By Bryan Levick 
As we all know athletes can’t live on what they have accomplished in the past.
This is a what have you done for me lately society and it’s never more evident than in professional sports.
Mixed Martial Arts is a bit different as fans will always respect a warrior, a fighter who puts on a show and leaves nothing left behind in the cage.
Wanderlei Silva is one of those fighters. You know, he’s the guy who no matter whether he wins or loses, people are talking about him for weeks after his fights.
He ruled the Pride middleweight division with an iron fist and with a mean streak that had his opponents defeated before the start of the fight ever began.
Since he returned to the UFC after a seven and a half year run in Japan, Silva has gone 1-3 with his lone win coming by vicious knockout over Keith Jardine.
Silva has always been a bit on the smaller side, standing 5’11” tall, his frame is more suited for the middleweight division of the UFC.
After his loss to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 92, Silva announced he would try his hand as a middleweight with the hopes or reviving his once great career.
Before dropping the necessary twenty pounds, Silva met former middleweight champion Rich Franklin at UFC 99 in a catchweight bout of 195lbs.
True to his form, he gave everything he had and left the fans in Germany begging for more. Unfortunately he lost the bout via unanimous decision.
Next month, Silva makes his debut as a middleweight at UFC 110 against Michael Bisping, a former light heavyweight himself.
What awaits The Axe Murderer if he is successful against Bisping? The UFC would love nothing more than to see him make a run at Anderson Silva and the middleweight championship.
Is it too late for that to happen? Silva is by no means too old to compete. Many fans might be surprised to know that he is only thirty-three years old.
The problem is simple, has he gone through too many wars to remain a viable contender in the UFC middleweight division?
We all know his power is still there, he can still take a punch but his reflexes have seemed to slow down somewhat since he came back.
Will he be able to regain some of his speed now that he is twenty pounds lighter or will he lose some of his vaunted power with the weight cut?
No matter what the outcome is, fans all around the world will always pull for him, no one garners more respect from fighters, fans and executives than Silva.
Once upon a time it was respect that caused his opponents to fear him, I am not sure they still feel that way about him.
Of course they will always know he is dangerous but he lost the aura of invincibility a long time ago.
This bout with Bisping will go a long way in showing how he adapts to fighting at 185. Bisping is younger and quicker but does not possess any serious knockout power.
This much we all know, come February 22nd and the weeks after, fans will be standing around water coolers, chatting on web sites and hitting up the radio shows to talk about the man who never disappoints.
