Randy Couture Vs. Anderson Silva: The UFC's Best Option * Update*

Over the past few days there have been two major discussions in the MMA world.

The first involves the question of Randy Couture's deserved ranking in the UFC 205 lb division. The second question, that arrived just yesterday, is about the next person to face Anderson Silva, now that Vitor Belfort was forced to pull out due to injury.

After some careful thought, the correct solution to both problems is quite simple:

Randy Couture vs. Anderson Silva should happen.

There has been much debate about where Couture fits in the light-heavyweight title picture. Many people dispute the notion that Couture is a top contender in the division, and say that at this point, and with all due respect, he is undeserving of yet another title shot.

Dana White has fired back by playing the "disrespecting a legend" card, and says that he would go up against anybody who says that Couture isn't currently a top contender in the 205 lb division. Of course, White also has some vested interest, since a Couture title fight would probably mean big money for the UFC, so we should at least be skeptical about White's assertions.

While there has been some legitimately disrespectful talk directed toward Couture recently, simple questioning of Couture's current merit as a contender doesn't qualify as such. In fact, those who feel that Couture's ranking is inflated aren't trying to disparage him as much as they are concerned about fair treatment of the other deserving contenders, and the purity of the sport.

Without even considering Couture's history of leapfrogging into a title shot, the fact of the matter is that Randy's recent record, including a gift of a decision over Brandon Vera and a win over a heavily shopworn Mark Coleman, does not make a contender.

Aside from the winner of the fight between Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson, the list of more-deserving contenders should include the winner of the Jon Jones vs. Brandon Vera fight, the winner of the Forrest Griffin vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira fight, and of course, Anderson Silva.

Obviously the first objection to this is that Randy Couture beat Brandon Vera, but the way I interpret the fight between Couture vs. Vera is it should have been considered a draw. 

If Vera beats Jones, he'll have accomplished far more than Randy did by beating Coleman. Likewise, if Jones can beat Vera decisively, his performances against Matt Hamill and Vera will have far exceeded Couture's latest efforts.

None of this is to say that we should be against a Couture title fight, or that the UFC doesn't have a right to consider marketability when assigning title fights. However, if Dana White and the UFC are going to assert that Randy Couture is a legitimate top five fighter at light-heavyweight, then he should be proving it with words, and not with an essentially meaningless fight against Mark Coleman.

Couture should be given the chance to fight a legitimate elite light-heavyweight to prove his status. Unfortunately, most of the light-heavyweight contenders including Evans, Griffin, Jackson, Jones, Nogueira, and Vera are all currently scheduled to fight other fighters.

Enter Anderson Silva.

Silva hasn't fought since his domination of Forrest Griffin last August, and was expected to compete in April opposite Vitor Belfort.

Due to a shoulder injury, Belfort will be unable to compete, and Chael Sonnen will be sidelined due to some nasty head lacerations. There simply are no other middleweight contenders ready to face Silva.

One might say that the UFC should simply push back Silva's fight to a later date, but the UFC would prefer not do that, and the truth is that Silva has already been out of action too long.

The UFC has already stated plans to try to find Silva a replacement title challenger, but even Demian Maia was less than convincing in his win over Dan Miller.

Lacking a credible contender, yet wanting to keep the champ active, the UFC would be smart to plug in Couture to fill the void.

The match-up is truly an intriguing one.

Randy Couture has already stated that he is interested in a fight with Silva, and feels that a wrestler with a good game-plan stands the best chance of downing "The Spider."

Couture's aura is such that people will buy the fight since we all know that "you can never count out Randy Couture."

Even better, Dana White will get a chance to put his money where his mouth is when he says that Couture is still a legitimate contender in the light-heavyweight division.

Silva has also previously stated his interest in pursuing the biggest fights possible regardless of division, and there is no bigger option for UFC 112 than a fight against "Captain America."

A fight between Randy Couture and Anderson Silva really is the best possible option for UFC 112, as it satisfies nearly every possible demand.

It's a huge fight with plenty of implications for every party involved.

In fact, this fight is so perfect, that if it doesn't happen, it will only go to prove that Dana White doesn't really believe himself when he says that Couture is still a top contender.

I hope you'll all join me in campaigning for this fight to happen through twitter, facebook, etc.

If fans were a strong enough voice to stop Franklin vs. Henderson 2 from happening, surely we can help make Couture vs. Silva.

*** Update***

The UFC announced that Anderson Silva will defend the title opposite Demian Maia.  Not the best possible fight, as we know, but it's okay.