Irvin Plans to Snare ‘Spider’ in His Own Web

It is early April. Amped by the adrenaline boost off the biggest win of his career, James Irvin (Pictures) shadowboxes outside his residence on a crisp, blue-sky California morning. He's a new man in the wake of his eight-second destruction of Houston Alexander (Pictures).

"I've finally realized I belong here," Irvin says excitedly, eyebrows arched, head nodding, fists stabbing the air. His eyes brighten at what the new horizon holds. "I've realized I can take these guys. I can be a champion."

Irvin then jokes that, for all his training with Randy Couture (Pictures), Quinton Jackson (Pictures), Tito Ortiz (Pictures) and others, he might just be tempted to lay another surprise on the mixed martial arts world, considering the dues he's paid in the last five years.

"One of these days, I might just come out and shoot a double-leg takedown," he says. "Surprise everybody."

For Irvin, surprises are the norm. And since his disastrous UFC debut in February 2005, when he was stopped in the opening round against Mike Kyle (Pictures), his career has been punctuated by a head-scratching montage of rousing wins and hard-luck setbacks.

Fast forward to late June. Irvin's on the treadmill at his gym, Ultimate Training Center, in Roseville, Calif. Opened last year, the facility keeps Irvin busy teaching classes when he's not prepping for a fight. "My training partner came running in, and my manager, Mike, is all excited, yelling, 'We're fighting Silva!' I'm thinking, ‘Awesome! We're gonna fight Wanderlei.' But then I said, 'No, you gotta be kidding me.'"

Tapped on six weeks' notice, Irvin realized he was getting a crack at Anderson "The Spider" Silva, the UFC 185-pound champ and uber-dangerous boss of the middleweights.

Unbeaten in six bouts since coming to the organization, Silva hasn't gone past two rounds since storming to the top of the UFC middleweight mountain. His signature wins include two ruthless destructions of former champ Rich Franklin (Pictures) and a surprisingly one-sided thumping of pound-for-pound entrant Dan Henderson (Pictures).

Silva vs. Irvin is the headliner in a July 19 Spike card thrown together on short notice to compete with the debut of the "Affliction" pay-per-view the same night. And if circumstance is the mother of all opportunity, Irvin's wish for a big-name opponent has, finally, come true.

He has lobbied UFC matchmaker Joe Silva to get him tough opponents, particularly ones that aren't afraid to trade on the feet. He's had mixed results and setbacks in his last four UFC bouts, going 3-1 with a win by DQ against Luis Arthur Cane (Pictures) last December, then stopping Alexander in a bout that lasted as long as a successful bull ride. He also injured his knee against Thiago Silva (Pictures) in his last defeat, aborting a fast start in which he looked his explosive self before it ended.

"I've always asked Joe Silva to get me an opponent to get me attention if I beat the guy. My first initial reaction [to fighting Anderson Silva] was 'Where will I sign?' I was worried there would be a bunch of people to fight this guy. But that really wasn't the case," Irvin said. "The ball is definitely in his court. I have no pressure on me whatsoever. I'm repping the 205-pound division, and I'm not going to let him come in and start knocking off 205-ers. Obviously, the UFC takes care of guys that want to end the fight."

For Irvin, that's never been a problem. Like the super-aggressive poker player that never hesitates to go all-in, "Sandman" has long wanted the right dance partner in the kind of all-out striking match fans remember. But opponents usually try to beat him on the ground, as Stephan Bonnar (Pictures) did in January 2006. It will forever irk Irvin if he doesn't get at least a meal-sized offering of the other guy duking it out on the feet.

Like Dave Kingman, he is forever in search of his Goose Gossage -- a fastball pitcher that will bring it straight up, over the plate. Save the nibbly off-speed stuff for high school wrestling and jiu-jitsu aficionados. Bring the heat, or go home.

For Silva, standing up with foes is as natural as it gets, a la Roberto Duran in a chest-to-chest slugfest or Shaq battling for position down low. And, like Irvin, he almost always is considered the superior stand-up stylist.

Silva delivers shots with punishing effect and intuitive timing. Laser-sharp fists, whipsaw counters and the numbing barrage of knees he put on Franklin in both bouts are just a part of the repertoire; it's backed by a stellar submission game and a wonderful sense of anticipation, forever keeping his opponents off-balance whether he is blitzing them standing up or shutting them down on the mat.

You make a mistake against Silva, he hands you your head on a silver platter, with the calm detachment of Charlie Bronson going about his business. And business has been good lately for the Brazilian.

But moving up north 20 pounds presents classical questions of how skill translates against greater size, and that's why the style match is compelling. Irvin thinks the difference is in his favor. Silva's vaunted muay Thai clinch is actually "the weakest part of his game," he opines.

"Against Franklin and Henderson, it's not that his clinch was so good. The clinch definitely favors the taller, stronger guy with more leverage. But in the Thai clinch, aggressiveness goes a long way. He just seemed so much bigger against Dan and Rich. I'm not taking anything away from him. He really bullied those guys around and was able to just reach out and grab them," Irvin explained. "There's a big difference between the wrestling clinch and the muay Thai clinch, and it looked like Dan and Rich didn't know how to muay Thai clinch. I know we didn't see the best of Rich."

The Franklin bouts were textbook examples of Silva using the "plum clinch," a muay Thai position where, with both hands cupped tightly behind an opponent's head, a fighter can knee him while dominating position, yanking him around, robbing him of his balance and, essentially, the ability to function. Having spent extensive time in Thailand and been trained for years by muay Thai legend Ganyao Fairtex, Irvin feels his aggressiveness will turn the tables on Silva.

"Rich didn't pummel back inside or take the Thai clinch back," he said. "I was surprised with what we saw."

Installed as a 5-1 underdog at the sportsbooks, Irvin is hoping this may be the fight where he connects the dots, so to speak, justifying a well-known reputation as a big hitter that prompted Quinton Jackson to tell this writer in 2005 that Irvin hit harder than anyone else in the 205-pound division.

It seemed a stretch to say that three years ago, before Irvin started doing freakish things, like knocking Hector Ramirez (Pictures) senseless with a jab, jumping on Thiago Silva (Pictures) and sending him halfway across the cage with a glancing right hand and dropping Alexander with a sweet right leg feint-right hand shot that didn't even connect cleanly.

These were all a kind of piecemeal confirmation of the athleticism Irvin showed in his first UFC win, a shocking flying knee knockout over Terry Martin (Pictures) in August 2005, though Irvin hasn't had the chance to show off his standup in an extended striking battle.

As gunslingers go, Irvin is never late come high noon. And given fans' reaction to the match, he may be a rookie sheriff looking to take out the middleweight champ, but he is bringing some big guns and a willingness to blaze away. He'll need it, because Silva seems to empty his six-shooters before the other guy gets his out of the holsters.

Manager Mike Roberts, whose firm, MMA Incorporated, also handles WEC champ Urijah Faber (Pictures) and EliteXC middleweight Scott Smith, believes it's the perfect chance for Irvin to roll the dice and make up for the frustrating series of setbacks he's experienced in recent years.

"This is a huge opportunity for James. I believe this is as big as it gets," Roberts said. "James has a chance to shock the world and do something special. Everyone in the UFC is dangerous, and Anderson is at the top of the list. This is a great matchup for fans, and Anderson has to believe he is the best stand-up fighter in the world. He fears no man on his feet."

For Irvin, the old rub has always been guys who didn't want to stand, even though they'd hinted they would. He doesn't think Silva will shy away from exchanges, though, which has him excited.

"There's no way he's coming to take me down. I fully expect him coming to punch and kick me. He's coming to make a point," Irvin said. "My striking is much more refined. If I've gotta take three strikes to one, then I'll take his 30 to land my 10."

Irvin wasn't too surprised with the recent shakeup in the light heavyweight division after Forrest Griffin (Pictures) dethroned Quinton Jackson to win the belt, given how Griffin's improved. He figures that the fight with Silva is the perfect template to jump-start his name into the discussion of top 205-pounders.

"I told anyone that week I was 100-percent positive Quinton was gonna win, but it was only a matter of time before Forrest was a champ. The guy trains nonstop. In three or four years, it's gonna be a scary Forrest Griffin," Irvin said. "For Forrest, this is the first time he fought a perfect game plan. You don't have to be a big KO guy or BJJ guy to be champ."

You do have to be highly motivated, however, and when Irvin's not fighting, he's training students at his gym. Upbeat as always, he runs them through grueling workouts, looking every bit the kind of motivational coach he's had himself in the MMA world. It's something he plans on doing full time after his fighting career.

"It's something I really stumbled upon. Urijah Faber was always telling me I had a knack for teaching, and I always looked up to him," Irvin said. "I've had all the area's best trainers, the best world champion coaches, and I learned from them, got things they taught me and now I'm very good at understanding people and how they learn and what they need to learn. I can show them something, and it's something that works; it's not some nonsense. When you see someone walk into the gym and then a few weeks later walking out with confidence, maybe a little swagger, even, because they're making improvement and getting into shape, that's a great feeling."

Typically, Irvin would have a 10-week camp for a match, but six weeks' notice for the Silva bout necessitated some adjustments.

"Everything's been going good so far. We had to kind of cram 10 weeks into six. I'll be training right up to the fight, maybe even the day of. They literally gave me the best fighter in the world. Fedor [Emelianenko] may be close, but he's not fighting the same competition as Silva," Irvin said. "And I'm getting the chance to crack this guy."