Jackson-Silva Preview

Last week, I put a poll on the front page of IWF. Look, it's still there! It asked people to choose which upcoming fight they were most excited about. Before I even wrote the answers, I knew what my choice would be. Here are the clues: it involves a trilogy, two of MMA's best knockouts, and a high speed chase through Los Angeles.

I'll spare you the history and get to the good stuff:

How Silva wins: Silva wins by doing exactly what he did in the first two fights with Jackson. Get the clinch, win the clinch, and throw knees until he hears the bell. Silva was absolutely vicious in his early fights with Jackson and he'll need that edge in order to beat the much-improved Jackson. Silva's cardio should be better too, so look for him to push the fight into the deeper rounds.

How Jackson wins: Keep distance and counter punch, a la UFC 71. Jackson won't win in the clinch or if it goes to a decision, so he needs to find a balance between pushing the pace and being careful. Jackson should be the stronger man, physically, and might be able to have his way with Wanderlei if he can trip the Brazilian and end up on top.

Who wins and why: Silva wins easily. Jackson has had too much going on in his life to give a long and hard training camp the attention it deserves. We know he is lazy when it comes to his training: the mental instability and court proceedings provided even more distraction on top of his usual malaise. Meanwhile, Silva has been a beast as of late and should continue his road to the top with a PRIDE 28 style victory.

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Classic Fighter: Evan Tanner

This week, we begin our first installment in a series that will be published each Monday. “Classic fighters” will examine some of the most talented, popular, and unusual fighters in MMA history. Click to read about our first choice: Evan Tanner.

It was obvious that Tanner was destined for greatness when, in a local MMA tournament, he beat three fighters in one night. Among the fighters was future UFC star Paul Buentello. Tanner’s UFC successes are well known but what usually falls under the radar is his time with the Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation. Tanner won the belt by submitting future star Heath Herring in just his fourth professional fight. He then defended his belt a record number seven times.

His UFC career was not without gold, either. Tanner won his first three UFC bouts before losing a title fight to Tito Ortiz. However, Tanner would be back in the title hunt soon enough, beating David Terrell to take the UFC middleweight title. Despite losing the belt on a cut to Rich Franklin, Tanner was always in title contention. He’s known for defeating Robbie Lawler once and Phil Baroni twice in some of the most interesting matches UFC have fans have ever seen.

Evan Tanner’s untimely death brought a void to the MMA world, but his body of work is an easy reminder of the monumental contribution he has made.

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Liddell-Couture IV?

All of the talk of the A. Silva-Liddell superfight at UFC 95 has now been quieted. UK's The Sun reports that Liddell has now been offered a heavyweight fight with Randy Couture at an event in Germany on June 13th.

This fight would probably draw a ton of attention, as the name recognition of both fighters may be higher than ever. Yes, Chuck Liddell has lost 3 of his last 4 fights. However, he's still probably the most recognizable name in MMA. People will tune in.

Where does this put Anderson Silva? Reports say that he may face one of the losers of the big UFC 92 LHW fights, Forrest Griffin-Rashad Evans or Quinton Jackson-Wanderlei Silva.

Whatever happens, the UFC is doing a great job with keeping these cards exciting. Just when you think that they run out of ideas they come out with unbelievable dream fights. I'm not by any means saying that Liddell-Couture IV would be a dream fight. There is only so much that you can milk a rivalry. With both fighters out of their prime and the fact that this would be their fourth meeting, this fight doesn't excite me as much as Anderson Silva-Liddell does.

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Jon Fitch Back in the UFC

In a nice "I was about to say..." moment, Jon Fitch is now a UFC fighter again. Apparently, communication broke down between him and Dana (go figure), however Lorenzo Fertitta saved the day. From MMA Rated:

“Communication kind of broke down with Dana (White) so we talked with Lorenzo,” Fitch told MMARated. “(I) just got off the phone with him and we came to an agreement. We’re going to move ahead and I’ll be back in the UFC. We’re going to sign off on the video game and I’m back. It was never even about the agreement or the contract. It was the approach that we felt Dana was being a little bit hot-headed and was threatening us right off the bat. It didn’t seem like a professional way of doing things.”

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