The Anderson Silva plot thickens.
Inside Fights recently broke the news that Anderson Silva’s next fight would be at light heavyweight. It was speculated that his opponent could be divisional gatekeeper Keith Jardine. Now, according to MMA Junkie, that opponent could be former 205 pound title holder Forrest Griffin and the event would be UFC 101.
This is certainly an interesting break in the case for where Anderson Silva belongs in the UFC landscape.
If in fact Anderson Silva does fight Forrest Griffin, and beats him, the the UFC will have the green light to put Silva in a number of interesting fights. The first option would be to put him in a 205 pound number one contender’s fight agaisnt someone like Shogun Rua, or Rich Franklin if he beats Wanderlei Silva at UFC 99.
Of course, a Silva light heavyweight title run is contingent on the outcome of Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida at UFC 98. If Machida emerges victorious, then it is unlikely the UFC could convince these two friends and training partners to square off inside the octagon.
If Rashad Evans wins, then that makes things much more interesting. First, it would set up a Rashad vs. Rampage title fight. It would also set up Anderson Silva to face the winner if he won his number one contender’s fight.
Other options for Silva still include meeting George St. Pierre somewhere between 185 and 195 pounds. At lastly, Silva can always go back to his middleweight safety net and fight the winner of Maia vs. Marquardt, also being rumored by Inside Fights to go through.
Suddenly, the Anderson Silva story just got a lot more compelling.
Stay tuned.
