In what could be a light heavyweight title contender eliminator match, undefeated 205-pound standouts Lyoto Machida (13-0) and Thiago Silva (13-0) will tangle at UFC 89: “Bisping vs. Leben” at the National Indoor Arena (NIA) in Birmingham, England, on October 18, according to UFC.com.
Machida has won five straight inside the Octagon, including big time bouts against Tito Ortiz, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Kazuhiro Nakamura among others. He’s perhaps one of the most difficult fighters to figure out — “The Dragon” has a technical fight style that appears to frustrate his opponents, as well as a few fans who claim he is “boring.”
Regardless, he’s been knocking on the door of a title shot for some time now. And a win over a bad dude like Silva would certainly improve his chances.
Silva brings the fierce Chute Boxe aggression into his fights (even though he is now no longer with the camp), stopping all but one of his opponents throughout his exciting mixed martial arts career. He has an explosive mix of punches and kicks, which can often leave him open to counter strikes.
However, Silva has proven that he can take punishment and dish out more … just ask Tomasz Drwal, Houston Alexander and Antonio Mendes.
To check out the latest UFC 89 card, which is loaded with some amazing match ups just like this one, click here.
147 Comments »
Hopefully thiago can end the overhype of machida
Machida isn’t overhype silly dilly! He beat Soku and Tito who had just been robbed into a draw with Rashad, a so-called undefeated fighter. He also beat BJ Penn and no one has come close to beating him. Say what you want about how exciting he is, but he’s worth the hype.
the bj penn fight was close and they fought at hw and bj is fat at ww and a true ltw.
I TOLD U GUYS MONDAY THAT THIS FIGHT WAS BOOKED FOR OCTOBER!!!
Can I get my props?
Humor me John,
if Thiago beats machida, then goes on to fight and beat Forrest, do you think A. Silva might want to challenge Thiago for the belt to avenge his pal machida. All theoretical, but there is a chance this scenario could play out.
john, I’ll give you your props. I had read an article that had Thiago as a possible opponent for Wanderlei in October. So good call. Since I know you like Machida, and I think your a fan of Thiago too, who are you picking???
Kind of not hard to call since they were both 13-0.
Whoa..I remember John posting that before anyone else knew…Hey John, your not related to Joe Silva by any chance eh?
I am kinda surprised that they are still calling this card Bisping vs. Leben. I know it is in England, but seriously! This is a much more exciting fight, with more talent, and more important to a title consideration.
I’ve wanted this fight for ages!!!!
Even better is i’m going to the event live, can’t wait to see Thiago hunt Machida down and pound him out.
Thank YOu boys!
JV: u r right, I am a HUGE fan of both fighters….I have no idea who the hell to pick or root for in this one.
JameS: That scenario is a possability. As I understand it, Silva is bowing out of the LHW title picture because he believes Machida can win that title. If somebody beats Machida, I think it would be a good possability of Silva wanting to avenge his loss. After all, team blackhorse is a very tight knit family!
Good call James…very possible, but ONLY if Machida Looses!
Thank YOu BOys!
JV: I am a HUGE fan of both fighters….I have no idea how this fight will play out…NO IDEA!!! I dont know who to pick or who to root for…
JameS: I think your scenario is the only chance of seeing Silva fight for the LHW title. If anyone beats Machida, Silva will want to avenge that loss for sure because his camp is a very tight knit family. I think your scenario is the only possability of seeing Silva fight for the LHW title!
Much Props to Thiago for accepting the fight with Machida when so many top fighters have rejected it! This kid is a TRUE fighter and he will have 1 hell of a UFC career. He is still what, only 25 or 26 years old right?
THis kid has a very bright future. I dont know if he can beat Machida right now, but he definetly has a great chance of being a UFC champion 1 day!
Props to Tiago!
JOHN. props. now if you can just tell me when wandi is fighting next and who i will deem you as all-knowing!
This is gonna be an awesome fight and Thiago’s break-out party. Both of these guys want prove which Brazilian team is better!
Agreed! This will be an awesome fight! UFC 89 is shaping up to be a very good fight card!
Lol I don’t know where you have been Dave but Tito is over rated like no other. Beating Tito does not mean much in the division. It almost means as much as Chuck beating Rashad but then again thats a number one contender match so maybe Machida should have gotten a title shot for beating a well over the hill Ortiz. and Matt Hughes, GSP, Jens Pulver all beat Penn without a big weight advantage.
Thiago greatest strength is his ground and pound, but he is not going to be able to take Lyoto off his feet. Standing he is not going to be able to hit Machida. So I see this being another step closer to a title shot for the Dragon.
Silva’s strong point is his ground and pound. Unfotunatly for him he’s not going to be able to take Machida down. That mans takedown defence is freakin awsome. Standing up Thiago is not going to be able to hit him effectively, if at all. So after this fight I would have to say The Dragon will be one step closer to the light heavy title.
1.) Hughes won the 2nd fight only because BJ’s rib was seperated. Up until that injury, BJ was clearly winning that fight. Let’s not forget the complete ownage in their 1st fight either.
2.) GSP is one of my favorite fighters of all time but BJ was givin him a whuppin. If anything, BJ beat himself by not preparing properly for that fight by failing to improve his cardio.
3.) Jens was saved by the bell in their 1st fight. BJ had a fight-ending armbar locked in.
4.) I dislike Tito as much as the next guy and he may not be at the top of the division but he is also no tomatoe can. Sure, the top 5 LHW’s can win a fight against him but nobody has ever walked through the guy.
1.) He broke his rib during the fight, and I am sure Matt may have had something to do with that, not to mention that he put B.J. is a crucifix hold and made him eat punches like popcorn.
2.) Having shitty cardio is not an excuse to lose a fight. He fights for a living, and has no other job to keep him from training his cardio properly.
3.) It has been a while since I have seen this fight, so I may have to give you the armbar, but I do remember Jens beating him pretty good.
4.) Chuck walked through Tito twice. The first fight is one of the worst beatings I have seen in the UFC.
Tito serves as a very good gate keeper. Much Like Leben does at 185, Kurt Pellagrino at 155, or josh Burkman at 170#, non of these guys are ever going to be champs in their respective weight classes but they are great measures to where and if a fighter can step up in competetion. I think the win over Tito was an important confidence booster and show that he ready for the big show.
This is going to be a great fight. Can Machida’s illusiveness out do Silva’s power. On the ground they are both BJJ blackbelts, so nobody is getting submitted. IT will comedown to the standup. Machida has the better resume with Franklin, BJ, and Bonner. Silva’s best is Alexander and Irvin. It will be interesting and hopefully Silva is aggresive enough to keep the fight interesting.
In only one of BJ’s losses was it absolutely clear that he was beat. That was Hughes 2…
Against Pulver, majority decision (I thought BJ won, and that was one of the first MMA fights I ever watched, so the fact that I am a BJ fan now didn’t play into that.)
GSP, split decision. clearly could have gone either way.
Machida , the decision was unanimous, but the fight was still pretty close.
It went to decision. Machida outweighed BJ by over 30 pounds and still couldn’t put him away. You must not have seen that fight. BJ Penn is 5 times the fighter that Machida is.
I agree, in a rematch Penn would put Machida to sleep
BOO! I would rather have a Evans-Silva and then Liddell -Machida fight. Tis is a good fight but Silva-Evans is great like the Bisping and Evans fight was… Liddell wants his belt back and i want to see Liddell-Anderson Silva!
Bisping Vs Evans was in no way great. In fact it was one of the lower rated main events of that entire year. Evans previous fight with Lambert was much more exciting.
But this match is solid, why? Because I honestly don’t know which way it will go. Personally I think this fight will be more highy anticipated than the main event and definately more exciting than Evans - Bisping.
funny that you mention bisping evans because I think this fight will be as entertaining as that one…..
Are you kidding me, Thiago is awsome to watch and his aggressive style is perfect to get a good fight out of Machida.
Don’t count it out, if Thiago flys out there and Machida does a step and strike a few times it’ll get Thiago to back up. Thats basicly how he’s confusing everyone. He’s got some good back peddle going and clips you when your coming forward. It makes fighters not want to come forward and for agressive fights like Franklin who don’t care and come forward anyway, when he catches them while they’re coming forward he can put them on the ground. The guy doesn’t have KO power but he likes to hit you when you can’t roll with the punch and it can KO someone like Franklin. I see Lyoto winning this one maybe by TKO in the first otherwise it’ll go to decision.
pat or anyone else who wants to see pictures of my trip, email me kevjack115@yahoo, I’ll send a few pics. going for a nap now, but I’ll hit you later!
Machida is over rated and will lose. But, WTF is up with the ufc screwing the U.S. fans for those in the UK. Look at the cards for ufc 88 vs 89. We have Chuck vs who cares, and they have 3 huge fights and maybe 2 more with Deigo and also Lytle. WTF is going on Dana???
Yeah your right! While we watch it all for FREE I’ll remember to think about how ripped off I feel…calm down bro, the whole world doesnt revolve around us…but thanks for your two cents.
Well done mate, you put him in his place!!
I’m from the UK and am hyped for this card as the tickets are ordered. But like UKMMA says, they need a good solid card to help promote MMA over here as 85 was such a c*ck up.
The UK is a big market for the UFC to crack and its working. Boxing is massive over here and i’m sure MMA will be too.
I train MMA and am thinking of leaving where i am at the moment to it being too popular and not having enough time with the coaches, all thanks to the UFC marketing machine.
At the end of the day we’re basically a US state anyway so its understandable ; )
Screwing you? Its a FREE card. We need a huge event in the UK to promote UFC and win more fans over. This is it!!!!
What about UFC 84, 87, etc etc
Are you gonna go and watch it live anyway??
Wait until the UFC goes international …there will be only a few PPV’s in America all year if it really takes off.
Thiago better catch & beat em, I never wanna see a hit & run run run, run hit run run & run, run run run hit & run5x type of fighter become a champ.
i dont get it why you hate his fighting style
is it beacause hes not a dumbass and run into punches like most fighters ? and if you look at machida he isnt that Bulk up so his main defense is evading so tell me how can it be boring seeing a man dodgging most of the attacks of his oppenent ?
Machida is not overhyped the only guy I think an beat this guy is healthy Rua. Everyone seem to have forgotten about this guy I can’t wait till he comes back and dominates LHW division.
Amen. I couldn’t agree more. I hope Thiago beats the crap out of him. Lyoto can cry on Anderson’s chest.
Best UFC card ever? (with Anderson Vs Okami)
Anderson is fightin okami on 88 in atlanta i think, but he might not be able to once irvin gets through with him…
Anderson Silva is going to end Irvin quick so he can be ready for Atlanta and Okami..
Doubts Colin…
and this fight is epic
oh damn!!! ;-()!!! wat a fight!
Ahhh shit. Is Hamil Franklin this card? Or Dan Henderson? Both…?
AWESOME! This is just the guy to expose Machida. He is explosive and has ground game. No more running around the ring. He will have to engage.
His ground game means nothing if you cant get him down.
I say Machida wins this one still, thiago is aggressive but he is much more conservative than wandy (the only guy I see KO’ing machida). why couldn’t joe silva just make this happen???
I hope this is still going to be free on Spike!
Ive got my tickets!!! my first ufc!!! how good is this card?
I hope this is still going to be on Spike TV!
It’ll be Machida is my prediction. Silva looks awesome, and will probably deserve a title shot at some point, but he hasn’t looked nearly as impenetrable as Machida. Machida is really strong for his size, and will probably control this one on the ground.
I thought I had heard that Wandy took a fight with T Silva?
cant wait for this 1, but as for engaging and not running, isnt machida known as been a counter striker also, not as exciting as liddell, but extremely effective none the less!!
I can’t wait 3 months. Great card… It is just too far away.
BNF, who would you pick to win this fight? I cant stand Machida, so for me ofcourse its Thiago!!!
I am not the biggest fan of Machida either, but I respect his skills. I think the key will be to get in his face and bully him. First pick to do that would be Wandi, but Thiago is a close 2nd and if he comes with the correct game plan he should be able to TKO Machida. At least that is what I am hopeing for.
I also wished it were wandy vs machida, wandy would gain so much from beating him. but I really don’t see thiago beating machida, machida FTW!!
Not to sound like a retard but what is FTW?
I have asked Linx before too. FTW = For the win…
Silva will win this fight man! im sure of it! i bet he is worth a bet as he will be the outsider.
Nah…thiago is good but he hasnt beat anyone yet. he has just had new comers and low rankers and he had trouble with all of them…houston? melendez?, Irvin? nope i dont think so. Kalib was running. Machida just fights smart is all. he does engage what do you call the near TKO on tito with that knee to the rib cage. Fans like you are xtremely ignorant i swear. any reason to doubt any fighter you dont favor at all..total bias. i hope mahica exposes thiago in that case.
After that, if Machida wins they can’t deny him his title shot (I still think he already deserves it, but what do I know? Maybe the UFC desn’t want so many possible champions that are not from the US). And the main event is turning out to be weaker than most of the other fights. Bisping vs Leben main event, what a joke
I don’t understand your comment. Why would they not want foriegn champions? They are all about expansion. And what better way than having a foreign champion. As far as the main event, I will take 5 great fights over 4 ok fights and a title fight main event, everyday of the week.
Machida hasn’t fought any top contenders for awhile. Ortiz and Sokoudjou were not top 5 contenders. Undefeated or not the guys can barley end fights. Hes had one submission in two years. Hes never KO’d anyone. His last TKO was over 2 years ago (and that was a forfeit). I just dont think he deserves a title shot yet. I still give him all the respect in the world for doing what he does, but I would love to see Wandy knock him out. I hope Thiago gets it done.
As well as Machida’s done, I can’t see making him a top contender until he beats a top contender. How does beating Thiago Silva earn anyone a title shot (unless, maybe, if it’s a win via total annihilation)? I say why bother putting him up against Thiago at this point? He deserves to fight someone of the Chuck/Hendo/Rampage/Wand caliber, a victory that will truly warrant a title shot.
I know he’s got the wins over BJ and Franklin, but those were years ago. If you’re going to use that as a reason for a title shot then why don’t we have Jeremy Horn fight Kendall Grove, and if he wins that, he gets shot at Anderson Silva because in 1999 he beat Liddell?
Correction: I could see the UFC giving him a title shot if he beats Silva, I just wouldn’t understand why they would.
Machida will drag it out and continue to make everyone look silly.
wow what a way to eliminate a top contender. Thiago better kick some ass. no one should hate machida, just hope one day his fights are More exciting. very dynamic fighter and very smart headed too
This should be a sick fight. Though, I am hoping that Black House or team nogueira can hold three belts but i gotta go with thiago. Thank god that T isn’t fighting wand. I don’t think i can take that.
I guess the fact that they booked this fight (that we have been begging for for some time) means that Chuck or Rashad are gauranteed the next title shot. If Rashad keeps his undefeated record somehow by dry humping a decision then is awarded a title shot, I will barf.
There is no way Chuck will lose a dry humping decision to Rashad. He has the best takedown defense in the game. It will never happen…
There isn’t a wrestler that’s managed to keep him down. It’s uncanny. That’s why he got this fight, they know that a small Rashad isn’t going to be able to keep Chuck down, leaving him open to lots and lots of punches.
Silva takes it
now, that is a hell of a matchup, kinda sad though cause I like them both..
I think for the first time we will see a different fight from machida, thiago will not allow him to play his classic strategy.
winner of this deserves a title shot more than evans or chuck, chuck needs at least 2 more wins to get a shot i think after 2 mins with rampage then not finishing wandy
NOOOOO!!! I don’t want to see either of them lose. :{
Really? Mat hughes main event last time was a joke buddy! hughes is rubbish he was only good when ufc was crap! we want to see Bisping! as he is the champion in the middleweight! franklin and silva are scared to fight him.
you must be stupid to say Matt Hughes is rubbish. you must be new to the sport
Dazzles- are you delusional? The biggest draw in the sport (by far) should have to have 2 more wins AFTER Rashad? Rashed is an easy win so UFC can do the biggest PPV of all time this year, Forrest Vs. Chuck.
Bisping vs Leben is like the third best fight on this card and the event is called “Bisping-Leben”? Machida vs Silva or Sanchez vs Alves should be the main event!
Who cares what order they fight in. Just be happy there are so many good fights on 1 card.
This is turning out to be a damn good card!! I’m pumped!! I hope one of the Thiagos wins: Silva, not Alves.
Lyoto ‘Kalib Starnes’ Machida
lol!!! i like at
Only Kalib Starnes runs. And losses. Hmm, Not quite the same. obviously you no nothing of MMA.
Anyone who has been at a UK event when Bisping is under the main event understands why. In the UK he’s the biggest draw of all.
If Forrest is defending his belt on the nye ppv,the winner of Liddell vs Evans must be getting the next title shot.I can’t see Machida or Silva fighting in October, then for the title in December.They would need more time to prepare.I think Dana is planning on Chuck getting another title shot.
No shit!
hellll freeeakkkin gchyeeeeaaa!!
- my favorite style fighter vs. my least favorite style fighter
- aggressive vs. defensive
- ko OR decision ?
- undefeated vs. undefeated
- brazil vs. brazil
can Machida outpoint Thiago and NOT get KTFO?!
not to mention sanchez/alves & leben/bisping SAME NIGHT.
HOLY {[EXPLECITIVE}]!!What is this? the best card on ever!? put it on your Outlook Calendar. yup.
Yes! War Thiago!
Hey BNF, it’s a huge conspiracy theory but if you look at it, they put Silva vs Franklin 2 in Cincinnatti, Alves should get his WW title shot, his recent record is actually way better than sanchez who is 2-2 on his last 4 fights. Machida deserves it way more than chuck liddell or anyone else and still it’s not granted if he defeats Silva. On the other hand, Nogueira got his title shot after just one win, so I guess I’m not making sense, but again, huge conspiracy theory, but it’s fun to analyse it like that.
Ok, I am not a big conspiracy guy. Silva/Franklin was a marketing thing, BJ is moving to 170 so Alves/Sanchez have to wait. Chuck is not gaurenteed a title shot and neither is Machida. They both have to win. I don’t know if Machida deserves it way more than Chuck. Chuck was the most dominate LHW champion ever, with like 7 title defenses. And his last fight was one of the best ever. Machida/Tito was not even close. For my money I would rather see Forrest/Chuck rather than Forrest/Machida.
I agree that Chuck forrest would be a better fight and a more interesting fight… I really think Forrest can beat them both!
Two of my favorites going at it, should be an awsome fight i cant wait!
dana white mind:
Chuck beat rashad, thiago beat machida, and machida is out for the tittle contention until later 2009 and chuck can fight against forrest…
if thats true, great stall… win win for everybody
if machida wins i don’t see how you can not give this guy a title shot, but with him fighting now i see how dana’s mind works, chuck gets title shot but what if chuck loses who will fight forrest then with rampage’s arrest his rematch is looking dim right now,