UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is undoubtedly the best fighter in all of mixed martial arts today.
He is on an unprecedented 14-fight winning streak inside the Octagon and holds the UFC record for consecutive title defenses and wins.
However, there is one fighter who pushed him to his absolute breaking point but hasn’t received a second shot at the champ yet.
That one fighter would be none other than Chael P. Sonnen.
At UFC 117 on Aug. 7, Sonnen was able to beat Silva for the better part of five rounds. However, at the 3:10 mark of the fifth round, Silva forced Sonnen to tap out to a triangle-armbar choke, and Silva remained the champion.
Prior to that fight, Sonnen had been very vocal about wanting to fight Silva, and how it was going to be a “one-sided pounding” with Sonnen swinging the hammer.
He delivered on that promise more than any other fighter had against Silva. Even after the fight, he kept talking about Silva and trying to get a rematch.
Since UFC 117, Silva has defended his title two more times—against Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami—and Sonnen submitted Brian Stann at UFC 136.
Afterwards, Sonnen made his intentions clear. “Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck,” he said. “I’m calling you out, Silva, but we’re upping the stakes. I beat you, you leave the division. You beat me, I will leave the UFC forever.”
Silva was then shown in the crowd, at which point he “covered his mouth like a little fancy boy.”
Silva just received possibly the biggest call-out in MMA history, and he had no response. Even since UFC 136, almost two months ago, Silva has had little to say.
Take, for example, what happened at UFC 137 after Nick Diaz called out Georges St-Pierre.
Diaz said, “I don’t think Georges is hurt, I think he’s scared.”
Not nearly as bad a call out as Sonnen to Silva, right?
Except GSP had the response of someone confident in his ability to win. “He’s the most disrespectful human being I’ve ever met,” he said, “and I’m going to put the worst beating you’ve ever seen on him in the UFC.”
That’s how a true champion responds to being called out. Georges St-Pierre knows he can beat Nick Diaz.
However, Anderson Silva is scared—homie.
Tim McTiernan is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. For the latest news on everything MMA, follow me on twitter @tmt2393.
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