Chuck Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79

One of the most anticipated fights in the short history of mixed martial arts is Chuck Liddell versus Wanderlei Silva. Since 2003 this on again, off again match up has teased fans of both the UFC and Pride fighting championships, but now it looks like the fight may be on again.

UFC 79 on December 29th, 2007 is the rumored date for the fight to take place. The venue is in Las Vegas and the anticipation could not be any higher. It's true that both Wanderlei and Chuck are coming off back to back losses, but when you look at those losses and the quality of opposition it's clear that both of these guys are still at the top of their game.

Wanderlei Silva has fought an absolute who's who of 205lb mixed martial artists and won the vast majority of those battles. He's defeated Quinton Jackson twice in dominant fashion, defeated Dan Henderson, Ricardo Arona, Kazushi Sakuraba, but has yet to face the best of the "new" UFC. How will Wanderlei match up against Chuck Liddell, Keith Jardine, Houston Alexander or Forrest Griffin? I personally think that Wanderlei's strength, power and aggression is difficult for any fighter to deal with. He has a wild style that could either make it a very easy night for Chuck, or the worst night of Chuck Liddell's career.

Wanderlei likes to throw looping heavy punches, much like Chuck does, although Chuck's are just a touch straighter. The difference is in the clinch and ground game where I believe that Wanderlei Silva has a distinct advantage over Liddell. If Wanderlei gets Chuck in at close quarters it will be a very tough night for Liddell and three losses in a row may spell retirement for the "Ice Man".

Chuck Liddell needs no introduction to mixed martial arts and especially UFC fans. He has defeated two legends of the sport twice each. With big wins over Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell established himself as the UFC's top light heavyweight player for much of the last three years. However, Chuck is coming off of two losses. The first was a flash knockout loss to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, with that loss the belt changed hands and Quinton became the new light heavyweight champ.

Chuck's second loss is more interesting. It came to Keith Jardine, now most MMA fans would argue that Jardine is strong and tough, but Chuck went into that fight as the favorite. The fight was close and the judges gave the decision to Jardine. There wasn't a single take down in the fight meaning that Chuck, formerly the most feared striker at 205lbs has been beaten twice in a row, both time on his feet.

In the fight with Wanderlei Silva, if Chuck can keep his composure and land some big straight shots inside of Wandy's wild looping punches he can make a short night's work. Chuck hits very hard, but most of his really hard shots seem to be looping overhand rights, I don't think those will be particularly effective against Wanderlei Silva; Chuck needs to throw straight. Also, Chuck Liddell should avoid the clinch with Wanderlei at all costs, if he needs more incentive he should watch Wandy's two fights with Quinton Jackson.

Let's all just hope that this fight happens as the rumors state on December 29th. I'm not picking a winner or a favorite in this fight, I just want to see it happen.

Jon is a contributing editor at UFC Results - Come to UFC Results at http://www.ufcresultslive.com for UFC Results, UFC Predictions and UFC Fight Cards.