17 August 2007, the UFC announced that they had signed Wanderlei Silva to compete in the organization and that he would return to the Octagon on 29 December 2007 at UFC 79. After months of speculation about Silva's opponent, UFC President Dana White announced that Chuck Liddell would be Silva's opponent for his return match. The long-awaited match happened on 29 December 2007 at UFC 79 with Silva losing to Liddell by unanimous decision. After the fight Silva said, "Win or lose I like to give the emotion for my fans" He also added that he gave his best and promised that next time he will deliver a win. Keeping to his promise, on 24 May 2008 at UFC 84 in Las Vegas, he earned a decisive KO win against Keith Jardine at the 36-second mark of the first round, earning him Knockout of the Night honors. When Jardine threw a kick, Silva countered with a right-left-right combo that dropped him. Silva then finished the fight with ground strikes to earn the knockout. At UFC 92, Wanderlei fought Quinton Jackson, who he had beaten twice previously in PRIDE. Jackson avenged his previous defeats by knocking Silva out with a left hook in the first round. Following the fight, Silva indicated that he would like to face Jackson again in the future. Silva faced Rich Franklin at UFC 99 at a catchweight bout of 195 lb. After a hard-fought match on both sides, Silva lost via unanimous decision to Franklin. During the second round, Silva rocked Franklin hard with punches and almost finished the fight during that moment. This was counterbalanced by Franklin dropping Silva three times in that round, each time with singular strikes. Silva then announced he would be out of action until 2010, as he underwent facial surgery to repair his nose (which was broken during Silva's second fight with Cro Cop, and then repeatedly broken again in later matches) and remove some scar tissue from above his eyes to avoid bleeding and being easily cut open during future fights. The surgery allowed him to breathe through a once completely blocked nose thus increasing his oxygen intake by 30% by doctor's estimates. At UFC 110, announcer Joe Rogan emphatically stated that Wanderlei looked like a totally different person in the wake of his recent facial reconstructive surgery. Silva made his middleweight (185 lb) debut during UFC 110 against