Anyone for Wanderlei Silva vs. Anderson Silva?
After watching the UFC 99 Countdown special it looks like a Wanderlei Silva vs. Anderson Silva fight is on the horizon. I don’t get the hype for this, especially so soon. I like the whole back story of “they used to be close friends but now hate each other!” and the wrinkle of Anderson Silva training with Rich Franklin for his UFC 99 bout with Wanderlei.
Still, I’m not terribly interested in seeing that fight. I used to be a huge Wanderlei Silva fan, especially when he was in PRIDE, but I’ve soured on him lately. I’m fine with his move down to middleweight but I’d like to see him fight a few guys at middleweight before taking on Silva. I’d like to see him fight Demain Maia or even Yushin Okami.
The winner of one of those fights would rightly deserve a shot at Anderson Silva’s title and that match could be a decent draw. I also don’t think Wanderlei is going to take down Franklin (Franklin is favored in Vegas, for what’s it’s worth).
Wanderlei would be a much better opponent than Thales Leites or James Irvin, but we’re running out of Anderson Silva fights (potentially). If he beats Forrest Griffin, he should stay at 205 unless he gets a superfight with Georges St. Pierre or until a clear challenger at 185 establishes himself.
Back tomorrow with a full look at UFC 99.
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
dude i have to say that you used to be a Wandie fan but you've soured on him just cause he's in a slump sounds like a bandwagon fan too me
Posted by: Steven Gates | June 12, 2009 5:44 AM
This fight would be a waste of a fight IMHO. Wandy used to be a factor, but he just isn't anymore. It's almost like the old days when we realized that Tank Abbott wasn't gonna stick around as anything more than an entertaining basher.
Posted by: Hans | June 12, 2009 9:55 AM
Wandy has just got old fast, 3-4 years ago wandy would have a chance against the spider but now hes too old, his aggression, speed, cardio is all going down.
If you start fighting at an early age your gonna retire at an early age. Shogun will prolly retire early too. and look at guys like couture and brock, they both started in their late 20's i think so they gonna go into their 40's
Posted by: f3dor | June 30, 2009 6:29 PM