Silva the giant slayer

Josh Gross over at Sports Illustrated makes the argument that Anderson Silva should move up to heavyweight, something Silva himself has considered doing. Gross even says that Silva has an opponent in mind: Frank Mir.

While I think would be a huge mistake, it does present an interesting “what if?” scenario.

Silva owns the UFC middleweight division. Nate Marquardt, Demian Maia and Dan Henderson are contenders in name only. Yushin Okami, Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva could also be on the horizon, but again, are they legitimate contenders? And while he proved at UFC 101 that he’s just as dangerous at light heavyweight, he will never fight for the title as long as his friend, Lyoto Machida, is the champ.

So, what about heavyweight? It certainly would be a big-money event, and it would be a legitimate challenge for Silva, something he needs to stay motivated. And, as Gross points out, Silva at heavyweight would certainly make the pound-for-pound best fighter debate a lot more interesting considering the current (widely presumed) P4P champ is Strikeforce acquisition and heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko.

But it all just seems to much like a circus sideshow. Silva vs. Mir, then who? Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic? Randy Couture? “Minotauro” Nogueira? Sure, those guys are all pretty reasonable matchups size-wise. But the reason to fight is to win titles and I just can’t see Silva stepping in against Brock Lesnar. Yes, Lesnar is the lesser fighter in every regard except size and strength, but that counts for a helluva lot when you’re talking about a fighter who once won a welterweight title.

Silva needs to clean out the middleweight division, then work his way through the light heavies. Forget about Machida, there are a handful of fighters at 205 pounds to challenge Silva before he takes a crack at the title -  Okami, Belfort, Wanderlei Silva, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Rashad Evans, Tito Ortiz, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and eventually Jon Jones and Gegard Mousasi (should Mousasi eventually sign with the UFC).

Silva’s only got three fights left on his contract, which the UFC can extend indefinitely as long as Silva holds a title belt. But letting him go at the heavyweight division smacks of a cash-grab and is hard to take seriously. C;ean up your own backyard first, then you can worry about the neighbour’s.