The Ultimate Fighting Championship continues to make giant leaps in the expansion of mixed martial arts, and the recent announcement that the UFC will move its programming to the Fox Broadcasting Company in the coming months has changed the landscape of the sport. When the news broke that the debut of UFC on its new platform would be happening in November, the names of Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson surfaced as the rumored participants in the show’s main event. I see right through this fight for what it really is.
This potential matchup is exactly what the Zuffa executives are looking for. Anderson Silva has made a career out of turning world-class matchups into highlight reels. Look at what he did to Vitor Belfort at UFC 126, and to Yushin Okami this past weekend at UFC 134, as his most recent examples. The Henderson-Silva fight back in 2008 ended with Silva forcing a tap out in the second round of the contest, after he dropped Henderson with a dizzying array of strikes. I’m willing to bet that UFC matchmakers are contemplating making this bout in the hopes that Silva will continue his exciting ways and demolish the former Olympian.
Why? The answer is simple: This event may be one of the most important shows in UFC history. I’m guessing that even the thought that the main event was boring would cause the whole show to be considered a failure. Look at what happened at UFC 114, where the fight card was very interesting and exciting until the main event. However, due to the lackluster final fight, the overall perception of the show was negatively affected. The UFC cannot afford for the same thing to happen with their debut on Fox Television. Thus, the plan to create the matchup of Silva vs. Henderson.
Anderson Silva using such a platform to display his talents in the cage (and hopefully create another highlight) is exactly the kind of thing that the organization would like to use in its attempts to penetrate deeper into the mainstream consciousness. If Silva is able to recreate the magic that has convinced many MMA fans that he is the best ever, the UFC has the opportunity to create a much larger fan base than they already have. With fight fans gearing up for the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez fight later on that evening, the UFC has a chance to grab the attention of the fight community, and in order to do so, they’ll turn to their most exciting fighter, placing him in a bout where he is expected to continue his current path.
The fighters who are placed on this card will have the heavy burden on their shoulders of being expected to help push the UFC to higher heights than it has already attained. At the top of the card may be the current middleweight champion, Anderson Silva, who would face the heaviest burden of all. Silva is expected to continue building his legend with the types of breathtaking showings he has been putting on over the last few years. And while that is much easier said than done, I am willing to bet that he can do it. Of course, given what Zuffa has riding on this show, I’m not the only one willing to do so.
