Author: Andrew Saunders

At UFC 117, Chael Sonnen put on a spectacular display of ground-and-pound against a fighter who’s widely considered to be the best to ever step foot into a cage.

For 23 minutes, champion Anderson Silva was pummeled into a beaten, broken and scarred mess. And when the two fight again tomorrow night, you should bet against him.

How can we suggest that Anderson Silva is the betting favorite even though he was outstruck 320 to 64 in the first encounter?

Let’s think about the facts.

 

Fact No. 1: Chael Sonnen entered the fight with a T/E ratio nearly three times the allowable limits (and nearly 18 times those of a normal human being).

Fact No. 2: Anderson Silva entered the fight with a rib injury that made utilizing proper footwork painful and stuffing takedowns impossible.

 

Despite these fight-altering issues, Chael Sonnen was unable to come out victorious over a weakened Spider. For roughly 20 minutes of the fight, Sonnen was able to maintain his most dominant position on Silva, yet somehow, was unable to pull off the win.

Now that Sonnen’s levels are being closely monitored and Silva’s injury has healed, why should we expect a Chael-friendly outcome when these advantages are removed?

By no means am I suggesting that Silva is going to remain standing the entire fight. In fact, I expect him to go down a few times throughout the fight if it goes multiple rounds. I am suggesting, however, that Chael Sonnen does not have what it takes to finish Anderson Silva.

Tomorrow night, when the cage door shuts, it will be time to put up or shut up, and unless Sonnen has added some impressive new tricks to his arsenal, Silva has already seen everything that the Oregonian bad boy has to offer. On top of that, he has had two years to think about those mistakes and how he can correct them.

No offense to Chael P. Sonnen, but should we really expect that the greatest fighter in the history of MMA will come in unprepared?

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What is ultimately on the line tomorrow night at UFC 148? Why is winning a title so important? Because when all is said and done, having a championship reign to your credit marks your place as one of the greatest fighters that the sport has ever seen.

Anderson Silva has carved out his place in the history books. Currently, the champ holds records in four major categories: longest title reign, most title defenses, most consecutive title defenses and most consecutive wins. His place atop the pound-for-pound rankings has been secure for years, and with the demise of Fedor Emelianenko, Silva is widely considered to be unrivaled when discussing the greatest fighter in history.

So what can this fight do for his legacy? Demolish it.

Silva’s reign is mostly impressive because he has appeared invulnerable throughout his tenure in the UFC. Until the original battle with Mr. Sonnen, no one has made Silva look weak. Thankfully, The Spider was able to salvage his legacy by pulling out a come-from-behind victory.

The champion is clearly unstable, as evidenced by his cheap shot that he took on Sonnen at the weigh-in this evening. Is it possible that he realizes how much is on the line, and it’s starting to make him crack?

On the other hand, Chael Sonnen sits on the line between greatness and footnote. A win allows him to join an elite group of five who have been fortunate enough to win the UFC middleweight championship. Additionally, he will go down in history as the man who ended the seemingly endless winning streak of the greatest fighter in history.

Contrarily, a loss sends the American Gangsta into a club that he doesn’t want to be a part of.

What do Pedro Rizzo, Frank Trigg and Kenny Florian have in common? They are all fighters who were top contenders in their divisions, had multiple chances to win UFC gold and failed in each attempt.  It is unlikely that history will be kind to them and less likely that any of them will ever reach the UFC Hall of Fame.

To say that tomorrow is important to both men’s careers is an understatement. Tomorrow night, we will see how the cards fall. Can Sonnen guarantee his place in the history while causing others to doubt Silva’s? Will The Spider live up to his promise to break the bones of his challenger? Find out tomorrow on PPV.

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UFC 148 looks to be one of the best fight cards put together in the history of the sport. But if you can’t find a place to watch, it’s all for naught. Here is your guide to watching tomorrow night’s epic battles. 

 

Facebook Prelims

According to the UFC’s Facebook page, the prelims are available to be streamed beginning at 8p.m. EST. However, there seems to be some confusion, as this is the same time that the UFC on FX broadcast is set to begin.

After a brief chat with the operator at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, I was able to gather that the first fight is scheduled to begin at 7p.m. EST. If you are hoping to catch Rafaello Oliveira vs. Yoislandy Izquierdo on the Facebook streams, it’s better to be safe than sorry, so tune in at 7p.m.

 

FX Prelims

If you thought that the only exciting battles were taking place on the PPV portion of UFC 148, you are in for a treat during the FX preliminaries. Four fights featuring UFC notables fill the prelims, and should prove to be a delicious appetizer for what is to come. 

Featured fights include Gleison Tibau vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov, Melvin Guillard vs. Fabricio Camoes, Costa Phillippou vs. Riki Fukuda and Shane Roller vs. Alessio Sakara.

The action begins at 8p.m. EST. Check with your cable or satellite provider for listings for FX and FXHD.

 

Pay-Per-View

The PPV madness begins at 10p.m. with six main card fights that are sure to create one of the most exciting events in UFC history.

Fights include:

Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen
Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin III
Cung Le vs. Patrick Cote
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Demian Maia
Chad Mendes vs. Cody McKenzie
Ivan Menjivar vs. Mike Easton

There are many options for viewing the fights. The PPV is available from major cable and satellite providers, as well as on UFC.com.

Some less conventional viewing methods include watching on the UFC’s Facebook page through Facebook Credits, or ordering through the UFC app on XBox Live. 

Looking for a less costly option? Many sports bars like Buffalo Wild Wings, Hooters or Applebees host the fights for their customers. For the price of a quesadilla appetizer and a beer, you get to watch a $54.99 PPV.

 

Attending the event live?

Doors open at 3p.m. local time and the PPV kicks off at 7p.m.

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Through the 19-year history of the UFC, fans have been witness to some heated rivalries that have excited and intrigued us until their violent conclusion. Despite intense feuds between the likes of Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock or Rampage Jackson and Wanderlei Silva, there is one that stands head-and-shoulders above the rest: Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen.

Although Silva has been regarded as the top fighter in the world for some time now, until his first battle with Sonnen, it was hard to keep the champion motivated for fights. Never was that more evident than his UFC 112 “fight” against Demian Maia, in which the champion intentionally avoided contact for most of the final two rounds. 

When challenger Chael Sonnen decided to use his legendary mouth to defame, defile and degrade “The Spider” and his homeland of Brazil, it was clear that Silva had found something more than just another opponent. He had found an enemy.  

The legendary first fight saw Sonnen outstrike Silva at a ratio of 5:1, however the champion would pull off the greatest come-from-behind victory in MMA history by securing a combination triangle choke/armbar to score a tapout in the final stanza.

Who could have predicted that Sonnen would fare so well against the dominant champion? After all, the Oregonian badass had put together a paltry 4-3 record in the UFC prior to challenging for the belt.

So what happened to make the rivalry so intense the second time around? There are some theories, but I attribute the problem to one incident. Sonnen’s penchant for verbal jabs may have gone a tiny bit too far in October, when he decided to direct his attention to another member of the Silva household.

You tell Anderson Silva I’m coming over and I’m kicking down his backdoor and patting his little lady on the ass and I’m telling her to make me a steak, medium-rare just how I like it.

Perhaps he was inspired by his loudmouth challenger. Maybe he is tired of losing the war of the words. I’m not sure. But when Silva finally decided to speak out, his ultra-violent threats were shocking to say the least.

Chael is a criminal. He’s been convicted of crimes. He doesn’t deserve to be in the Octagon. When the time is right, I’m going to knock all of his teeth out. I am going to make him eat these words he has said about me and about the UFC. This is the end of the jokes, no more talking.

What I’m going to do inside the Octagon is something that’s going to change the image of the sport. I’m going to beat his ass like he’s never been beaten before. I’m going to make sure that every one of his teeth are broken, his arms are broken, his legs will be broken. He’s not going to be able to walk out of the octagon by himself.

I’m going to beat him maybe the way his parents should have beat him to teach him some manners… I’m going to beat him up like he’s never been beat before. He can say whatever he wants, but I’m not playing any more.

It’s not often that you find two men with so much mutual disdain, who can challenge each other on both the verbal and physical battlefields. However, that seems to be the magical paradigm that these middleweights have stumbled upon.

The heat of battle can make men do some crazy things. How crazy will things get when the greatest rivalry in MMA history comes to a head tomorrow night at UFC 148? Don’t miss out on the most anticipated battle that the sport has ever seen.

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