Xtreme Couture Hints at Silva-Jardine Fight, Silva-Liddell Rematch

UFC light heavyweight Wanderlei Silva has returned to Las Vegas for training at Xtreme Couture, and the author of the fight team’s official blog hints that Silva will next fight Keith Jardine in May — and possibly Chuck Liddell in December.

On Monday MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reported that, while still not signed, a Silva-Jardine fight was likely to take place in May at UFC 84. However, we also passed along a blog entry from Silva in which the former PRIDE champion stated that he is considering a move to middleweight — especially if Dan Henderson defeats UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva at next weekend’s UFC 82 event.

While the move to 185 lbs. could still happen, it sounds as though Silva has begun preparations for the Jardine fight.

“Randy (Couture) says that he and Wanderlei will continue working up until Wand’s next fight,” states the Xtreme Couture blog. “We’re not sure if we’re allowed to say who he is fighting next. But we’re told it will happen in May and it is someone who has fought Chuck… Wanderlei tells us he’d like to rack up a couple of wins and rematch Chuck on New Year’s (Eve).”

Silva, a longtime PRIDE fighter, signed with the UFC in August 2007 and debuted at UFC 79 against Liddell in one of the most-anticipated fights in MMA history. Liddell scored a unanimous-decision victory.

According to today’s blog, Silva is now focusing on his wrestling skills as he trains with Couture and Phil Baroni.

Although he’s currently riding a three-fight losing streak, Silva is still generally considered one of the world’s top light-heavyweight fighters. The 31-year-old fighter held PRIDE’s middleweight (205-lb.) title for more than five years while also winning the organization’s 2003 Open-Weight Grand Prix championship.

(Photo courtesy: Xtreme Couture blog)