Anderson "Spider" Silva to Fight Chuck Liddell in UFC 88 Main Event?

The MMA world is buzzing about a report from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, in which he stated that UFC officials are contemplating moving the "Spider" up to light heavyweight so that he can fight Chuck Liddell at UFC 88. Liddell is already confirmed for UFC 88, which will take place on September 6th in Atlanta, Georgia.

According to Meltzer, UFC officials have been trying to talk Silva into accepting the fight. Apparently Silva has been receptive to the proposal, but no agreement has been inked as of yet. It's unknown whether or not such a move to light heavyweight would be a permanent change for Silva, or if it would simply be a one-time "dream match".

If Silva does decide to move up to light heavyweight, and if the change is permanent, then it could bring about a number of very interesting possible match-ups against Liddell, "Rampage" Jackson and Wanderlei Silva. The "Spider" has absolutely dominated the middleweight division during his time in the UFC, winning all six of his fights in two rounds or less. Dana White has previously stated that he wants his champions to "clean out" their divisions before he would contemplate letting them move up or down a weight class - Silva has definitely "cleaned out" the middleweight division. There are no real compelling challengers left for the middleweight title, and Silva would likely welcome the new challenge (and additional money that "super-fights" against Liddell and Jackson would bring).

Silva reportedly wasn't very happy that the UFC squashed his idea of fighting Roy Jones Jr., so this might be the UFC's way of appeasing him. A move up to light heavyweight would surely earn Silva more money and more exposure.

Liddell surely wouldn't back down from this fight, but I'm not sure what he would have to gain. I have a hard time seeing Liddell scoring a victory over Silva, especially given Silva's quickness. It would definitely be an interesting match-up that would likely generate some of the highest PPV numbers ever, so I can definitely see why the UFC would be entertaining the idea of having this fight.

Is this the "big announcement" that Dana White has planned for next week? We'll soon find out.

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