UFC on FOX 2 may be headlined by Phil Davis and Rashad Evans, but Chael Sonnen or Michael Bisping may just steal the show come Saturday.
The two brash and talkative middleweights will be fighting for a shot at reigning middleweight champion, Anderson Silva. While Sonnen has his doubts that the match will ever come to fruition, Dana White has assured fans that the winner of this match will definitely get a fight against Silva, most likely in the summer.
So while Davis and Evans claim main event status, Bisping vs Sonnen is more important. The winner could very well be the next middleweight champion.
Sonnen is the heavy favorite (at least according to Vegas) going into the fight and his first fight with the champion has been well-documented.
Sonnen was able to challenge Silva in a way that no one has before, dominating the champ for the large majority of the fight before succumbing to a triangle choke/armbar submission late in the fifth and final round.
A rematch would be, as Sonnen himself called it, “the biggest rematch in the business” and a fight that many have clamored for since their first fight in August of 2010.
The question is, can Sonnen do it again?
Obviously Sonnen’s submission defense is questionable at best and his return matchup against Brian Stann didn’t do much to show improvement in that area as Stann isn’t much of a submission artist.
However, Sonnen was able to remain busy against Stann and continually looked to improve position, a stark difference from his fight against Silva when he was content to sit in Silva’s guard—something that cost him in the end.
Should Bisping pull the upset, Silva will probably breath a sigh of relief. However, Bisping could present a threat to the champion.
For years it has seemed like Bisping has been kept away from upper-echelon opponents and has failed to find success against good competition when he has had the opportunity. A win over Sonnen would show major improvement.
A year ago, this fight would be a no brainer. You could bet your house that Silva would easily dispose of Bisping, probably in spectacular fashion. The times they are a-changing though and SIlva’s age may finally be catching up to him.
With Silva’s repeated retirement talk and continuous issues with injuries it is hard to tell if his skills will decline over the last fights of his career.
As Fedor Emelianenko has shown, even legends can have their skills diminish and when it happens, it happens quickly.
Bisping is a huge middleweight and he would have to work extremely hard on his wrestling but if he shows to be skillful enough to get past Sonnen it is feasible he could give Silva a run for his money, especially if Silva has retirement on the brain.
Either way, Anderson Silva will have a legitimate threat emerge from UFC on FOX 2.
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