The Doggy Bag: Silva's Dilemma

Everyone answers to somebody, so we, the staff at Sherdog.com, have decided to defer to our readers. “The Doggy Bag” gives you the opportunity to speak about what’s on your mind from time to time.

Our reporters, columnists, radio hosts, and editors will chime in with our answers and thoughts, so keep the emails coming.

This week, readers weigh-in in a wide range of topics, including UFC matchmaker Joe Silva's use of Anderson Silva, MMA pound-for-pound rankings and matters pertaining to the Sherdog Radio Network.

Matching the UFC

I visit your Web site on a daily basis, but I never hear about UFC matchmaker Joe Silva. That’s probably due to the fact that he speaks publicly about as often as Mel Gibson lights the Menorah. I’d like Sherdog to comment on Silva’s matchmaking more often, and I would like to know what you think of his handling of middleweight champion Anderson Silva. UFC President Dana White promotes Silva as the number one pound-for-pound fighter, yet Joe Silva continues to match him up with unranked middleweights (see Thales Leites) when he should be fighting the top light heavyweights. What’s your take on the matchmaking midget, and specifically his handling of the middleweight champion?
-- Jason from Tulsa, Okla.

Brian Knapp, associate editor: For my money, Joe Silva is the most indispensable executive resource on the UFC payroll and has proven time and again that he knows his job inside and out. Remember UFC Fight Night 10 in June 2007? He was raked over the coals in the days leading up to that event, and it turned into one of the best shows of the year. His is an oftentimes thankless job in which he gets too little credit for the great events the UFC promotes and a little too much blame for those of the mediocre variety.

Having a fighter of Anderson Silva’s caliber on the roster can become both a blessing and a curse. The only ranked UFC middleweights Silva has not fought inside the Octagon are Yushin Okami, the recently added Chael Sonnen and Leites (Sherdog.com ranks him ninth). He will likely test the latter at UFC 97 in April.

Why the UFC has not greenlit a rematch between Silva and Okami makes little sense. The two battled at a Rumble on the Rock event three years ago -- just five months prior to Silva’s UFC debut -- and Okami won by disqualification when Silva struck him with an illegal upkick. It remains the last blemish on the Brazilian’s impeccable resume, which now includes a record-tying eight consecutive victories inside the Octagon.

Silva has done some moonlighting as a light heavyweight but has not shown a desire to move to 205 pounds permanently. In fact, he has already indicated he plans to leave that division in teammate Lyoto Machida’s hands. If Machida gets past Thiago Silva at UFC 94, he seems like a lock for a title shot in 2009.

In addition, the UFC middleweight champion complicated matters late last year when he revealed his hope to retire at age 35. Silva turns 34 this April. That looming decision leaves the UFC’s resident matchmaker in a bind on several fronts. Do you give him the chance to clean out a second weight class and then walk away at the height of his power? That might serve as a fitting end to a brilliant career but would do nothing to further the UFC’s cause.