The much-anticipated Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen rematch will take place inside a Rio de Janeiro soccer stadium, Dana White announced at a UFC 149 press conference in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on Wednesday. The UFC president added that the event will take place in front of 80,000 fans.
White did not specify which venue in Rio would host the card or the date, but sources close to the event have confirmed with MMAFighting.com that it is expected to take place on either June 16 or June 23.
Originally, Silva vs. Sonnen 2 was slated for Sao Paulo, but the organization ran into issues booking a venue in that city, so it appears as though they’ll be returning to Rio for the third time in 10 months.
Interestingly enough, on Tuesday’s episode of UFC Tonight on FUEL TV, Sonnen said he had yet to sign a contract for the rematch. Of course, Silva (31-4) defeated Sonnen (27-11-1) via triangle armbar at UFC 117 in Aug. 2010.
Also expected to take place on the same card is Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva 2, the finals of TUF Brazil and Fabricio Werdum vs. Mike Russow.