Former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell will return to action at UFC 88 to headline a pay-per-view (PPV) event at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Ga., on Saturday, September 6, according to recent statements from promotion president Dana White.
No opponent has been named at this time.
The “Iceman” was supposed to challenge Mauricio “Shogun” Rua today during the main event at UFC 85: “Bedlam.” However, Rua had to withdraw from the bout because he shredded his surgically repaired knee while training for the 205-pound tilt.
Liddell was then paired with Rashad Evans, but disaster struck again when he had to pull out of the match with a torn hamstring.
There has been some recent unofficial chatter that UFC Middleweight Champion has been approached about moving up to compete at light heavyweight. He is also expected to return to the Octagon at UFC 88. Whether or not those two items are related (highly unlikely) remains to be seen.
MMAmania.com first passed along news of the Atlanta show about three weeks ago. It will mark the first show for the promotion inside the “Peach State” in more than a decade.
UFC 11: “The Proving Ground” (September 1996) and UFC 13: “The Ultimate Force” (May 1997) were the only two shows ever held in Georgia, which took place at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta.
101 Comments »
i wouldnt mind seeing a rematch w/ wandi, but that might be too soon. i wouldnt mind seeing him fight the spider either. who else is there for a.silva to fight at mw? unless chuck is moving down(highly unlikely). but lidell did start his career at mw. it will probably be rashad in the end.
Id like t see Silva against almeida. then theres yushin okami. and martin kampmann, and henderson 2 theres still some fights at MW for silva yet.
While I like Kampmann as a future contender, I still think he’s a couple of fights away from being #1 contender. Ditto for Almeida. And Henderson/Silva wasn’t such a barn-burner IMO that we need to see a rematch so quickly. After coming off two losses back to back(albeit against Rampage and Silva) Hendo should rack up some wins before we see him in a title fight again. That really only leaves Okami for his immediate future. While I’m sure Silva would love to fight Okami to get a win back from him, a fight with Liddell and a potential move to the LHW division would probably be a much bigger deal for him.
And it’s certainly a fight I wouldn’t mind seeing.
Demian Maia could beat Anderson!
Maia’s still relatively untested in the octagon, so I wouldn’t go so far as to say he could beat Silva at this stage. For the most part, aside from Okami, Silva has mowed through the middleweight division, and it’ll be awhile before any viable new contenders arise to give him a challenge, leaving Silva without much competition that he hasn’t beaten already. A move to LHW gives Anderson some competition, and frees up the MW division for some new title matches.
chuck started at middlewieght when middleweight limit was 199 lbs. he could never get down to 185. i dont think he could get below 200 at this point. th man walks around at 230-235 lbs.
hmmm… who should he face?
I would still like to see him vs shogun
me too, shogun said he would be able to come back by september, hope this happens!
Linx: IMO Shogun would make the best opponent. I have been waiting to see Shogfun vs. Liddell for about 3 years now….I hope they book this fight!
me too, tell you the truth I rather see chuck vs shogun instead of the spider vs chuck (if the rumors are correct).
LInx: I too would rather see Chuck vs. Shogun instead of Chuck vs. Anderson
The Light Heavyweight division is stacked with stars… They should have no problem finding chuck a fight at 205 lbs…. Let Anderson stay at middleweight and become the most dominant champion tat the UFC has ever seen.
If Chuck beats Anderson, which I doubt, it wouldnt move him up the 205 lb ladder, so y bother.
Plennty of wars for chuck with guys already fighting in the division. Heres who I want to see Chuck fight next in order:
1)Shogun
2)Machida
3)Thiago Silva
4)Wanderlei
5)Rashad (would like to see Rashad get Ko)
Dude Ed Herman was beating Maia up before he got Herman in that Sub. Maia needs some more MMA expiriance.
Wrong reply on my last post. Anyway John, I like your line up, but more for order of getting a title shot, not fighting Chuck, why do these guys need to revolve around Chuck ya know?
Order of getting a title shot this is what I think, that it shoudl be Machida first and then Thiago, the rest is to unconclusive and would need to see some more fights.
Anomaly: I agree that the division should not revolve around chuck….The problem is, try telling that to Dana. If it were a lineup for a title shot, I would have to take Shogun off of the top. He is one of my favorites and also happens to be the last man to whoop on Rampage but he cant get a title shot coming off a loss so my order for a tritle shot would be:
Machida
THiago
Wanderlei or Chuck
always willing to buy a ppv with chuck on the card no matter who is his opponent.
he sholud fight shogua , rashad , axe muder in a rematch or lyoto
he should figth lyoto
BW- I believe when Chuck started fighting in the UFC the middle weight division was 205 and Tito Ortiz was the champion. So he might not have started at what middle weight is now (185). If he did start at 185 was it outside the UFC? When he fought in Pride those 2 times (Metzger and middle weight tournament) Pride was still calling their 205 division middle weight. So he terminology might just be different, then again I havent followed the Iceman before the UFC so I could be wrong.
Would like to see Anderson Silva vs Yushin Okami Co-Main event or even main event on this card. Count me buying it right away.
Boring fight. No way Okami wins. I think everyone would rather see Anderson fight somebody high-quality instead of messing around with lesser fighters. Granted, Dana White has made to clear to BJ Penn that he should clean out his division before moving up; perhaps he feels the same way about Anderson, since Yushin still remains truly untested by the champ.
I’d like to see Anderson fight once or twice at 205, and then come back down and fight the winner of Bisping vs Okami. After doing that, he has nothing left to prove (until Demien Maia makes his way) and should be free to fight at 205.
If he were to fight Chuck Liddell, I think it would be one of the most hype-worthy matches to date in my book. More specifically, it should be the fight that Liddell/Wanderlei should have been. Silva is as devastating as they come, and their styles make for a slow-paced bout with intermittent bits of exciting exchanges, leading into an Anderson Silva takedown/ground and pound and eventual stoppage. Could be any round, really. There’s no saying when one of them might connect.
Silva still has a fight at middle weight with Bisping, Lutter had him in trouble with the GnP and eventough I am not a big fan of Bisping he has good GnP I dont know about his submission defense tough.
The fight Liddell / Silva should have been? That fight met all expectations except ending in a KO…….and that wasn’t because bombs weren’t being landed. What were you hoping for?
The Wanderlei Silva that fought Chuck Liddell is the same Wanderlei that fought Dan Henderson 2. He was seldom aggressive, almost never threw a knee, nor utilized his true strengths in jiu-jitsu and muay thai. It was a decent fight, don’t get me wrong. I just don’t think it was an exceptional fight.
As for the Bisping/Lutter comparison, I don’t think Bisping has anywhere near the ability to control Anderson on the ground that Lutter does. I don’t think he’d get submitted, but he would get caught in a body triangle and wouldn’t be able to accomplish much without the weight on his punches. It would move back to a stand up or an ended round and Anderson would just rock him on his feet again and be that much better at avoiding a takedown or whatever. But like I said before, I think Bisping deserves a shot if he can beat Okami and I wouldn’t be opposed to that fight happening soon.
Anderson Silva couldn’t take Liddell down. Liddell has some of the best takedown defense in the game and when had Silva ever taken someone down? I know the Lutter and henderson fights went to the ground, but Silva didn’t take either of them down.
Plus: Bisbing vs Franklin, Demian Maia vs Roushamar Pohares, Dan Henderson vs Nate Marquart
I hope it is rashad because chuck needs a knockout and rashad needs to get knocked out.
i will be there.. go chuck!!1
THIS JUST IN,
FLOYD MAYWEATHER MAY BE SET TO SIGN WITH THE UFC ON THURSDAY AND THATS THE DAY DANA IS TALKING ABOUT GIVING THE HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT,MAYWEATHER JUST RETIRED FROM BOXING YESTERDAY AND ALOT OF SOURCES IS SAYING THAT HE IS TO SIGN WITH THE UFC.
your full of shit..?
source? everyone knows mayweather has retired(for now), but i havent seen any sites w/ floyd signing with the ufc.
He’s retired from BOXING.
This rumor has been floating around the internet all day. It actually may be true, we’ll have to wait and see.
Stop gossiping like a bunch of old ladies in church! Mayweather WILL NEVER FIGHT IN THE UFC.
Its no secret that Floyd has had cronic problems with his hands. If his hands cant take the pounding while fighting with those pillows (called boxing gloves) on his hands, what makes anyone thiunk that his messed up hands can with stand a fight with 4 ounce gloves.
Put that Rumor to bed, Mayweather will talk a lot of crap about mma,. but he will never actually compete in the octagon…..Just let him run his mouth!
Why can’t we speculate about it? I agree that it’s very unlikely, but it’s still fun to talk about.
I’ll wait and see. Thanks.
Im telling you right now: Mayweather will NEVER fight in the UFC!
Talk about the dream match, Mayweather vs Urijah, MMA ESPN.. exactly, its just a dream match that will never happen. Floyd will never go against an MMA’er, and the UFC will not pay him $20 million, nor will he take anything under that.. and they will not give Urijah $1million..still wouldn’t be fair to him (20 mil vs 1 mil). If an organization is willing to pay Floyd $20mil and Urijah $10 mil, it might happen..but if offered, Floyd still wouldn’t take it bc its not choreographed (WWE) and Urijah would ground and pound him…..
Who would they put Mayweather against first? They could induce a vicious, boxing-vs-MMA argument-ending beating at the hands of BJ Penn, or they could actually make money and build him up.
I only assume he would fight at Lightweight. He’ll want a little more on him than in boxing so 155 would be suitable I think. I wonder if there are any exciting strikers out there willing to tangle with a pro boxer? Pulver would be an interesting candidate, to be sure, but that is assuming he is willing to return to the UFC and to the 155 division. I wonder if there any other other worthy strikers in the LW division that would make for an interesting match? If he signed with Dream, I would love to see him fight Eddie Alvarez.
I would like to see him fight Sherk.
why? no really why? sherk would hump him for 15 minutes. or actually gnp him into the netherworld within a round… sounds boring to me
Gomi vs. Mayweather in a stand up battle MMA style, what do you all think?
Anomaly: WOW!!! that would be amazing. Gomi would tai clinch mayweather and knee his face into a pulp! lol
It would be a very exciting DREAM match…good idea though, I like it!
i don’t care who he fights so long as i can see that gangster bling bling wannabe get his face smashed.
That is why I would want him to fight Sherk. Sherk would just take him down andn pound on him. I wouldn’t really want to see Gomi try to outstrike him because I don’t really think he would be able to do it.
why would mayweather give up over $10 million to fight delahoya just o sign with the ufc? he wouldnt make that back in a year. plus he would get destroyed. if this uor is true i would love to know who is advising him to do this. that person should be shot.
oh so true. chris,gotta agree on this one
Whats your source?
http://WWW.EWRESTLINGNEWS.COM
THEY HAVE THE ARTICLE ABOUT MAYWEATHER.
lol i wouldn’t call that a source.
The other rumor floating around is that Liddell will be facing Anderson Silva at UFC 88.
Think about it, it’s a VERY strong possibility. Silva hasn’t defended his title since UFC 82. GSP defended his at UFC 83 and he’s already defending it again at 87. Anderson Silva isn’t hurt, he’s not going to be a coach on TUF, so there’s no way they’re going to make him wait until UFC 89 to defend it.
So, yep.. it will be Anderson Silva VS. Chuck Liddell at UFC 88. Craziness.
I think your right!!! White said he’s got something that will blow people’s minds off. There’s not a whole lot bigger than Liddell vs. A. Silva. When was the huge annoucnement supposed to be made, I forget?
shouldn’t rampage fight a. silva?
thursday
well silvas mom or someone just died i think
I agree, I think that will be one of the big announcements. I think we might see F.Mayweather sign on with the WEC but not the UFC. I think it gives him a better chance to make an instant impact. It would also give the WEC an instant draw…SUPER FIGHT>>> Mayweather vs Faber!!! Faber by death!
I do agree that A.Silva NEEDS a fight…its been to long and this super-fight with Chuck is a perfect launching party for the UFC to hold its first network tv fight! I really believe that Dana has an Ace up his sleeve! Has anyone else noticed how he has acted like the CBS deal is no big deal this ENTIRE time? He might actually have a better deal on its way!
The big announcement isnt the Chuck fight cause Dana said his announcement will IMPACT the UFC for the next five years! That cant be any signing of a fighter…
If mayweather is too scared to face cotto then there is no way he has the cahones to get in the octagon.
Are we not talking about the UFC 85 fights for those of you who are watching the 10 o’clock rerun while being logged onto MMAMania at the same time?
it should be chuck vs thiago silva…this way my boy thiago gets an easy win and over-rated chuck gets a beatdown
and the announcement cant b silva vs chuck that doesnt effect the ufc fo 5years…unless chuck was gonna fight fo 5years more and the beating anderson gives him makers his over-rated self retire
your an idiot Chuck is not overrated…you just may not like him say that instead because Chuck, at this point in his career, is definately NOT overrated.
it will more then likely be chuck vs anderson silva but really any fight against thiago, wandi, or shogun has to happen. please no rashad or some easy opponent to a title shot!!!
Liddell & A.Silva are both on the Sep card in Atlanta, but both have separate matches. It is definitely not Chuck vs Anderson.
I don’t see the UFC ever making this match. No matter which one loses, the UFC loses big. If Anderson loses, a possible pound for pound best gets taken down by a guy who may only fight a few more fights. If Chuck loses, then the face of the UFC loses to a guy who is a mw.
what was danas BIG announcment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
its not until thursday.
Rashad Evans is unbeaten, so is thiago so let them fight and bring on Chuck vs Manchida. wanderlie will fight rampage if rampage drops one to forrest. anderson silva vs ? bisping perhaps? i wanna see gsp vs anderson but oh well.
Middleweight was 200lbs when Chuck was in the division….I also read that Floy ‘Money’ Mayweather may be on this card. Chuck just may fight Anderson Silva but it would be a different match-up. they are both different strikers. Silva is tooo technical for chuck’s style of “brawling.” It could be good. Silva has Meia, Bisping, and Kampman let alone leties and Okami now to fight in the MW division.
Silva isn’t gonna fight Chuck now. He wants to avenge his DQ to Yushin Okami. And I don’t know why everyone has Okami as an easy fight for Silva. Okami is a strong, big 185. He nearly beat Rich Franklin by submission late in their fight. And Okami has a huge mental edge against Silva. Unlike the rest of the division - Okami isn’t scared of Silva. I wouldn’t bet my house on Okami, but, I wouldn’t just give Anderson Silva the win. I’ll call it the Matt Serra factor.
As for Chuck, he and Evans could still be on this card. Chuck vs. James Irvin? Chuck vs. Hendo? Chuck vs. Thiago Silva? If it were Thiago Silva vs. Chuck - I say the winner gets a title shot. NO DOUBT!
Calling it the “Matt Serra” factor clearly doesn’t give Okami the credit he deserves. Okami is much more consistent than a guy like Serra whose win was essentially a fluke.
ill tell u why hes an easy fight for Anderson. Anderson was destroying okami then he got DQ’d for up kicks when okami was down.
okamis big and strong? rich is bigger and stronger so whats your point?
yea and Anderson nearly finished rich? no he destroyed him and rich beat okami and i really don’t think Okami has a mental advantage over Silva. and i want to know why you think he does. also i don’t think everyones scared of Silva. everyone he has beat would fight him right now. they would all lose again though.
matt who? Okami has just a little less than zero chance to beat silva. Please dont make this fight. Ufc usually makes better fights than that. That is more like a Kimbo vs Can match. No one in the mw division is even close to Silva. Why do u think he was entertaining the Roy Jones fight. I would love to see him against chuck but I dont think chuck would do it. At any rate there are many more challenges and intriguing matches for Silva at lhw.
you beat me to it harry, if silva felt any one was a threat would he really try and set up a boxing match with roy jones? thats ridiculous, roy jones is one hell of a boxer and for anyone training mma thats a ballsy move.
Guys, the UFC cut Okami and bought out his contract. I’d say the chances of that fight happening are nonexistent.
I wouldn’t say Okami has much of a mental edge, he got beat up a bit my Silva then he got knocked out but he had a knee and a half on the ground. I’d be more worried knowing that my opponent can knock me out while he’s on his back.
Why is evryone wanting Silva to change weight class? If any of us were King of the Mountain could you honestly say you would give that up? I wouldn’t, until I get beat I wouldn’t go anywhere!
That is true, but I am sure he also wants big money fights, and he is running out of those at 185. I can’t think of too many fights in 185 that will be able to carry the weight as a main event in a ppv. I would still love to see him fight GSP though, if GSP moved to 185 soon.
Whether they fight each other or have separate fights, it’ll be a good card (on paper) no matter how crappy the rest of the match-ups are.
Can’t argue that.
I think Chuck’s next fight will be against Jardine. Chuck wants to avenge that lose, and Chuck usually gets what he wants. Not to mention, up until he was beat by Silva, Jardine deserved the next shot at the title. With only 1 win in his last 3 fights, you can’t really put Silva against Rampage, even if he has beat him twice. However, if Chuck can beat Jardine, then he could fight for the title again (which he wants more than anything, and if Jardine wins, then he should still get the shot at the title that he deserved.
All this is just my opinion, but Thiago, Evans, and Lyoto have not beaten enough ranked fighters to deserve the next shot at the title.
Fuck Rashad doesn’t deserve a headline fight yet… got him to fight the Hammer Hamill.
Make it Liddell vs. the Spider… now thats a cool fight.
Agreed on the Rashad part…But I would really want to see the original matchup in May, Thiago Silva vs. Rashad. May not happen bc Rashad is another one of Dana’s boys,and will definetly lose to Silva.
shogun or thiago silva,
no matter what anderson silva and chuck liddell on the same card would be awesome and a must buy.. if they were to fight each other its a guaranteed fight of the night, i would have to back the iceman if they were to fight even though silvas more skilled, if he got caught it could be lights out
come on guys, what is everyone talking about. If Silva goes to light heavyweight. that doesnt mean he gives up the middlweight division. You can hold a belt and move weight. and u remain champ untill u r beaten. u can hold 2 belts at once.
For all the people that say Yushin Okami has 0 chance of defeating Anderson Silva, prove how uneducated you are in this sport. Yushin is a big strong guy with a decent chin, and uses his strength against you, he will clinch you and take you down and make you go to sleep (not via choke. By lack of offense) and that is one of the perfect ways to beat Anderson, frustrate him.
Chuck Liddell really is only going to fight 1 of 3 fighters
1.) Shogun Rua
2.) Rashad Evans
3.) Anderson Silva
He wont fight anybody else, but nobody else is a big money name to carry along with Chuck Liddell. My vote goes for Rashad Evans, and I think you give Shogun Rua, a Wilson Gouevia type of fighter so that you can give Shogun momentum to fight the bigger names.
Hey NC-17, did you see Silva and Okami’s fight (in the Cage Rage organization)? I agree Okami definitely has a shot at winning but he was b1tched slapped in the first fight so it’s not a great chance.
hows floyd gonna fight in the ufc the minimum weight class is 155 floyd fights at 147 and hes one of the few fighters who walks round at his boxing weight he looks after himself and doesnt cut weight.hed even be tiny at 145 but if he does bulk up to 155 hes gonna lose most of his speed.even when he fought oscar at 154 he come in way under the limit.i hope he does sign though just so sherk can smash his head through the mat!!!
through the mat and then through the floor under it
Just to add on to the Mayweather rumors…
Dana said last night that it WASN’T a TV deal. He also said it’s still a HUGE announcement and something that no one would expect. I’m sorry, but Anderson Silva vs. Chuck Liddell can’t be the only announcement. It also wouldn’t be something that indicates where the business is going in 5 years.
It may not be Mayweather, but signs keep pointing towards it. He’s not renting out a place to tell his employees about a Liddell/Silva matchup. It has to be something more.
If mayweather is really coming to the UFC and that is what is going to have an impact for the next five years, they’ll have to build him up like elitexc is building up kimbo (if they really want to bring boxing fans over to the UFC). If they treat him like they treated brock and have him going against a top fighter he’ll loose and the UFC won’t get those fans. It sucks but this is what needs to be done for us to get those boxing fans on board with us. he needs to win a few so they get used to MMA and excited about MMA before he faces top competition.
Maybe NY is going to allow MMA at the Garden? That would make sense for the 5 year comment.
as far as ive seen dana has said mayweather would lose everytime he stepped into the cage, i dont feel like he would let boxing take a one-up over mma by letting floyd win… just 2 cents
I still have this thinking that this huge news, is not Floyd Mayweather. I think its Fedor signing with the UFC.
But knowing Dana how he blows things up. It could be a new sponsor or as someone said, MMA will be hosting itself in Madison Square Garden.
Fedor signing with the UFC of course after his match with Tim Sylvia. Would that impact the business for 5 years? Maybe.. Maybe not.
lets get real, fedor wont sign with the ufc.
What do you guys think the announcment realy is.
I think MMA got sanctioned in New York.
nope. we are a couple years away from that.one of the head honcho’s from NY said that flat out on InsideMMA a couple weeks back.