rematch with Randy Couture and a shot at former TUF student Forrest Griffin?).
As for Anderson Silva, he’s been paired with Griffin for UFC 101. Finally, the UFC is giving Silva a legitimate challenge. This is a huge fight for both guys and it was just a matter of time before we saw Silva at 205. Although he won’t fight Lyoto Machida, if Machida doesn’t beat Rashad Evans, Silva’s last four fights could be memorable in the UFC.
That’s the best fight for Silva since he took on Dan Henderson at UFC 82. It’s been far too long since we’ve seen him against a worthy opponent.
Kevin Richardson has been a fan of mixed martial arts competition ever since UFC 3, when 600-pound sumo wrestler Emmanuel Yarborough was beaten by Keith Hackney. Kevin will cover the world of MMA — in Baltimore, nationally and internationally. He plans to take readers into the locker rooms and MMA schools, where they'll hear from local fighters and trainers. If you have a news tip or suggestions for the blog, please 
Comments
I'm very happy that Silva will finally be in another exciting fight, Forrest will definately guarantee that. I don't see it as a very challenging fight as Henderson was. The only challenging opponents I see left in the UFC for Anderson are GSP, Rampage, and Evans (I think Machida is better than the latter two, but they're in the same camp so they won't fight). He wants to cement his legacy and hopefully he gets a chance for fight atleast two of those guys.
As for Chuck Liddell, I agree with you that hes earned the right to go out on his terms, but he should retire. I believe Dana actually cares about Chuck and give him his chance. Dana could easily make huge PPVs by adding Chuck on the card, but he isn't going to. I can see Dana giving Chuck someone he should easily beat, but that would be horrible if Chuck lost again.
Posted by: Phi | May 6, 2009 7:04 PM