Author: Donald Wood

When middleweight champion Anderson Silva TKO’d No. 1 contender Chael Sonnen at the 1:55 mark of the second round of UFC 148, he shocked the world once again and thought he shut his foe up for good.

After analyzing the tape of the fight, Sonnen’s camp will appeal the decision.

While there were some questions about Silva holding Sonnen’s shorts and putting extra lubricant on his skin, the major infraction being talked about was the knee to the face that ultimately led to the TKO finish.

There is no questioning that The Spider did catch the No. 1 contender in the face while he was down with his knee, but the referee deemed it as an incidental shot.

While the Sonnen camp has the right to appeal, the word of the referee is final.

Sonnen’s coach Scott McQuarry today told MMAjunkie.com about what Silva did wrong and what grounds they will be appealing:

Obviously, there were minor infractions of grabbing shorts and greasing himself up, but the knee to the face … I’ve looked at it from numerous angles. I can see where it hit his face. It did slide down to his chest. But that should be considered a no-contest. What I’m looking for is a rematch.

Sonnen’s team knows they won’t get the call reversed, so they are doing the best they can to keep their fighter at the top of the heap. The absolute worst case scenario is that the team loses the appeal.

If there is a chance that appealing this case could get Sonnen a rematch—even if it’s one percent—it’s the responsibility of his coaches and his trainers to make that happen. In this case, there may actually be valid points to the argument.

While I still see this fight as being decided the way it should have, looking at it objectively and looking for the illegal knee, there may be a case. There is no way this fight will ever be ruled a no-contest, but Sonnen’s camp owes him the effort of trying.

Nothing will come of this appeal, and Sonnen will be forced to earn his way back to the top of the middleweight division. At 35 years old, there is no doubt that the road back to glory will be tough.

Good thing Sonnen’s one of the toughest fighters in the world.

Check back for more on Mixed Martial Arts as it comes, and don’t miss Bleacher Report’s UFC page or listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot topics.

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Anderson Silva successfully defended his middleweight championship at UFC 148 Saturday night, but the bigger story of the night has to be what’s next for Chael Sonnen.

There is no question that Silva is the most dominating champion in the history of MMA, but that doesn’t mean Sonnen’s road to the belt is over; it just means it starts over.

With cardio for days and a ground game second-to-none in the middleweight division, Sonnen will have to start back at the bottom of the barrel again and work his way through the ranks…again.

While many fans and experts thought that a loss for the 35-year-old Sonnen would result in his retirement, there is too much pride in the fighter’s heart to allow him to walk away from MMA when he is arguably the second-best fighter in the division.

Sonnen told ESPN after the fight about his plan of attack after his loss and what’s next for the fighter:

You get knocked down sometimes in life and you have to put one foot in front of the other. You’ve got to learn to shake things off and you have to keep your eye on the ball. You can’t get down. You can’t get depressed. Every single day you get up, you’ve got to make the most of it. I really believe that if you’re going to be in this company [UFC], and take up a spot, you’ve got to be chasing a championship.

It’s tough but, unfortunately, it’s not my first athletic defeat. In this sport you have a 50 percent chance of failure. So you get out there and put in your mouthpiece and you do the best you can. You’ve got to man-up sometimes.

Now is one of those times Sonnen must man up. His career is far from over.

While it is a tough loss to swallow because of the sheer amount of trash talked, that is just what Chael does. The next man who gets in the Octagon will have to endure the same verbal lashing, but the hope is that the outcome will be different.

Silva is just too dominant right now and throughout his reign to be stopped, but the hope is that he will still be wearing gold in another year or two when Sonnen marches back through the middleweight division and finds his way into another title match.

As much as legions of fans and experts will claim that Sonnen doesn’t deserve a third fight, if Silva is still champion after Chael makes his way back to the top of the division, there is little doubt that the third installment is something may fans would love to see.

Until then, there is a long road ahead for Sonnen to get another shot at glory. He did it twice already, what’s one more time?

Check back for more on Mixed Martial Arts as it comes, and don’t miss Bleacher Report’s UFC page or listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot topics.

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With the hype already through the roof for the rematch between legendary middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen at UFC 148, the usually smooth-talking Silva has lost his cool.

On a recent conference call with the media, Silva launched into an anger-fueled tirade about his opponent and what he planned to do about it. In so many words, Silva has promised an interesting fight.

It is common knowledge now that Sonnen has become quite the trash talker over the last few years, but Silva’s angry words are what happens when a fighter allows months of verbal abuse to get to him.

That has been Sonnen’s plan all along—get the Spider off his game.

The normally calm Silva lost his cool in a way that had many MMA writers absolutely stunned, courtesy Yahoo! Sports via MMA Weekly:

Right now, I’m focused on what’s going to happen in the next few weeks and right now the playtime is over. I’m going to beat Chael’s ass like it’s never been beat before. The joke is over, there’s no more talking, I know he’s on the line listening and the game’s over. I’m going to beat his ass out of the UFC. He’s never going to want to fight again after I’m done with him…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 broke, his legs are broke, he’s not going to be able to walk out of the Octagon by himself. I can guarantee that.

To borrow a catchphrase from professional wrestler Daniel Bryan, Yes! Yes! Yes!

While any real MMA fan was already 100 percent behind this rematch, the talk from Silva has cemented this as one of the biggest fights in the company’s history. Not only is he the longest reigning champion and current holder of the longest winning streak in the UFC, Silva has been one of the most polarizing stars of the sport in the last 10 years.

Adding in the new element of the serious trash talking proves the Spider is ready to make his mark on the sport of MMA all over again.

For as good as we all thought Sonnen’s trash talking was coming into this battle, Silva attacked his opponent all guns blasting, and it’s fantastic.

The best part of all the banter is that it all feels genuine and that Silva and Sonnen really hate each other. Last time I checked, that’s how fighting was supposed to be.

All of the verbal exchanges between these two elite fighters will lead to one of the most anticipated weigh-ins in UFC history, possibly resulting in some pre-fight confrontations.

When Sonnen finally does meet Silva in the middle of that Octagon, this will be a war.

Check back for more on Mixed Martial Arts as it comes, and don’t miss Bleacher Report’s UFC page or listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot topics.

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