Liddell and Silva Don't Disappoint

WOW! What a fight!! What else can be said about the megafight that took place between Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell and Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva at UFC 79?

This was a fight 6 years in the making. It seems so long ago now when there existed two MMA superpowers UFC and Pride. At that time there also existed two of the most dominant 205 pound fighters in the world in the UFC's Chuck Liddell and Pride's Wanderlei Silva. With Pride fans claiming Silva to be the best 205 pound fighter in the world and UFC fans giving that title to Liddell, the question of who would win in a fight between the two desperately needed to be answered.

It had been the topic of many heated discussions between MMA fans and several attempts were made to answer that very question. One attempt in 2003 saw the UFC send Chuck Liddell to Japan to fight in Pride's Grand Prix Tournament in hopes that he would face Silva in the finals. Chuck was on his way to doing just that after knocking out Alistair Overeem in the quarterfinals. But Liddell ran into a roadblock in the form of current UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. Liddell ended up losing that semi-final matchup by TKO and the dream fight had been scrapped. Jackson went on to lose to Silva in the final.

Then in 2006 during the Shamrock-Ortiz II event, Dana White brought out Wanderlei Silva and announced a fight between him and Liddell inside the Octagon. But the deal to bring Silva over to the UFC fell through and, once again, the Liddell-Silva fight had been shelved.

In 2007, there appeared to be some light at the end of the tunnel for fight fans. Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC bought out the financially troubled Pride FC organization. Along with the organization, Zuffa took over the existing Pride fighter contracts. Meaning, yes, Wanderlei could very well make an appearance inside the Octagon. The UFC signed him to a four fight deal and BAM! the fight of the decade was a mere formality. The fight was a done deal as long as Liddell could get past "The Dean of Mean" Keith Jardine.

No problem, right?

Wrong.

Liddell would put on a mediocre performance against Jardine en route to a 3 round split decision loss. The fight world was shocked! It had seemed as though the megafight was destined to exist only in our dreams and the question of who was the best 205 pound fighter would never be answered.

But what the fans want, the fans get. There isn't a single fight fan who cared whether or not Liddell won or lost to Jardine. We all wanted to see a fight between Liddell and Silva, win or lose. Since it was still very possible to hold this fight, the UFC decided it was now or never for this fight.

The fight that everyone had been waiting so long for was now a reality.

Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell vs. Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva was on!

I got out of my chair the second Wanderlei was shown on screen walking out to the Octagon; I never sat back down. I could barely contain myself, as I'm sure most fight fans watching were doing the same. There was also that nagging idea in the back of my mind that this fight might not live up to the surreal expectations put upon it after years of hype. Luckily, that idea was shattered early as this fight was as explosive as anyone could have possibly imagined.

The first minute or so saw the fighters circling eachother with neither man engaging in anything significant in what was a show of respect by both fighters for eachother's knockout power. I could tell right away that this was a different Chuck Liddell, as Liddell demonstrated early on a tactic that he hasn't used in a long time and should use more often; kicks. Liddell threw several leg kicks early on to keep Silva at bay but the two soon engaged in battle.

Silva began swinging for the fences and landed several nice shots on Liddell, with Liddell returning the favor. Near the midway point of the first round, Liddell dazed Silva with a jab/right combination that backed the brazilian into the cage. Liddell would rush in only to get drilled by a few shots from Silva. The two exchanged bombs for the rest of the round.

The second round saw Silva charge out and begin firing with Liddell again returning the favour. Liddell would slip on the canvas but pop back up to exchange some more, but a right hand from Silva sent Liddell to the mat, in what looked like another slip, but hard to tell. Liddell would get right back to his feet, however. The two would then clinch against the fence in what I thought would be a bad spot for Liddell. Liddell proved me wrong by getting the better of that battle by landing two big elbows that cut Silva above the eye. After breaking away, the two exchanged again and clinched again. This time, we saw something that we very rarely see from Chuck Liddell; a takedown. Liddell would put Silva on his back and remained there until the round ended shortly after.

The third saw Silva again march forward, bruised and bloodied like a pure warrior. Liddell again shocked the crowd by shooting in for a takedown! He put Silva on his back only briefly, in what I perceived to be a tactic to ensure a points victory. With the points for the takedown, Liddell was then comfortable about fighting out the rest of the round. Liddell had thrown everything including the kitchen sink at Silva but Silva would not be knocked down and would not give up. Both men landed some very heavy shots, Liddell landing some big bombs that would have put most men to sleep, but not Silva. Silva proved to be somewhat of a freak in that respect. Liddell has knocked out many men with far less than what he was handing out to Silva, but Silva proved to be one hell of a competitor. Silva, too, landed some major shots that would have dropped a lesser man. Liddell, displaying his versatility, landed a spinning backfist that backpedalled the Brazilian. The two kept exchanging and again, Liddell got another takedown at the end of the fight.

Simply unbelievable!

These two fighters gave the fans exactly what they wanted to see. All those years of waiting were definitely worth it and although this makes it 3 losses in a row for Wanderlei, those three losses were to top quality fighters in Cro Cop, Henderson, and Liddell. Wanderlei showed his warrior spirit and, although he was knocked out in the first two losses, he proved that his chin can not be questioned. I was a fan of both men before this fight and am now a bigger fan of each after this performance! Liddell for showing the fans that he's more than just a 'one-punch' fighter and Silva for showing incredible heart and giving the fans what they wanted to see. It was a fight for the ages; an epic battle that will be served as a highlight reel for both men!

Liddell vs Silva II is only a matter of time!