Mike Chiappetta • E-mail

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has been looking for a new challenge, and it appears the UFC will acquiesce to some of his demands.

According to a pair of published reports, one by MMARated.com and another by MMAJunkie.com, Silva will move up to light-heavyweight to take on James "The Sandman" Irvin in a non-title fight at UFC Fight Night 14.

The event has not officially been announced by the UFC, but has been rumored for several days as counterprogramming to the inaugural event by the new Affliction promotion, entitled Banned.

According to Nevada State Athletic Commission documents, the UFC recently informed the commission that they would be seeking a July 19 date for a show held at the Palms that would air on Spike TV. Such a request is usually a formality for an established promotional company, and will pave the way to the show. The commission will hear the request on Friday, June 20, and an official announcement will likely come soon after.

The inclusion of Silva, even in a non-title fight, gives the UFC event star power to compete with Affliction's show, which will air on pay-per-view and is headlined by a heavyweight bout between ex-UFC champ Tim Sylvia and Fedor Emelianenko, a heavyweight that many consider the best in the world. Andrei Arlovski, Josh Barnett, Pedro Rizzo and Renato "Babalu" Sobral are also featured.

Of course, UFC also has the added bonus of being able to advertise their show as free. The Affliction show will have a $39.95 price tag.

Affliction was originally a clothing line that found a niche in the MMA market by sponsoring many fighters, including many UFC athletes. After quick growth, the company began thinking about running their own promotion, and the UFC and other organizations banned the label as they transitioned to promoter. The Affliction fight card is expected to have the highest fighter payroll of any American MMA show ever, and so pay-per-view buys are critical to the future of the fledgling promotion.

Silva gives the UFC a champion to promote the show around. The Brazilian who is ranked at the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world by several news outlets, is 21-4 in his career and has won all five of his UFC matches via TKO or submission.

In March, he defeated Dan Henderson via rear naked choke. Afterward, Silva spoke of undertaking a new challenge. In a story broken by NBCSports.com in March, it was revealed that Silva and boxer Roy Jones, Jr. had preliminary talks for a boxing match, but because of his exclusive promotional deal with the UFC, talks soon broke down. A potential match with Chuck Liddell was also explored, but Liddell ultimately was granted a fight with Rashad Evans that will headline UFC 88 in September.

It is unlikely that a match with Irvin (14-4) would satiate Silva's desire for a big-money, high-profile challenge, and it is possible that his agreement to participate in such a hastily arranged card will lead to a reciprocated favor from UFC to him somewhere down the line. Such deals aren't unusual. Just this month, Matt Hughes took a fight with Thiago Alves on short notice with the provision that win or lose, he would next compete against Matt Serra.

Irvin has two straight wins after a UFC record-tying eight-second knockout over Houston Alexander at Fight Night 13 in April.

Other fighters expected to compete on the UFC's card include rising heavyweight star Cain Velasquez, and Brandon Vera, who lost via first-round TKO to Fabricio Werdum at UFC 85.

MORE FROM MMA

MMA Section Front

EliteXC champ Silva tests positive for steroids UFC 90 tickets fly as card begins to take shape   UFC rookie Jones makes big impression Couture's next time in the cage is set ... sort of   Gilbert Melendez: 'I am a Fighter' Fletcher happy for shot in the limelight Babalu to face Southworth at Strikeforce show B.J. Penn sets GSP in his crosshairs UFC 87: Seek & Destroy photo gallery St. Pierre routs Fitch in title match at UFC 87 MMA Section Front   Add MMA headlines to your news reader: