The campaign for Wanderlei Silva to move to middleweight

In Jake Rossen's latest Sherdog.com column, he assumes the role of fantasy matchmaker and unveils eight matches he'd like to see happen in 2008.

Leading off the list is a proposed match between Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort, at 185 lbs. Rossen's pitch for this match is yet another public call for Silva to move from middleweight:

Like a vegetarian at a pig roast, doubters of Wanderlei Silva (Pictures)'s abilities have long been accused of obnoxious counter-thinking. But while he put up a spectacularly courageous fight against Chuck Liddell (Pictures) in December, the Axe Murderer's prospects as a light heavyweight seem modest at best.

Against Tito Ortiz (Pictures) or Rashad Evans (Pictures), a decision loss seems a likely outcome, the template of which was set by Ortiz in 2000 and Ricardo Arona (Pictures) in 2005; against calculating strikers like Liddell, Silva might find himself perpetually stuck outside the pocket.

An inflated 205er (and you can read as much subtext into that as you wish), Silva's frame seems more naturally suited for 185 pounds. With the recognizable Vitor Belfort (Pictures) considering a similar drop, now seems like a reasonable time for a rematch of their classic 1998 fight, one which saw the mythical "old Vitor" slice through Silva's defenses like a broadsword.

First, I couldn't disagree more with Rossen's statement that a potential match between Evans and Silva would likely result in a decision loss for Silva. Silva had trouble with Chuck Liddell because of Liddell's reach advantage. Evans would not have that advantage. Silva could sit in the pocket and punish Evans without having to worry about paying too steep of a price. 

I'd even go so far as to say that Silva should be the favorite in a rematch vs. Ortiz. Ortiz defeated Silva the first time during an era in MMA in which the game was much different than it is now. Tito's dated takedown attempts aren't likely to cause Silva the same problems this time around.

And while Ortiz would have a huge size and reach advantage, he's not the punishing striker that Liddell is. If the two fought, Ortiz could not make Silva pay the same way Liddell did every time Silva decided to close the distance. Ortiz beat Silva before Silva was the Axe Murderer.

Another issue with Rossen's pitch, and everyone else's pitch about Silva at middleweight, is that it looks like wishful thinking. In a recent interview with Yahoo!'s Kevin Iole, Silva goes on the record to indicate that he can't make 185 lbs.:

"He's good, very, very good," Silva said. "People should realize how good, how strong Chuck is. I knew he was good, but he's better than I thought. He's big. These guys in the UFC, they're all so big."

As soon as Silva said that, though, he smiled. He anticipated the next question would be whether he'd consider a drop to middleweight, where the limit is 185 pounds and the fighters are much more his size.

But he quickly ruled that out.

"That's way too much weight for me to lose," Silva said. "I couldn't do it."

For better or for worse, Silva is a 205'er.

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Sam Caplan

Lead Writer/Editor - ProElite.com

SamCaplan.ProElite.com