UFC Anderson Silva vs James Irvin

On March 1st, bounded by eight cage walls and an Ohioan crowd of sixteen-thousand plus packing the Nationwide Arena, Brazilian Muay Thai champion Anderson Silva, top-ranked middleweight in MMA and UFC champion, ties Dan Henderson in a figure-four waist lock, then, following an onslaught of short-punches, gracefully stitches in a rear-naked choke.

Henderson, ranked second as PRIDE welterweight defender, air cut from his body as the BJJ black belt crimps his neck, taps for the submission.

Any other fighter, a victory over a contender of Henderson’s caliber would rank as a career high; for Spider Silva, it’s just another exhibition of dominance against a highly touted challenger. He earns $60,000 for fight of the night and submission of the night, respectively, to go along with his $140,000 price tag as champion.

With this win, ‘The Spider’ joins a short catalog of champions to hoist a UFC and PRIDE FC title simultaneously - just himself and the 205-pound champion Quinton Jackson are on that list.

Moving up

At current time, no fighter in the 185 lb division stands to make a serious run at Silva’s middleweight thrown, leaving the unmatched titleholder hungry for challenge. Suspecting he might have risen as high as he could in his own sport, Silva looked to make the jump from the Octagon to the ring with a fight against boxing Hall of Fame-bound Roy Jones Jr – mind you, not a mixed-martial-arts contest, but a boxing match with the Southpaw light-heavyweight champ.

Dana White, UFC President and proprietor of Silva’s contract quieted rumblings of a fight between the pugilist and Muay Thai practitioner when he announced that he’d use his power of veto to stop any such event. Denied the fight and a payoff larger than what he’d earn in his entire MMA lifespan, Silva makes the only move left to him, that is, a move up in weight class.

This coming Saturday, on an impromptu live Spike TV special scheduled head-to-head with rival promotion Affliction’s first PPV venture, Silva enters the cage for the first time at 205 pounds(21-4-0) against James ‘Sandman’ Irvin (14-4-1), joining the fray for the most hotly contested title in the UFC, Forrest Griffin’s light-heavyweight championship.

Pound-for-pound

Since smashing Rich Franklin’s nose into a question mark with a salvo of kicks and Muay Thai-styled knees, handily defeating then 185-champ by a 1st round TKO in October ’06, Anderson Silva’s name has floated in the mix of contenders for number 1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world, along with the likes of current UFC lightweight titleholder B.J. Penn, two-time welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, and ‘The Last Emperor’, undefeated Fedor Emelianenko, the last man to hold the heavyweight PRIDE championship.

Viewed by experts as the overall top fighter alive already, Silva seeks to distance himself from the pack, and there’s no louder statement then thrashing a larger opponent. Long term success in the 205 weight class, or thinking in superlative terms, making history by winning a second gold strap and becoming the first in history to hold two UFC titles at once, makes it unquestionable, Silva’s number 1.

The Risk

There’s risk involved in this plan, however. Defeat now would do more damage than put up a loss in the Brazilian’s record. Silva, a weak drawing champion, could have his aura dismantled if falling to a perceived lesser fighter, something that can easily happen when facing competitors who are naturally bigger, stronger and hit harder. Recently, Irvin tied the record for fastest KO in UFC history, stopping powerhouse Houston Alexander with a superman punch in a measly 8 seconds. Good luck, Anderson.

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