2008-07-17 21:18:55
Lyoto Machida vs Thiago Silva Confirmed for UFC 89
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The UFC 89 show, set to take place on October 18th at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England, is starting to come together. The show is going to be headlined by "local boy" Michael Bisping taking on Chris Leben in a Middleweight battle.
The UFC just recently announced a couple of interesting new matches that will take place on the show, including Rameau Sokoudjou taking on Luiz Cane, and Lyoto Machida taking on Thiago Silva.
As we've mentioned before, nobody really wants to take on Lyoto Machida in the light heavyweight division. Both Forrest Griffin and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson have publicly backed away from the idea of taking on Machida. He fights a defensive, and some say boring, style that leaves his opponents flummoxed and frustrated. Potential opponents of Machida don't see any real upside to facing him - they will either win a "boring" match that fans don't appreciate, or they will lose to an opponent who is undefeated. Either way, fighters don't see too much upside in fighting Machida.
One fighter that has agreed to step up and face Machida is Thiago Silva. By accepting this match-up, Silva is endearing himself to UFC management, who have had a tough time placing Machida in a match. If Silva wins this fight, then expect Dana White to put him in a high-profile match in the light heavyweight division.
Silva has the same professional record that Lyoto Machida has: 13-0. Silva has 10 knockouts over his career, two victories by submission and one by decision. He is undefeated over his time in the UFC, winning all four of his bouts in convincing fashion. His longest fight in the UFC was a second round knockout win against Tomasz Drwal at UFC 75 - Champion vs Champion. He has also beaten Antonio Mendes, Houston Alexander and James Irvin during his stint in the UFC.
As mentioned, Lyoto Machida also has a professional record of 13-0. Three of his victories have come via knockout, 2 have come via submission and the remainder have come by decision. Machida's penchant for long, "boring" fights is the reason that many fans dislike the fighter.
 Machida is coming off of a unanimous decision victory against Tito Ortiz at UFC 84. Machida almost lost this match at the end of the third round, narrowly escaping a last-ditch submission attempt by Ortiz. During his run in the UFC, Machida has defeated Ortiz, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Kazuhiro Nakamura, David Heath and Sam Hoger.
This is a very interesting match-up, and I'm glad that Silva agreed to take this fight. Silva has tremendous knock-out power, and it will be interesting to see whether or not Machida can neutralize his opponent.
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