Having a hard time picking a winner on this one! There is an interesting background to it all. This fight has been in the works since early `06 and likely prior to that, we just do not know about. It has the makings of a great war and hopefully can live up to the hype!
Back in July 2006 at UFC 61 Dana introduces Silva to the UFC crowd and brings him in the cage. This is prior to the whole Pride purchase so this was a huge event at the time as there was always question as to which organization had the better fighters. Wandy gets the mic and says he wants to the fight the best in the UFC, i.e. Mr. Iceman, so in comes Chuck and they have a little stare down. The announcement was for the fight to be in November with one stipulation, Chuck had to beat Renato Sobral 'Babalu' in August and retain his title.
*Side note: Babalu got fired from UFC for not relinquishing a choke hold in a later fight after the ref told him to stop when his opponent tapped, serves him right!*
August came and went and Babalu, a Jiu-Jitsu black belt tries to go toe to toe with Chuck. As expected he took a little nap in the ring and now the fight with Silva should be a go for November, except for one big problem. Cro-Cop kicked Wanderlie in the head with bad intentions in September at the Pride Open Weight tourney. Now, I do not know if he got hurt but the fight never happened. There were a lot of reasons floating around, but who knows for sure which one is true. Either way does not matter. Fight was off, and appeared to be off forever. Rumors came and went but then UFC owners, the Ferttitas, bought Pride. What a great move setting up the best against the best! So, lots of stuff has happened but the fight is now on for Dec 29!!!
I usually have a gut feeling who I think will win but this time I am not sure. Both fighters have lost their last 2 fights. Wandy got KO'd twice (Henderson & Cro Cop), Chuck got rocked by Rampage and then lost a brutal fight to The Dean of Mean Keith Jardine. The mental game has to be a factor now. These guys are used to having their hands raised so 2 losses in a row has to affect them mentally, it can't not! Chuck has even gone so far as to seek help from Tony Robbins to help him get his fire back as he really looked lack luster against Jardine. More than just a couple of guys who want to prove them selves this is a career fight for both of them. Someone walks away with their record showing L-L-L and that is going kill main event status and title contention for a very long time. The winner however jumps up the ranks. So, if the stress of losing two fights prior was not enough, throw that into the mix for them!
Chuck's record is 20 - 5. Using 2003 as a cut off he is 8 - 4. I use 2003 as to be an indicator of the more recent performance as all fighters evolve in their career. I see a lot of wrestlers in that list of opponents. He lost to Randy Couture once who is proven to be a hall of famer over and over again. He fights him 2 more time and knocks him out both times. He put Tito to sleep 2 times. Looks to me like he has the wrestlers figured out, except one. Quinton Jackson. Like Iceman has Tito's number, Jackson has Chucks. He has 2 straight losses to Rampage, both by KO. The rest of his fights are against some good fighters but not top tier by any means. The stand out is the fight against Jardine. No doubt that was a tune up match for him that UFC expected him to use to get back on his feet after losing the belt to Rampage. Well, that sure back fired. He lost a decision and that sets him back, way back in the rankings! Lucky for him he is likely the most famous UFC fighter around and after 2 straight losses he still gets a co-main event for his third fight. I am not sure there are many fighters that would get that chance from the UFC. Correction, there are none.
The name Quinton Jackson comes up again when you look at Wandy's record. Except it's the other way around, Silva has KO'd Rampage 2 times! Like they say, it's all about styles. This by no way, shape, or form confirms he can beat Chuck, but it is an interesting stat! Silva is 10 - 4 since 2003 with quite a list of opponents. Most notable wins over Sakuraba, Jackson, Arona, & Fujita. I saw Fujita beat Bob Sapp (google him and look at how immense Sapp is at 350lbs of muscle) and impressed how he just manhandled a complete monster in SAPP. I was even more impressed when Silva got the TKO over him. A big difference in the Pride world is they end up fighting guys who are way bigger in the open weight tourneys. When Wanderlei fought Mark Hunt he was at an 80lb weight disadvantage but he went the distance in the fight but lost the decision. Was felt by many he deserved the win given the huge size difference. His four losses come from Hunt, Arona, Henderson, and Cro Cop. If your going to lose 4 fights, those are the guys to help you do it.
As much as I want to say Silva had better competition to face it is a bold statement given Chuck put down Couture two times. I will say that Couture's stand up is not as good as Silva and that Chuck has an edge over the wrestlers as he is very good at standing when he is taken down. I have yet to see him be held down. That alone is impressive. Silva is not a wrestler but a BJJ black belt and a gifted stand up fighter with awesome knees. Take the BJJ out of the equation though, they want to slug it out, no way it'll be a ground fight. The cage comes into play as Silva is used to a ring, sounds like a small thing, but it is a mental barrier for guys to over come. Silva has moved to Florida and trains at Extreme Couture (trained there with Ray!) so I am sure he is ready for the adjustment. Both guys want to redeem themselves after 2 losses.
Silva - 2nd round.
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