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With the recent announcement of UFC Ultimate Fight Night 14 this July, current UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva will be moving up a weight class to the UFC Light Heavyweight Division against James Irvin. To clear up one thing, despite the move to a higher weight class, Anderson Silva will not be relinquishing his UFC Middleweight Championship.

 

Anderson Silva is not the first fighter in the UFC or any other MMA organization to switch weight classes, but his is the first UFC fighter to do so while holding a championship. The now defunct PRIDE organization had Dan Henderson, who was the PRIDE Middleweight Champion at the time, move up to the light heavyweight division and defeat Wanderlei Silva to become a double champion as he won the PRIDE Light Heavyweight Title as well.

 

The run Anderson Silva has had in the past two years in the UFC Middleweight Division has been nothing short of domination. Anderson Silva has defeated Chris Leben, Rich Franklin twice, Travis Lutter, Nate Marquardt and Dan Henderson during his time in the company. In fact, speculation is going around that the reason Anderson Silva is competing in the UFC Light Heavyweight Division is due to the current lack of competition in the UFC Middleweight Division.

 

With the move to the UFC Light Heavyweight Division, this gives Anderson Silva a whole new list of fighters to face in the octagon. Just think of it, Anderson Silva taking on Chuck Liddell, Rashad Evans, Quinton Jackson, Forrest Griffin, Lyoto Machida and others. While the list seemingly is going on and on in the UFC Light Heavyweight Division, it is getting increasingly shorter in the UFC Middleweight Division.

 

Since Anderson Silva entered the UFC Middleweight Division, he has dominated every competitor put in front of him and hasn’t had a fight go past the second round. While this has been good for the dominant Anderson Silva as far as being champion, Anderson Silva has nearly destroyed the division by destroying every competitor put in front of him. There is only two potential challengers left right now for the UFC Middleweight Championship in Yushin Okami and Michael Bisping.

 

My question is, what if Anderson Silva dominates the UFC Light Heavyweight Division the same way he has been dominating the UFC Middleweight Division? If Anderson Silva was talented enough to win the UFC Middleweight Championship in his second UFC appearance, he is certainly good enough to win the UFC Light Heavyweight Title just as fast. Assuming Anderson Silva does challenge for and win the UFC Light Heavyweight Title, logic states that he would run through the entire division like he has done with the middleweight division in the past.

 

Lets also take a look at the potential dangers if Anderson Silva were to say, get defeated in his debut in the UFC Light Heavyweight Division. That potential loss would not only hurt his chances in the light heavyweight division, but could potentially devalue the UFC Middleweight Title. Right now, Anderson Silva is one of the UFC’s top draws as the UFC Middleweight Champion, because fans are drawn to his destruction of his opponents. However, if Anderson Silva were to get knocked out or submitted, his credibility as champion my start to sink.

 

The real victim of the aforementioned Anderson Silva move to the UFC Light Heavyweight Division could very well be the previously mentioned Yushin Okami. I say this because after defeating Evan Tanner at UFC 82, Yushin Okami was considered the top contender to the UFC Middleweight Title. Now, with Anderson Silva moving up to a new weight class, that can potentially postpone any title opportunity Yushin Okami would have gotten. Would Yushin Okami have defeated Anderson Silva to become the UFC Middleweight Title, maybe yes and maybe no, but now it seems like we will never know?

 

Only time will tell if Anderson Silva can become the king of two UFC weight classes (Light Heavyweight and Middleweight), but July 19^th could become the biggest day in Anderson Silva’s career.