Over the past week, I've had the honor to engage another writer here at The Bleacher Report in an interesting debate: who is the best fighter in the world right now? It's my belief that Anderson Silva holds that crown at the moment, the result of a breathtaking series of dominating performances. My debate partner contends that Fedor Emelianenko is still the best fighter on the planet and that my contention that he hasn't faced enough top competition should actually serve as a bonus in his favor, since certain fighters have avoided him. 

This debate went on for several days, with neither of us convincing the other, but it brought to light an interesting question: what would happen if Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko fought each other?

One of the beautiful things about being a mixed martial arts (or any other combat sport, really) fan is the ability to play the "what if" game. What would happen if we matched a legend from the past against one of the new generation of fighters? What would happen if Anderson Silva faced Fedor Emelianenko?

The beauty of these debates is that there's rarely a right or wrong answer. You might consider BJ Penn to be the best fighter in the world, and you think he'd destroy any lightweight or welterweight you matched him up against. Another fan might consider Takanori Gomi to be the best lightweight in the world. 

These are valid arguments with no real correct answer, but that's what makes the discussion so much fun.

While thinking about these fantasy matchups, I started thinking about potential UFC fights, match-ups between superstars that would be highly anticipated by most of the UFC audience. I came up with a list of ten potential fights or rematches, and I've whittled that list down to the five you'll find below. 

When trimming my list to these five bouts, I tried to factor in several criteria: the popularity of the fighters involved, the skill of the fighters involved, and the ability each of them have to sell a pay per view main event either alone or with another fighter of equal or slightly lesser popularity.

I believe all five of these fights would amass gigantic numbers on pay per view and, if promoted correctly, could bring millions of new fans into the fold. These are fights that Zuffa has the ability to make, meaning every fighter on the list is under a Zuffa contract.

ANDERSON SILVA VS. CHUCK LIDDELL

Regardless of his losing record over the past 16 months, it's a fact that Chuck Liddell is still one of the biggest pay per view draws in the UFC today. MMA is an interesting sport in that being a huge star and a mainstream draw can cause fans to overlook your failings.

Losing fights doesn't matter if you're a star, because people will overlook those losses, but only to a certain extent. If Liddell continues to get knocked out, there will come a time where his drawing power is hurt, but it would take a few more dramatic losses to turn Liddell into anything other than a money-making machine.

This fight would be an absolute monster. The Couture/Lesnar fight will get more PPV buys, but a Silva/Liddell fight at 205 would do 800,000 buys at minimum. It's a classic battle between two of the most feared strikers in the history of the UFC. 

Knowing the styles of both of these fighters as well as I do, I'm certain that it would end up being a striking war akin to the Liddell fight against Wanderlei Silva in December of 2007, except for the fact that Anderson Silva is far more accurate with strikes than both Wanderlei or Liddell (or anyone else in the UFC, for that matter).

The Spider won't sit in the pocket and trade punches with Liddell like Wanderlei did. Both Liddell and Silva like to use the opening moments of a fight to measure distances and angles with their opponents, but after the first minute I think there would be a flurry of great strikes from both fighters, and they probably wouldn't stop until someone hits the mat.

A win over Chuck Liddell, especially by TKO or KO, would elevate Anderson Silva into that upper echelon of PPV draws. He's already a star, but he has yet to prove he can sell a PPV by himself. A victory over Liddell would go a long way towards doing just that, regardless of Liddell's recent record.

Likewise, a win over Silva would likely give Liddell enough credibility with mainstream fans that he could be given an immediate title shot. Knocking out the best fighter in the world will make fans quickly forget his dramatic knockout loss to Rashad Evans.

BROCK LESNAR VS. FRANK MIR

This one is highly speculative, because in order for this fight to truly sell, both Lesnar and Mir would have to emerge victorious in their respective fights with Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. The odds of that happening are low, but we're mostly dealing in fantasy here anyway. This is the only rematch on the list, but it's definitely one of those rare cases where the sequel would be bigger and better than the original.

Lesnar putting his UFC Heavyweight Championship on the line against the man who handed him his only defeat in the octagon would do monster business, especially of Mir can beat Nogueira for the interim belt and make this fight a title unification bout.

There would be many intriguing stories surrounding Lesnar/Mir 2. Has Lesnar learned from the rookie mistakes he made in that first fight, and will he finish Frank Mir in the manner he came so close to doing in the first meeting? Has he learned enough submission defense in the time since the first meeting to avoid submission attempts from one of the best jiu-jitsu players in the heavyweight division?

Can Mir catch the monster in another submission hold? Better yet, can he avoid the Lesnar strikes and take downs that put him on the mat in the first fight? Will he be able to somehow do what no other Lesnar opponent has been able to do and avoid being controlled by the Minnesota native's wrestling skill and power?

There are so many ways to sell this fight, so many angles to choose from, and all of them would be received very well by UFC fans. Even if Lesnar and Mir both lose their respective title fights in November and December, there's still some appeal to putting this fight together towards the middle or end of 2009. 

FORREST GRIFFIN VS. WANDERLEI SILVA

Wanderlei Silva's vicious "hold the throat with one hand while pummeling with the other" knockout of Keith Jardine cemented the former PRIDE legend as a superstar in the UFC. Even while losing to Chuck Liddell in December 2007, Silva gained fame as one of the only fighters since the UFC's rise to mainstream popularity to stand in the pocket and trade punches with Liddell. If Silva beats Quinton "Rampage" Jackson for the third time in as many fights, he becomes an instant title contender for the light heavyweight crown held by Forrest Griffin.

Forrest Griffin is a highly unique fighter. His legendary war for the Ultimate Fighter 1 crown with Stephan Bonnar is credited as being the most important fight in UFC history, the moment that elevated the status of the UFC from subcultural sideshow into the booming darling of pop culture it remains today. Griffin emerged as the victor and claimed his UFC contract as prize. Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta, sensing a landmark moment, decided to award Stephan Bonnar a UFC contract as well. Griffin, with his affable and humble personality and everyman appeal, has turned into one of the UFC's biggest stars.

With a win in late 2007 over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, the man considered to be the best light heavyweight in the world, Griffin leaped over top contenders and secured a title fight with Rampage Jackson. Griffin took the light heavyweight belt after a close fight with Jackson and, for the first time in his unlikely career as a fighter, sat alone atop the light heavyweight division.

Despite the differences in their respective backgrounds, Griffin and Silva have very similar styles. Both fighters have made a habit of standing in the pocket and trading blows with little regard to their own safety, and they share an ability to take a high level of punishment.

Styles do make fights, and that motto has never been more true than when applied to Griffin vs. Silva. This would be a wild, exciting fight between two fighters who love to punch and have little concern for their own well-being.

ANDERSON SILVA VS. GEORGES ST. PIERRE

Silva and welterweight phenom Georges St. Pierre are, by most accounts, the two best fighters in the UFC regardless of weight class. Silva has completely dominated the middleweight division and is on the road to dominance over the light heavyweight division as well.

Outside of one fluke punch from Matt Serra, St. Pierre has issued one commanding performance after another against top-level welterweights and hasn't even been challenged since the loss to Serra more than a year ago.

This is the very definition of a superfight; two fighters who have the skills to make other great fighters look like amateurs locking horns with one another to see who the better fighter is.

Neither fighter is a huge pay per view draw by himself. Silva has been making steady progress towards that top tier of earners in the UFC, and St. Pierre brings in huge viewer numbers in Canada, but neither man can claim to have the kind of drawing power on their own that a Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture or Brock Lesnar can. 

This fight wouldn't be sold on one name. It wouldn't even be sold on two names. The easiest way to market this fight is to present it for what it is: two of the best fighters in the world, meeting at a catch weight in the middle of their respective divisions to find out who can stake a claim to being the best mixed martial artist in the UFC. 

It isn't about titles or rankings or divisions; it's simply about being the best. 

If you took that story and built it up with a two to three week hype show series on Spike, the buzz for the fight would be enormous. This is one of the few fights that Zuffa has available that could, with the proper buildup, headline a stadium show in the United States, and it's not out of the question to expect pay per view buy numbers to soar past the one million mark.

URIJAH FABER VS. B.J. PENN

With the lack of intriguing challengers for B.J. Penn's lightweight championship, it only makes sense to look outside the division for a fresh match-up. Penn will have one such challenge on his docket when he moves up to challenge Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight title in January.

Should Penn fail in his quest to hold two championships at the same time, he will move back to the lightweight division to take on a steady stream of opponents who could very likely present no challenge whatsoever for the reigning title holder.

Kenny Florian deserves a shot at the belt, but despite his outstanding skillset, I firmly believe he'd be overwhelmed much like Sean Sherk was in the Penn/Sherk fight. There are plenty of great fighters in the lightweight division, but Penn is truly in a league of his own.

In order to get a unique challenge for Penn, I would look to the WEC and the 145lb title holder, Urijah Faber.

Faber is also considered to be one of the best fighters in the world, and he's incredibly popular. Faber has outgrown his home in the WEC and has no real challengers to his championship left in the company, which is why he should vacate the belt and move up to the UFC lightweight division.

The division has two ready-made PPV fights for Faber: Tyson Griffin, the only man to ever defeat Faber, and reigning champion Penn. While both of the fights would draw well, the one booked first should be the Penn fight.

Faber's credentials are akin to others who have received title shots in their first fight after moving to a division such as Dan Henderson, Randy Couture and even B.J. Penn, who challenges for Georges St. Pierre's title in January despite not fighting at welterweight in several years.

He doesn't have to move to the division and work his way up the ladder to earn a title shot; he's earned it by being one of the best fighters in the world.

One of the hardest lessons Dana White and Joe Silva had to learn over the past two years is that when you have a big fight, you book it immediately. If you try to make the fight bigger by having one or both potential opponents fight lesser names, you run the risk of the lesser name beating the big name, thereby ruining your big main event and leading to a fight nobody wants to see.

Gabriel Gonzaga's KO of Mirko Cro Cop is a shining example of how the best laid plans often work out in a manner you hadn't intended. Cro Cop was being built up for an August 2007 heavyweight title fight with champion Randy Couture, but Gonzaga threw a wrench into those plans with a perfect high kick and ended up getting the title shot in a far less appealing fight to mainstream fans than Cro Cop/Couture would have been.

It's apparent that they've learned this lesson, however, and the Brock Lesnar/Randy Couture fight at UFC 91 is a perfect example. While Brock Lesnar definitely doesn't deserve a title shot (at least by traditional sporting rules) at this point in his career, it would be very risky to give Lesnar more fights to pad his record.

There's a good chance that Lesnar would run through Cheick Kongo, Jake O'Brien or any other lower-tier heavyweight they'd match him up against, but there's also a good chance one of them can get a lucky punch or catch Lesnar in a submission. He's only 1-1 in the UFC, but he's already one of the top two PPV draws in the company.

The name of the game is making a profit by putting together the biggest fights you have available, and Lesnar vs. Couture is the absolute biggest fight the company can realistically make in 2008.

Joe Silva and Dana White decided not to worry about getting Lesnar more wins under his belt and simply booked the fight. That decision will surely continue to anger hardcore fans, but the UFC's massive mainstream audience is already salivating over the Lesnar/Couture fight, and it's going to draw the largest PPV audience in UFC history.

Just like Lesnar, Faber doesn't need to get a win in the UFC to build up his name; he's already popular, and you always have the ability to push him to the mainstream on a bigger level via the All Access shows and The Ultimate Fighter.

UFC fans are generally aware of WEC, because Zuffa has pushed the bigger WEC cards (Faber/Pulver) on UFC programming since buying the company. Zuffa does a fantastic job in producing the All Access specials.  They convert a very high percentage of the audience that watches those All Access specials into pay per view buyers, and that's the number one metric to observe when trying to determine if the hype shows are a success. A hype show on Urijah Faber would be no different.

In the end, the fans would be treated to a breathtaking fight between two of the best on the planet. Both fighters are well rounded and skilled in every aspect of the game. It would be fast, it would be furious, and it would also be one of the best fights of all time.

CONCLUSION

I've highlighted five big fights that Zuffa has the ability to make. What are your biggest potential fights? Leave your thoughts and comments for discussion.

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