Chuck Liddell’s matchup with Wanderlei Silva came too late. | Photo: Sherdog.com
5. Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell
OK, so these two legendary brawlers did actually lock horns at UFC 79, but we would argue that the long-awaited confrontation arrived three years too late. In 2003, the Pride middleweight grand prix featured a star-studded field of Silva, Liddell, Alistair Overeem, Quinton Jackson, Murilo Bustamante, Kazushi Sakuraba, Kiyoshi Tamura and Hidehiko Yoshida. Though “The Iceman” was under contract at the time, UFC President Dana White allowed him to enter to tournament, presumably to set the stage for a showdown with “The Axe Murderer.”
Meanwhile, Silva continued to eviscerate the majority of the competition in Pride and was still regarded as the promotion’s most feared 205-pounder as Liddell’s UFC 62 title defense against Renato “Babalu” Sobral approached. After the American dispatched Sobral in less than two minutes, Liddell and Silva stood face-to-face in the Octagon. However, a Silva knockout loss to Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic at Pride “Final Conflict Absolute” put a halt -- at least temporarily -- to plans of the proposed super fight.
By the time Liddell and Silva finally met on Dec. 29, 2007 in Las Vegas, neither man was regarded as the top light heavyweight in the world. That did not prevent the battle-tested veterans from putting on a show, as both strikers gave fans a small glimpse of what might have been. In what would be the last victory of his career, Liddell got the best of Silva after three rollicking frames. Not surprisingly, the bout captured “Fight of the Night” honors. Those who had been waiting for the day “The Iceman” and “The Axe Murderer” would collide would not have expected anything less.
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