Tenure in MMA

On Saturday, Wanderlei Silva's options number two: he can go a semi-respectable 2-3 in his latest UFC run, or he can call into question the viability of employing a veteran fighter who could be 1-4. (1-6 if you count his two deconstructions during the last days of Pride.)

These are alarming numbers. In three of those losses, Silva was knocked unconscious. Not dazed, but flatlined. In the other two, he sustained a decent amount of punishment. If you accumulate the amount of cranial blows suffered by Silva in recent years, it's likely to far outnumber the strikes absorbed by fighters who have been cut for reasons relating to ring age.

Chuck Liddell's career was suspended because he was unable to execute his game. Liddell had also suffered three concussive KOs. He’s been gone; Silva remains. What’s the difference?

Fighters are constantly claiming reinvention: a new training camp, new attitude, new strategies, new weight class. Silva is likely going to get some mileage out of his debut at 185 pounds. But dropping weight is no cure for a chin that's taken unusual abuse in recent years. If Silva loses to Michael Bisping in Australia, he may be without a new change of clothes. And if it winds up being his fourth knockout loss in recent memory, his fans should be happy it stops here.