The upcoming UFC 84: Ill Will event being held May 24 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada is loaded with light heavyweight storylines. While the BJ ‘The Prodigy’ Penn and Sean ‘The Muscle Shark’ Sherk fight for the lightweight title in Saturday’s main event, there are two light heavyweight fights that could steal the spotlight.

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Wanderlei ‘The Axe Murderer’ Silva (31-8-1) squares off against Keith ‘The Dean of Mean’ Jardine (13-3-1) as a $1.85 favorite (bet $185 to win $100). The Brazilian striker enters this matchup mired in a three-fight losing streak, but those setbacks have occurred against some of the best strikers in the game.

Silva suffered knockout losses to Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic and Dan Henderson before dropping a unanimous decision to Chuck ‘The Iceman’ Liddell at UFC 79: Nemesis. ‘The Axe Murderer’ is also a pedestrian 1-3 inside the octagon when fighting for the UFC, with his lone victory occurring by first-round knockout over Tony Peterra at UFC 20: Battle for the Gold.

Silva became a force in mixed martial arts when he moved onto Pride, eventually going unbeaten 18 fights in a row from 2000 to 2004. The 31-year-old also has two knockout victories over current UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson.

Even though Silva possesses a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, expect a standup war to occur during this fight. His last submission victory occurred back in 2000 with a first-round rear-naked choke against Bob Schrijber. Silva has 21 knockout victories on his resume, along with just four submissions and six decisions while losing four times by knockout and four times via decision.

“I think this is a good fight for me, he (Jardine) likes to fight standing up and he is a tough guy,” stated Silva. “I want to prove to myself and my fans that I am the same Wanderlei Silva who has devastated fighters over the last few years.”

Jardine, the $1.45 underdog (bet $100 to win $145), hasn’t fought since September when he upset Liddell with a split-decision victory at UFC 76: Knockout. Jardine’s game plan for that fight was superb, disrupting Liddell with leg kicks while trading shots with the former champ.

He can thank coach Greg Jackson, considered one of the best fight technicians in the game, for the game plan that led him to victory. Expect Jardine to showcase a similar approach for this fight against a smaller opponent. Silva has a similar style to Liddell, but is only 5’ 10’’ compared to Jardine’s 6’ 2’’.

“I have much respect for Wanderlei, he’s one of the greatest fighters ever,” said Jardine. “I’m excited about securing my place in MMA history by beating another icon in the sport.”

There is also the Tito ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ Ortiz (16-5-1) versus Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida (12-0) matchup that is garnering a ton of attention for other reasons. Machida is currently the $2.10 ‘chalk’ in this contest over Ortiz, the $1.65 underdog, but expect to see plenty of line movement.

The focus on this fight appears to be the ongoing feud between Ortiz and UFC President Dana White. Ortiz finishes up his UFC contract with this fight, and White has publicly stated that he will not resign the former light heavyweight champion. White even went so far as to state that he hopes Machida beats the hell out of Ortiz at last week’s media conference call.

“I know there are problems between Dana White and Tito Ortiz,” noted Machida through an interpreter. “But I have nothing to do with it, that’s there problem.”

Machida won his first three UFC fights by unanimous decision before dominating highly regarded Rameau Sokoudjou at UFC 79: Nemesis with a second-round arm triangle choke. The Brazilian also has impressive victories over Vernon White, BJ Penn, Stephan Bonnar and Rich Franklin. Machida has just three knockout victories, two submissions along with seven decisions.

Ortiz has registered more fights (21) inside the octagon than anyone else, and was the longest-reigning champion in UFC history, holding the belt for 3 ½ years (2000-’03). But his octagon future ends with this fight because of the feud with his former manager.

“When he was my manager, he was the one fighting with the owners at the time to make me more money,” said Ortiz. “I’m just doing the things he was doing for me.”

‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ will have his hands full for this contest with Machida, and hasn’t won since back-to-back victories over Ken Shamrock. Ortiz failed in his attempt to reclaim the light heavyweight title with a loss to Liddell at UFC 66: Liddell vs. Ortiz II before earning a draw with Rashad Evans at UFC 73: Stacked. The 33-year-old has eight knockout victories, two submission wins and five decisions while losing twice by knockout, twice by submission and once by decision.

White summed up his feelings in last week’s conference call when asked about this matchup.

“I put up with him (Ortiz) when he was a good fighter,” said White. “After this fight, I’m no longer in the Tito Ortiz business.”

Brad Young can be reached at byoung@vegasinsider.com.