With news today that Wanderlei Silva has signed to fight with Bellator the good folks at #WHOATV have taken Rich Chou’s place as Bellator match maker to bring you five fights we would like to see to welcome Wanderlei Silva to Bellator. So enjoy;
Chael Sonnen
These two definitely have some unfinished business and although Sonnen was handed a 2-year suspension following multiple failed drug tests, guess what year his suspension is up? Yep you guessed it, July 2016. The pair coached TUF Brazil and a lot of heat was created between them during the show and whilst Sonnen has not competed since 2013 you have to believe that if the right offer was made to fight Silva he would jump at the chance. Likewise, Silva would love the opportunity to take on Sonnen in a classic Striker Vs Grappler match and you have to believe that all of the MMA community irrespective of where both guys are now in their respective careers would tune in to watch this one.
Paul Daley
Daley has gone on record calling out “The Axe Murderer” and has been rallying for big fights from Bellator for a long time. So why not give him the opportunity to meet Silva at a catch weight and see who would be the last man standing. You have to favour Daley for his youth and power but you can never count out Silva who can take more than his fair share of shots and return them right back at his opponents. This really would be a career defining bout for Daley who you could argue is lacking that “big name win” on his record and it would definitely test if Silva could still hang with the young blood.
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal
“King Mo” is always going to be one of those guys at higher end of the division and someone whom a win over really solidifies you as a true contender. He showed during the Rizin tournament a true progression in his stand up game and whilst he will always fall back onto his wrestling in times of trouble, you could argue that his stand-up is certainly one of his main tools of his game right now. A win for either of these men would certainly but them in good stead for a shot at the Gold but I think both of their short term ambitions may be slightly different. A good solid fight between two very well respected big named fighters and one that would definitely gain a lot of traction for Bellator.
Tito Ortiz
Ortiz is coming off the back of a loss to Light Heavyweight Champion Liam McGeary and I think a fight with Silva would certainly make sense for them both at this time and certainly be more than sufficient to headline a Bellator show. Silva holds a win over Ortiz from way back at UFC 25 which took place in Japan so there is an angle to be had in helping to promote the fight for sure. I can expect that we are only going to see Silva fighting big names during his Bellator tenure and the names don’t come much bigger than Tito Ortiz.
Chris Leben
These two put on an absolute war at UFC 132 and you have to think that Silva would love to redeem himself against Leben. Since that fight Leben has gone 0-4 with Silva going 2-1 and with both guys looking to make a statement in their Bellator debut why not get them together for another fight. It’s fair to say that we wouldn’t be expecting the same levels of performance as we saw in their first clash but that aside you can’t help but feel that both these guys would be looking to step it up in their promotional debuts.