At the outset of tonight's UFC 76 broadcast, the Ultimate Fighting Championship made official what has been widely speculated: If Chuck Liddell beats Keith Jardine tonight, his next fight will be against Wanderlei Silva.
The Silva-Liddell fight is a matchup that mixed martial arts fans have clamored for, and there was some talk that it would have happened tonight. A scheduling conflict for Silva (and perhaps the UFC's desire to give Liddell an easy opponent after his loss to Rampage Jackson) made Jardine Liddell's opponent for tonight, though.
Although Liddell will be the fan favorite, Silva may very well be the betting favorite to beat Liddell. Silva has beaten both Jackson and Dan Henderson, although he's on a two-fight losing streak. In any event, Liddell-Silva is exactly the kind of fight fans were hoping for when UFC bought Pride.
You can follow along with our UFC 76 Chuck Liddell-Keith Jardine main event live blog as well as our UFC 76 undercard live blog.
UPDATE: It's a moot point. Keith Jardine beat Chuck Liddell.