Liddell vs Silva UFC 79 Preview

Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva will finally collide later this month in a clash that has been five years in the making.

The rivalry between Pride FC and the UFC was at its peak in 2003, when Liddell and Silva were the flagship fighters for each outfit.

Liddell was the young UFC gunslinger who had notched notable victories over Vitor Belfort and Renato "Babalu" Sobral — and he was the main threat to the then light-heavyweight titleholder Tito Ortiz.

Silva, meanwhile, was establishing a reputation as one of the most fearsome strikers in the world, brutalising his opponents and winning the Pride middleweight title in the process.

A match between the two looked inevitable when Liddell entered a Pride eight-man tournament that Silva was part of in the same year.

Both men KO’d their opponents in the opening round and with them being matched at opposite ends of the tournament bracket, it seemed certain they would meet in the final.

However, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson stood in the way of Liddell progressing to the final.

With ‘The Iceman’ suffering severe punishment during their fight, Liddell’s corner threw the towel into the ring and handed Jackson the victory.

With the Silva v Liddell ‘dream fight’ scuppered, most MMA fans thought the match-up would never happen.

‘The Iceman’ returned to the UFC and for the next four years Silva continued to be a dominant force in Pride.

Yet with their purchase of Pride earlier this year, the UFC were able to boost their roster of fighters and in August, Silva signed a multi-fight deal with them.

The clash between the two MMA giants will finally take place in Las Vegas and Liddell goes into the fight coming off the back of two straight defeats to Keith Jardine and Jackson.

Silva suffered a KO loss to Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic last October before slumping to defeat against Dan Henderson in Pride’s penultimate show earlier this year.

But despite each fighter’s recent losses, the significance of this clash is still huge.

More and more fans are clamouring for ex-Pride fighters to face current UFC stars — even though many of the Japanese organisation’s fighters have underperformed in the Octagon so far.

For many fans, Silva defines the golden age of Pride with savage punches, knees, kicks and stomps gracing hundreds of highlight reels.

His clash with Liddell, who is still the UFC’s biggest draw, will be an epic event in MMA history but the pressure will be on ‘The Iceman’ to prove he is still a dominant force.

Source: www.thesun.co.uk