Emelianenko-Nogueira: This may be the most storied of these trilogies – two legends in their prime going at it three times. In his terrific book, “A Fighter’s Heart,” author Sam Sheridan went behind the scenes with Big Nog before the third meeting with Fedor in 2004. The writer also recounted their first two fights. Sheridan told of how “Minotauro” went into the initial Fedor bout with nagging back pain and two hernias that never healed even as he took on 355-pound freak show Bob Sapp. The ex-NFL lineman threw Nogueira around pretty good before the BJJ master beat him with an arm bar. Two wins later, he took on Fedor, who was tip-top and dismantled Nogueira in a unanimous decision. Big Nog was healthier for their first sequel in August of ’04, but the fight was stopped quickly and ruled a no contest after Nogueira accidentally head-butted Emelianenko, producing a bloody cut. Four months later, in the inevitable rematch, Fedor outclassed Nogueira with an impressive striking display. The Russian hurt Big Nog with quick, powerful punches and stymied the Brazilian through three rounds, winning another unanimous decision.

Couture-Liddell: When it began, this series had an up-and-comer-versus-proven-veteran flavor. Couture’s game-planning helped produce a dominating win in the first meeting as he pummeled Liddell and took a third-round TKO, giving the former heavyweight champion the interim light heavyweight belt. Liddell, however, came back to win the second and third meetings by knockout as the mo-hawked one began cementing himself as the face of the UFC.

Every series is different, though. And the Silva-Jackson pairing requires further investigation to reveal a strong root for another rematch, this time under the UFC flag.

Throw out the ruthlessness of Silva’s lopsided wins. Those were four and five years ago, respectively, and each guy has subsequently seen changes in the trajectories of their careers.

Not only that, but in looking for excuses to get these two bad-asses together again, the back-story of each previous fight may help explain Rampage’s lackluster efforts.

While he was not yet on par with Silva’s talent, Rampage lost the first bout to “The Axe Murderer” during a grueling tournament in which he fought, and beat, Liddell earlier that day. Not an easy day. Then, the second time around, a religious fast robbed Rampage of his sharpness.

Not to mention the fact that much has changed with these two combatants in and out of the cage since last they met.