After a two fight losing streak UFC poster boy Chuck Liddell put himself back in the UFC Light Heavyweight picture with a decision win over Wanderlei Silva in what was a war of attrition. BodogLife.com had Wanderlei Silva as a-145 UFC betting favorite.

After 2 cautious opening minutes Silva caught Liddell with an outside kick than began to play  possum with Liddell pretending to be hurt and then landed a violent counter right hand that set things off. The two fighters traded wildly with Liddell launching mostly right hands while Silva countered with his wide left hooks. Silva appeared to have the faster hands but Liddell began to use his better footwork to his advantage creating angles before creaming home some right hands that slammed into Silva’s dome.

In the beginning of round 2 Silva was bleeding from his right ear as a result of some of the “iceman” Liddell’s right hand bombs. In the second Chuck started creating distance with his agility but Silva has able to connect with some accurate kicks to the body and some hard right hands up top. Liddell’s lack of head movement caused him to get caught with Silva right hand that put him down for a flash knockdown before getting back to his feet. With about 2 minutes left in the round all hell broke loose as the fighters went toe-to-toe trading punches furiously. Both fighters showed tremendous chins as they both landed hard shots but neither man gave an inch or appeared wobbled.

Liddell appeared to get the best of Silva with straighter punches having left Silva with a huge gash over his right eye that was pouring blood. From the beginning of round 3 Chuck went straight for a takedown but wan unable to execute. Chuck’s superior boxing ability started to take affect on the Brazilian as he started landing his punches down the middle with regularity. After a spinning backfist followed by a sharp 1-2 barrage Liddell put  Silva on his heels as he staggered back bleeding profusely from the eye and ear as Liddell began teeing off with a full arsenal of punches. With his back against the cage, Silva ate uppercuts, left hooks and some sickening right hands that had him badly hurt. Wanderlei was throwing back but the blood had clouded his vision and his punches were off the mark. Both men began to tire with a minute left as Lidell was unable to finish off the purple hearted Silva.

The scores read: 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 all in favor of Liddell who jump started his career with the win to improve to 21-5. Silva drops to 31-8-1.

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