Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva: What’s Next?
The end of the year extravaganza of events brought about a historic matchup that had been fantasized about by many mixed martial arts fans. Chuck Liddell fought Wanderlei Silva on Saturday evening to finally determine which of the two dominating strikers was better skilled in fight that was supposed to never go to a decision. Unfortunately for many fans, the fight didn’t end in a catastrophic knockout that rocked the arena with a shockwave from the impact. Instead, we saw a fantastic display of determination and heart from both fighters.
Eventually, Liddell’s reach advantage and better overall striking technique bested the looping mechanics of Silva’s standup skills. Although Silva hung his head in shame, it was evident that his intense training regiment of a snorkel, closed off nostrils, and heavy circuit work had increased his abilities to recover and hardened his chin. Liddell even stated after the fight that he was surprised by Silva’s chin. Both fighters exhibited improved skills and cardio, so to an extent, both fighters helped each other gain something from this fight. Where will these guys go next?
Liddell looking up to the top
Liddell showed us that he is still very dangerous at the ripe age of 38 years old. Many fans were giving up on Liddell’s one-dimensional skillset, but he showed that he could at least show his wrestling skills in order to eat up time and lock in the win. His reach advantage was obviously a factor, but punching with straight loaded punches was the key to beating Silva’s attempts to get inside with his looping haymakers. With the win, it seems that Liddell’s popularity may propel him back to the top very quickly much. This may be much to the dismay to hardcore fans who have been waiting to see some of the current talent near the top get a title shot.
With that said, who’s in the mix to face Liddell next? Let’s go straight down the list of names. Griffin and Rampage are both facing each other in what was said at the UFC 79 post-event press conference as sometime in August. The most talked about names are “Shogun” Rua, Lyoto Machida, and some fans have even suggested Rashad Evans as a filler fight before a title shot. Interesting choices indeed.
Rua may have some significant problems against Liddell. Liddell’s striking is very good, and Rua’s power has never been enough to really knock anyone out with a solid punch. His power lies in his knees and clinch much like one of his former training partners, Wanderlei Silva. It is definitely a matchup that gives Liddell more boost in his ranking and definitely could legitimize a title fight. Shogun did after all beat Rampage in PRIDE.
Machida is an interesting fight that would be surprising for the UFC to make. If their intention is to build Liddell back up into a champion, Machida is not the type of fighter that you want to fight. His tactical strikes and counter striking skills would be frustrating for Liddell to deal with. Even more frustrating, Liddell is also a counter puncher. This could make for a very boring bout, or a bout that Liddell makes a big mistake getting caught up in the crowd’s booing when Machida simply waits out Liddell. Machida doesn’t budge and is patient. Liddell is definitely more likely to make the mistake.
Evans just defeated Michael Bisping, but it wasn’t in any type of dominating fashion. We are all very used to seeing Rashad dance in the cage and win close decision battles, but that won’t solidify him as a top fighter. Chuck may get an easy win fight in Rashad Evans, and that type of matchup doesn’t present anything overly tough for Chuck to overcome. Does that matchup really have a chance of happening? Rua is a more likely opponent. Soukoudjou is always in the mix as well.
Silva is still dangerous
The UFC will most likely be looking to get Silva some wins and hopefully down the line promote a rematch of the two strikers. In the end, Liddell does seem to have the advantage, and it will be up to Silva to improve enough to defeat Liddell’s reach and good striking. Who can the UFC put up against him to begin the trail back?
Will they relegate Jardine to taking on “The Axe Murderer”? It’s always possible, but unlikely due to the fact that Jardine did just beat Liddell in his last fight. Rashad is more realistic of a matchup for Silva, but Soukoudjou is now in the mix and could provide an epic war of two more strikers. Does the UFC want to risk losing their investment on Silva? Its doubtful, but Joe Silva may feel that it is stylistically better for Wanderlei. Soukoudjou has longer reach however and some of the same type of striking as Liddell.
Silva vs. Thiago Silva? Two strikers. Silva vs. Houston Alexander? Two strikers. The UFC has a plethora of striking opponents that would be thrilled to face a top notch striker like Wanderlei Silva. Unfortunately for those fighters, Silva’s cardio techniques seemed to have enabled him to recover from heavy blows very well. We could see a run through some opponents for Silva and if Liddell happens to be stopped on his way to the top, we could see a clash of the two legends again.
Outlook for Silva and Liddell
As dominant as Wanderlei Silva was in PRIDE at times, he has some problems. Technically speaking, his striking isn’t exactly tactical or strategic in any way. He tries to capitalize on his opponent moving in and missing a strike or he moves in with such a quick pace that it surprises his opponent. The problem with that type of style is that it does open you up to the flash knockout and is more susceptible to leaving yourself open to defeat. He’ll have to prove to us that he can really become surgical with those heavy looping punches.
Liddell, on the other hand, has a very good outlook. Rua is a matchup that should definitely benefit him if it happens, and there really isn’t a battle near the upper-echelon that Liddell doesn’t have a great chance at winning. Rampage is really his only huge obstacle. Look for Liddell to get another win and begin moving up the ladder again.
Tags: Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva
in light of your writeup, as well as subsequent events, liddell-jardine looks more and more like one of joe silva’s biggest matchmaking errors. time will tell i guess.
Guys lets be fair here.. it was a great fight that was decided in the last round.. up to that point Silva had it on my card.. it was only that late half flurry that decided it..
I will remind you as well that Silva has two wins over Rampage so you know a title fight will be in the works sooner rather than later..
We know some fighters are better suited to some rather than the other.. Liddell will never beat Rampage..
As for Joe Silva after the fight with Alexander he thought the match with Jardine whose chin looked suspect would have favoured Liddell.. but it turns out Alexander just hits harder than Liddell..
I say throw the two Heavy Hitters together.. Alexander vs Soukoudjou..
Rua vs Lidell (I don’t think Lidell will be as favoured as you think)
I believe it wasn’t fair of Joe to give Forrest a shot at the title after a few losses just because he won one..
Vanderlei and Rua should have both walked in and got a crack at the title.. because they were the higher ranked fighters..
I would have much rather seen Rampage vs Vanderlei or Rua
We would have been treated to some epic fights.. but the UFC’s conservative approach maybe has robbed us of all the epic fights..
Sure they lost to game fighters but those guys definitely don’t have more skill..
In Forrest’s case he weared down an unfit Rua..
My darkhorse in the division is Thiago Silva he looks like a fit all around fighter.. knockout power and solid on the ground.. I think he will give fits to many in the division.. feed Evans or Jardine to him so he can knock them out in style.. and then take on Vanderlei or Liddell for the next shot at the title!
how can u say silva was winnin on ur card at the end of the second u must be bumming silva to think that! chuck used silvas head as a punch bag all way threw the match silva didn`t have chuck worried one bit!
the only thing i sorta agree wiv u on that is thiago silva takeing on chuck winner getting a title shot against forrest after he grounds an pounds the wanabe ganstar rampage.
liddell will be champ this time next year!
Wanderlei and Rua did not deserve a title shot coming right into it. How could you even say that? Ramapage didnt get his title shot until he beat someone. They both lost and I think the Forrest Rampage fight is going to test Rampage like he hasnt been tested yet. Forrest is not a boring fighter and will come at you. Rampage hasnt seen that yet in the UFC. Gonna be something else.
If they will quit giving Machida the shaft he’ll be champ by this time next year… They say he doesn’t finish fights.. well he finished off the overhyped African assassin… Machida is to smart and technically sound (not to mention he trains at Blackhouse with anderson silva) Honestly when does he get a shot..
sean he gets a shot when he beats the liddells,silvas,thiago,evens,jardine,shoguns not when he beats some over hype african, just because he comes from the same camp of the best p4p fighter doesn`t mean hes also the best, and by the way that fight wiv sokoudjou was boreing as hell
Good write up LR.
I completely agree about Liddell/Rua, Liddell would KO Sho-Gun.
Sho-Gun and Wand are too little for the UFC 205 lb weight class IMO.
Since they can’t roid anymore, and each has lost roughly 10 - 15 lb’s of muscle, it woud serve each of them to drop to 185 where their size would be an advantage and their strength would transfer better.
They just look so little compared to the other 205′ers in the UFC.
i would say Wanderlei vs Houston, and Shogun vs Soko. Soko had been calling him out since his wins over Lil Nog and Arona. Then have Liddell vs Evans, and Machida vs Jardine.
I can’t figure out why Machida is still the low guy on the totem pole here. All he’s done is beat everyone he’s fought. I give Forrest a ton of credit for his two-fight win streak, but they gave him the shot because they wanted personalities on their TV show, not because they wanted the #1 contender.
Still, that win over Rua was epic. as a fight fan…WOW
I look forward to seeing Thiago Silva again. He is a monster and very well could be the dark horse of the LHW division.
Now that Alexander lost I’d love to see a rematch between Jardine and him. I doubt that will happen but it would be nice to see Jardine take him on without being overly confident.
I think the winner of the Silva/Liddell fight should have fought Forrest and THEN maybe a title shot. Oh well…
Bottom line is…as much as everyone hates him… Jardine deserves a title shot after beating Liddell (which I very much enjoyed watching).
I’ve heard the rumors regarding a potential move to Middleweight for Wanderlei and Shogun, but they aren’t confirmed and are purely speculation.
Is no one wondering about the huntington beach bad boy here, after all he has a W against wanderlei, he could still be a win away from being in the mix, looking forward to seeing Thiago Silva fight next, all the best to whoever is facing him !!!!
Silva vs Jardine
Liddell vs Houston is good enough
i think wanderlei should drop to middleweight.he was in no way disgraced by losing to liddell.he was fighting a top level fighter.silva is a hard fight for all and is nearly always exciting to watch.great win for chuck and though i think rampage has his number i expect chuck to fight his way to another shot at the title.there is so many good lhws it will be a great year of fights in that division.im sure we would all like to see a few of the smaller lhws drop to middleweight to make some good fights down there too.
I would like to see these match-ups (they make sense to me anyways)
Chuck v. Machida- I don’t care if it boads to be a stalemate, Machida deserves it.
Ortiz v. Rua- It would be an excellent match for both.
Wanderlei(or Sokodoujo) v. Thiago(or Sokodoujo)- Red hot Silva on Silva action!
Rashad Evans v. Nobody- and shoot the winner, just not impressed with “the Sug”
With all these great Light Heavies out there i still find myself wanting to see Thiago Silva fight again. I was at Validation and saw him live. He is legit. T Silva vs Jardine, W Silva vs Evans, same card as the Griffin vs Jackson fight. Let’s make it happen.
well this is the fights i see coming up 4 THE LW DIV
THIAGO SILVA V.S KEITH JARDINE
RAHSAD EVANS VS CHUCK LIDELL
QUITON RAMPAGE V.S FORREST GRIFFIN ALREADY HAPPENING
HOUSTON ALEXNDER V.S RAMEU SOKUDJOU BOTH COMING OF LOSSES WILL BE INTRESTED 2 SEE WHO WINS THIS FIGHT
TITO ORTIZ V.S WANDELI SILVA
SO WHAT DO U GUYS THINK OF THESE FIGHTS
Tito vs. Wanderlei might be a credible matchup due to the rematch factor, but it was so long ago. Tito would definitely bring the bull out in Wanderlei as well. A war of words that would ignite a marketing dream for Zuffa. I could see it happening.
YEAH THESE MATCH UPS I THOUGHT UP AFTER UFC 78 AND 79 THIS
WHAT DO U GUYS KNOW ANY OTHER LHWS THAT IS IN CONTETION
Leland…I think that is the match-up we will see and that is the one I want to see. That is the smart money fight for Wanderlei.
This 205 belt picture is muddled up quite a bit. The real question no one is asking is who is going to hold the belt? My thought is shouldn’t Keith Jardine be next in line and the next defense of the belt isn’t til August. So what are these guys going to be fighting for over the next year? Pay-per view buys. I guess it allows the drama to unfold in other weight classes.
i say jardine fights one more guy like thiago silva and he will get a title shot
I want to see Evans go up against a striker so him vs either Chuck or Wandy….either one would be a good one. Preferably Chuck just for the fact that he has such a good take down defense it would force Evans to throw some punches. Evans had good feet, he needs to learn to punch though.
TITO ORTIZ V.S WANDELI SILVA!!!!!!!!!!!! haha that would be a great fight, and also, i think that rampage will cut right threw griffin and then threw lidell, then maybe anderson silva……? not likely but that would be hell of a fight.
Tito has beaten Wandy. Anderson Silva is not moving anywhere from MW. Rampage is not moving anywhere from LHW…..so that is pretty not a possiblity.
Ortiz does not like to get hit, would love to see Wanderlei lay him out. If wandy does drop to 185 he and anderson would be an epic battle. Everyones gonna be behind chuck now, but im still not impressed, he hit wandy with all he had and couldnt knock him out. Machida v Liddell is bad fight for liddell, I would like to see him fight Thiago. But the fact of the matter is Liddell cant beat Rampage. I really dont see Liddell as the champ again. If Rua comes back in shape, he should be a force to be reckoned with for anyone. Look for Wanderlei, Machida, Thiago, and Rampage to be at the top of the pecking order for a while. Jardine didnt get a shot at Wanderlei because he beat a lazy out of shape chuck liddell. Jardine also got knocked out by Alexander who in my opinion is over rated. Yea he knocked some guys out but he has no ground game and would get destroyed by any of the top dogs. Griffin will be a tough opponent especially with Randy “the king of laying down an assbeating” Couture in his corner. As for rashad, he has reached his peak and will not accomplish much more in the UFC. The Fact of the matter is the reason why Liddell has gotten these breaks is because he and dana white are “boys”. Dana “used” to manage him, so im sure there is some favoritism being played. In the end, Im calling Liddell done by the end of the year. I would like to see Andrei Arlovski drop to LHW and start wasting people.
Machida Vs. Liddell for title shot.
Shogun vs. Tito (Tito will get fu&^ed up)
Wanderlei vs. Evans (Evans = nice guy, boring fighter)
And….. the battle of the beasts:
Houston Alexander Vs. Sodouku
Jardine Vs. Thiago Silva (if Jardine wins, gets title shot after Liddell)
****, they could make a card out of my suggestion:
(Or some of yours) The Battle of the Light Heavyweights, No?
if jardine wins i think he deserves a title shot first because he beat liddell so yeah and next in line would be rashad in my eyes
I think one of the LHW heros needs to fight Machida.. He doesn’t duck anyone and has beat all challengers.. give him one of these top guys so he can validate himself or prove what most think (he is not that good).. I personally believe in him and hope he gets a real shot.. Its ****ty to me how someone can get their ass handed to them a couple times or whatever.. then win a fight then all of a sudden they are in the title picture.. this guy is freakin undefeated and gets no respect.. he’s like the rodney dangerfield of the UFC… HA HA
Why not throw all of these guys in the TUF house and have your next TUF show where the winner is your #1 contender? The show would get ratings through the roof and would provide ample opportunity for upsets (if any would happen).
dale that would actually be a good idea and it would be funny 2 see all these guys in the house
Ok check this out, First off to everyone who is saying that Chuck will not beat Rampage I want to remind you that anything can happen. Liddell hits hard, it only takes him to land one good punch to change an entire fight. Rampage is good no doubt, but I want to see them fight again. And honestly Chuck’s personal lifestyle really screwed him up for the Rampage fight, he will admit that to you. Alcohol and drugs have always been a problem of Chuck’s, and he admited in an interview that it had a huge impact on his fighting abilities against Rampage. If Chuck keeps himself out the club and training hard, dont be suprised if Rampage ends up out cold.
Chuck was younger, stronger, and not living the rockstar lifestyle that he does now when he got beat by Rampage the first time. Invalid excuse. Yes while anything can happen, it is a slim chance, Rampage just has his number. Machida on the other hand will prove a difficult opponent because he has amazing technical ability. It is extremely hard to throw hands with guys like Machida and Anderson Silva who just have insane technical prowess. Its hard to hit guys like that. The reason why they won’t be thrown in the TUF house is simple. TUF is used to filter in new talent into the ufc, with the exception of the “comeback” season. While it would be entertaining to see what would happen if someone like Tito gave Wanderlei and upper decker, it will never happen.
lol upper decker ide never even hered ov that until war machine did it lol must be an american thing pritty sick but funny as f**k
Silva should have won
Don’t know what happened to him - he was not the old silva I new.
but still in the 2nd round he had a chance to win after knocking down liddel - and didn’t do it
what’s wrong with him ?
Wanderlei is gonna be the light heavyweight champ!
Shogun vs. griffon was a fluke. Shogun should have crushed forrest. Wanderlei could have roasted chuck when he dropped him in the 2nd round. Wandy should have also used his knees against chuck. Chuck knows that wandy spaired his life in the 2nd round. If wandy keeps getting more KO’s like the one against jardine then u know that bad memories from pride are going to come back and haunt rampage. Same thing with shogun. Also the ufc should not have bought out pride. The ufc said they were converging, but i don’t see fedor coming over to fight couture or noguera and i don’t see takanori gomi fighting bj penn. When the ufc bought out pride they didn’t bring over some of the best pride fighters such as fedor, gomi, sakuraba, sakarai, kang and murilo “ninja” rua.
Also what is the ufc thinking. They are idiots to even consider letting arlovski go. He is still one of the best if not the best striker in the heavywieght division. They say he has not been exciting but look who he has fought in his last 3 fights. None of his last 3 opponents have even been in his league. So what if he played it safe with werdum. With Cruz and Obrien he didn’t even need to break a sweat. The ufc needs to put him aginst some worthy opponents and stop insulting him with these bums. Arlovski is very fast, very powerful and very intimidating. He is possibly the best striker in the heavyweight division. So is he worth letting go of? I don’t think so.
IN MY OPINION WANDERLEI SILVA IS THE BEST FIGHTER PERIOD. HE HAS A UNIQUE ONE OF A KIND STYLE. HE’S NUMBER ONE IN MY BOOK!