Chuck Liddell: I Would Have Beaten Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen

UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell has never been one to beat around the bush when asked for his opinion, but many will find his latest comments to O' Globo's Gustavo Noblat (via Fighters Only) pretty shocking.

Check out what "The Iceman" had to say about a fantasy matchup between himself and dominant UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva:

“I would beat him, I always said that I would. I have the advantage in weight and height, so it would be more likely that I would beat him,” he said. “ But Anderson is one of my favorite fighters.”

After a TKO win over Tito Ortiz in December of 2006, Liddell had won seven straight bouts, all knockouts, including four consecutive light heavyweight title defenses. 

However, it was a downward spiral for the hard-hitting stand-up specialist, losing five of his final six bouts, suffering four losses via knockout. 

At this stage in his career, Silva has been as close to perfect as a fighter can be, boasting a 16-0 record inside the Octagon and owning the UFC middleweight record of 10 consecutive title defenses. 

Outside of two title bouts with Chael Sonnen, no challengers have been able to provide "The Spider" with much of a challenge inside the cage. 

Speaking of "The American Gangster," Liddell was even more succinct in stating how he thought a matchup with Sonnen would have gone: “Sonnen has nothing to offer me (in terms of risk).”

Sonnen competed in his first light heavyweight bout in over seven years at UFC 159 last month, suffering a completely lopsided TKO loss to divisional champion Jon Jones. 

Of course, don't expect to see Liddell vs. Silva or Sonnen anytime soon, as the former champ formally retired in December of 2010 and now serves as the UFC's Vice President of Business Development (via MMA Junkie). 

In his prime, would Liddell have been able to provide a test for either Silva or Sonnen?

John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com and contributes MMA videos to The Young Turks Sports Show.