At UFC 101 last Saturday, the UFC's most dangerous striker, Anderson “the Spider” Silva, put his remarkable skills on display for the world to see. Forrest Griffin, the former UFC light heavyweight champion and Silva's opponent, was hit early and often with punches that ultimately left him sprawled out on the canvas. After feeling each other out with limited action, the southpaw Silva dropped Griffin with a right hook two minutes into their scrap. Griffin was able to recover but was caught again with a right hand less than a minute later. Silva pounced on Griffin landing a few strikes to his downed opponents. Silva let Griffin up but was dropped for the final time at just over three minutes into the first round with a backpedaling jab to the chin which floored Forrest leaving him unable to continue.
Silva, the middleweight champ, moved up to 205 pounds for the second time during his UFC career for his fight with Griffin. After beating nearly all the top contenders within the 185 pound division, Silva has moved up to the light heavyweight division to find stiffer competition. Yahoo! Sports initially reported that a member of Silva's team had indicated that Silva was interested in giving up his middleweight crown to make a permanent move to the 205 pound division. While there are several exciting fighters Silva could face off against in the division, his good friend and training partner Lyoto Machida is the reigning champion. Silva has stated emphatically that he is not interested in fighting Machida and if a shot at the title is out of the question, it's doubtful that Silva would want to vacate his title at 185 pounds. Ed Soares, Silva's manager, told ESPN.com that the Spider has no intention of making a permanent move to the light heavyweight division.
At the post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White indicated that Silva's next fight will most likely be a middleweight title defense against Dan Henderson. Silva defeated Henderson last year at UFC 82 by submitting him with a rear naked choke in the second round. Henderson had a solid first round in that fight taking down Silva with his superior wrestling skills and many fans believe that Henderson won the first round before being stopped in the second. Henderson has been solid in his three fights since the defeat. He has beaten Rousimar Palhares and Rich Franklin by decision and won against Michael Bisping with a devastating second round knockout at UFC 100.
Silva and his manager have expressed concern that Henderson has not yet earned another title shot and suggested that Henderson fight the winner of the UFC 102 matchup between Nate Marquardt and Demian Maia. If this scenario played out, Silva would likely be left on the sidelines for several months while the additional match for the title shot was fought. The 34-year old Silva has indicated in the past that he doesn't want to have long layoffs between his matches and he wants to fight often.
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