The time is almost here.
Come UFC 148, the world will get to see what may be the most anticipated rematch in MMA history: Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II.
The first fight had enough drama and fireworks to keep everyone on the edge of their seats, and the rematch has all the ingredients to provide heaping helpings of seconds every bit as good as the first pass at the table.
Sonnen has worked hard outside the gym to hype this fight into the stratosphere, and behind closed doors he’s been training like a man who wants the title.
Silva has been Silva, staying relatively quiet and letting his camp talk in his stead.
With the leak of Silva suffering an injury in training, one begins to question just how confident the normally unflappable champion really is. Sonnen was taking it to him in their first fight, both on the ground and standing.
If Silva wants to keep that shiny belt, he’s got a lot of work to do. If Sonnen has proven anything in the past years, it’s that he can back up his words in the cage, and from all the talking he’s been doing, it’s clear he has every intention of replaying the first fight—sans the mental lapse that saw him caught in a fight ending triangle choke.
Here are the keys to victory for Anderson Silva.