The rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen crossed an uncharted territory of greatness that will be remembered for generations to come.There have been plenty of legendary rematches throughout UFC history, but none have delivered the same amoun…
The rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen crossed an uncharted territory of greatness that will be remembered for generations to come.
There have been plenty of legendary rematches throughout UFC history, but none have delivered the same amount of drama associated with the Silva and Sonnen feud.
Despite Silva’s otherworldly dominance, Sonnen was never afraid to stand up and openly challenge him to a fight. It was a bit awkward seeing Sonnen, a lifelong contender, call out and question perhaps the greatest champion MMA has ever seen.
UFC 117 set the foundation for the best rematch in UFC history.
Sonnen came into the first bout and did everything he said he would. He dominated Silva for 4.5 rounds before getting caught in a triangle choke late in the fifth round.
The dramatic conclusion combined with a great buildup had fans anticipating the rematch for two years.
Sonnen deserves the brunt of the credit for the Wrestlemania-like atmosphere concocted for the second fight.
Despite the two-year gap between the first fight and the rematch, there was never a break in hype. Sonnen constantly talked trash and called out Silva over the two-year span, which kept fans locked into the feud and elevated interest in a potential rematch.
The success of UFC 148 wasn’t something that happened over night. It was two years in the making.
The actual fight didn’t go as long as hoped, but it certainly wasn’t lacking in drama. Sonnen took the first round in convincing fashion, but in the second, Silva’s striking precision proved to be too much for the “Oregon Gangster.”
Love him or hate him, Sonnen did something right. From the weigh-ins to the actual fight, there has never been so much anticipation surrounding a fight card as there was around UFC 148.
With the gate money alone, the UFC could afford to buy everyone in the arena a medium rare steak, just the way Sonnen likes it.
The smoke has cleared, the feud is over and Anderson Silva has finally put Chael Sonnen in his place.After arguably the biggest event in UFC history, MMA fans all over the world are left with one question.What’s next?Outside of a rematch with Vitor Bel…
The smoke has cleared, the feud is over and Anderson Silva has finally put Chael Sonnen in his place.
After arguably the biggest event in UFC history, MMA fans all over the world are left with one question.
What’s next?
Outside of a rematch with Vitor Belfort, there aren’t any marquee fights left for Silva in the middleweight division and super fights with Georges St-Pierre and Jon Jones are highly unlikely at this point.
Seeing the hype surrounding UFC 148, it’s a bit disappointing a third bout won’t be needed. There has never been anything like the Silva-Sonnen rivalry in MMA history and the anticipation surrounding their rematch proved it.
The atmosphere at the weigh-ins alone resembled a pay-per-view event. According to UFC President Dana White (via MMAjunkie.com) at the post-fight press conference, the event drew an attendance of 15,016 and raked in a live gate of $7 million, which is a new UFC record in the United States.
For some, the conclusion of the Silva-Sonnen feud brought about a sigh of relief. It meant the end of Sonnen bashing the UFC champ and the country of Brazil.
Looking at things strictly from a business perspective, Sonnen’s mouth was one of the best things to ever happen to the UFC. There has never been such a vast amount of coverage surrounding one UFC event.
UFC 148 felt like the UFC’s version of WrestleMania. There are plenty of other big fights on the horizon for the UFC, but it could be a long time before fans ever see anything even close to the level of Silva vs. Sonnen.
Until then, fans will always wonder about the trilogy that could’ve been.
In perhaps the biggest grudge match in UFC history, Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen are set to do battle on Saturday night to determine the undisputed middleweight champion.Despite losing to Silva at UFC 117, Sonnen has paraded around with a replica UF…
In perhaps the biggest grudge match in UFC history, Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen are set to do battle on Saturday night to determine the undisputed middleweight champion.
Despite losing to Silva at UFC 117, Sonnen has paraded around with a replica UFC title strapped firmly to his shoulder.
People have made the mistake in calling the Oregon native “crazy” and “delusional,” but Sonnen knows exactly what he’s doing.
For four-and-a-half rounds, he dominated Silva in every aspect of fighting. The champ was able to rally late in the fifth round with a dramatic submission to retain his title, but Sonnen’s confidence draws from everything that happened up until that point.
Sonnen truly believes he is the UFC champion and a far superior fighter, despite Silva’s Michael Jordan-esque aura.
This belief has led to trash talking unlike anything ever seen in the sport. If there was ever an invisible line never to be crossed, Sonnen has stepped and spat all over it. The top middleweight contender has thrown verbal jabs at Silva’s wife, teammates and the entire country of Brazil.
After two years of silence, Silva finally lashed back at the UFC 148 media call, promising to “change the image of the sport” and “break all of Sonnen’s teeth and limbs.”
Alas, the time for talking has come to an end. Who has the edge heading into Saturday night’s highly anticipated rematch?
It’s fairly obvious that Sonnen has an edge, at least from a mental standpoint.
Silva’s success has come from his cerebral approach to every fight. Mentally, he is on an entirely different playing field than any of his opponents. If he comes out overaggressive against Sonnen, he will only open himself up to easier takedowns from the world class wrestler.
Like the first fight, takedowns will be key in the rematch. The pressure will be on Sonnen to sift through Silva’s otherworldly striking and get the fight to the mat. This is where some doubt creeps in for Sonnen fans.
If Sonnen had any chance at all to defeat Silva, it would’ve been the first fight. Silva’s striking precision is superhero-like. Sonnen hasn’t proven in the past to be a strong finisher, with 16 of his 27 wins coming by decision.
It’s a tall task to ask any man to go 25 minutes against arguably the most accurate striker in MMA history without eating a good shot.
Luckily, Sonnen has a solid chin and good enough recovery to survive if things get dicey. It wasn’t like Silva didn’t land any significant punches in the first fight.
Silva is arguably the greatest fighter in MMA history, but his takedown defense is average at best. People tend to point to Sonnen being popped for steroids or Silva’s rib injury as reasoning behind the long amount of time the champ spent on his back in the first bout.
With Silva, the writing has been on the wall in regards to his takedown defense for years.
Sonnen, Dan Henderson and Yushin Okami are the only world class wrestlers Silva has faced in the UFC. Out of the three, Sonnen is the only one that never deviated from his wrestling.
Henderson took Silva down relatively easily and dominated the first round of their championship bout. In the second round, he decided he wanted to stand and exchange with the Brazilian, which led to wobbly legs and a second round submission loss.
Okami, on the other hand, threw his game plan out the window completely, and instead, he challenged Silva to a kickboxing match, which quickly ended in a second round TKO loss.
Sonnen stuck with his bread and butter and found success against the champ.
Travis Lutter is a name people tend to forget. He is a highly respected Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, but his wrestling is mediocre at best. In his UFC 67 bout with Silva, he was able to take the champ down three times without much effort.
Why wouldn’t Sonnen be able to do the same again?
Silva’s BJJ is incredibly underrated, which means takedowns alone won’t win Sonnen this fight. It’s rare that one bout can induce so much hype, but the actual fight won’t live up to the bill. Sonnen will secure takedowns at will and follow a more cautious approach.
It’ll be an agonizing 25 minutes for anti-Sonnen fans as the self-proclaimed “Oregon Gangster” finishes what he started and pulls out a lackluster unanimous decision.
It was only a matter of time before the Tim Tebow phenomenon crossed over into the world of MMA.In preparation for the 2012 NFL season, the New York Jets quarterback has decided to incorporate MMA training in his offseason workouts.Earlier this week, h…
It was only a matter of time before the Tim Tebow phenomenon crossed over into the world of MMA.
MMA fighters are arguably the hardest working athletes in the world, and an increasing number of athletes from other sports are jumping aboard to maximize their level of conditioning.
Tebow, who is a hard worker and somewhat of a gym rat, is taking the extra time to elevate his conditioning and improve his jiu-jitsu skills.
Schaub likely had a major hand in Tebow’s decision to pursue MMA training. The two are good friends who have much in common besides a love for MMA.
The UFC heavyweight was also a professional football player. While he never made the main roster of an NFL team, Schaub was a member of the Buffalo Bills practice squad and the American Football League’s Utah Blaze.
If anything, Tebow’s interest in MMA will only bring more eyes to the sport. He is easily the most talked about player in the NFL, and one of the most polarizing athletes of all time.
This is especially a good thing for Schaub. Coming off back-to-back losses, he could certainly use some “Tebowing” right about now.
Nick Diaz believes Chael Sonnen will finish what he started in his rematch with Anderson Silva at UFC 148.The former Strikeforce welterweight champ was one among many UFC superstars who offered up their predictions for the highly anticipated middleweig…
Nick Diaz believes Chael Sonnen will finish what he started in his rematch with Anderson Silva at UFC 148.
The former Strikeforce welterweight champ was one among many UFC superstars who offered up their predictions for the highly anticipated middleweight title bout scheduled for Saturday night.
“Chael Sonnen, win that whole fight last time, and then he got that triangle slapped on him. I say, if he doesn’t get submitted or knocked out in the fight, then he’ll probably win the fight. Chael Sonnen, five-round fight, or who knows? Maybe he can actually work his way into a finish in there.”
Sonnen, a world class wrestler, implemented his game plan to perfection in the first bout, which took place nearly two years ago at UFC 117.
Silva never had an answer for Sonnen’s constant pressure and strong takedowns. After being dominated for four rounds, Silva showed the heart of a champion by rallying late in the fifth and sinking in a triangle choke to net the submission win and retain his UFC title.
Despite Silva’s dramatic comeback, Diaz doesn’t believe Silva was looking too good in that fight. In fact, he wasn’t super impressed by Silva’s performance against Yushin Okami at UFC 134.
Diaz thinks his teammate Jake Shields missed out on a golden opportunity to take out arguably the greatest fighter of all time.
“I don’t think Anderson Silva was looking so hot in that [Sonnen] fight. I don’t think he was looking very good against Okami either a long time ago. I think Jake Shields would’ve won that fight, if he would’ve got to fight Anderson Silva that night, and I think that would’ve put him in a whole different place in life.”
Georges St-Pierre still believes in Dan Hardy.In an interview with The Sun, the reigning UFC champion praised the former welterweight title contender for being “dangerously underrated.”After a 4-0 start in the UFC, Hardy received an opportunity to chal…
Georges St-Pierre still believes in Dan Hardy.
In an interview with The Sun, the reigning UFC champion praised the former welterweight title contender for being “dangerously underrated.”
After a 4-0 start in the UFC, Hardy received an opportunity to challenge St-Pierre for the UFC title at UFC 111, where he was taken down repeatedly and routed in a decision loss.
Unfortunately for Hardy, the loss to St-Pierre was the beginning of a four-fight losing streak that would nearly cost him his job.
At UFC 146, “The Outlaw” returned to form with a first-round knockout over talented striker Duane Ludwig. The win marked Hardy’s first knockout in nearly three years.
“[Dan Hardy’s] better than what his last few fights have shown,” St-Pierre toldThe Sun. “Maybe he lost confidence but he came back very strong in his last fight.”
The champ continues:
“Dwayne Ludwig is a very scary guy to fight, and he knocked him out standing up in a striking fight. I know how dangerous Dan is because I’ve fought with him and I’ve trained with him, and he is very, very good.”
Hardy traveled to Montreal to train with St-Pierre back in September 2011. He sought out his former adversary in hopes of turning his career around.
In a post on Twitter, Hardy admitted that he learned a lot from St-Pierre and his fight team.
“I can see why George is the champ, he has a great team around him. I’ve done one session and I’m already learning a lot.”
St-Pierre believes Hardy’s patience and hard work will pay off big one day. In fact, he thinks Hardy could possibly be a future UFC champion.
“Dan can come back and be a champion in the future. He has been underrated by a lot of guys.”
In perhaps the biggest grudge match in UFC history,