Anderson "Spider" Silva has shown the world how dominant he is at the middleweight level, so why not move up a notch and battle it out with the 205-pound guys. Although there were rumors of him fighting Chuck Liddell, he might have his chance to fight the Iceman if he’s able to take out James Irvin on July 19th at UFC Fight Night 14.
The bout between Silva and Irvin is scheduled to take place on the same night Affliction is set to debut their first MMA event, "Affliction: Banned." This isn’t the first time Dana White and his UFC team decide to add something on television in a goal to steer some viewers their way. EliteXC had their first MMA event on national television (CBS) not too long ago and the UFC aired a Chuck Liddell special on Spike TV at the same time. Nonetheless, CBS was able to acquire more than 6.5 million viewers that same night. Since that didn’t seem to work, a free UFC event will be televised for all viewers the same night Affliction will broadcast their MMA event.
It will definitely be a huge night for all MMA fans as the UFC will bring us Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin and Affliction will present Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia.
Irvin has worked his way up in the light heavyweight division and Silva has dominated the middleweight division completely. This fight will be a huge challenge for Silva as he pushes himself to another level. Gaining 20 more pounds and fighting bigger guys will not be an easy task for the current middleweight champion, but it will be a good way to test out his all-around fighting skills.
