Anderson Silva has greatly intensified his upcoming match at UFC 148 against Chael Sonnen.
According to Brett Okamoto of ESPN, Silva stated:
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 make sure every one of his teeth are broken, his arms are broken, his legs are broken.
He’s not going to be able to walk out of the Octagon by himself. I can guarantee that.
Yikes.
Silva certainly sounds like a determined and motivated man, and Sonnen better be more than prepared—lest we forget about Silva forcing Sonnen into submission back in August of 2010.
So to spin off the trash talk, let’s take a look at some other reasons why “them’s fightin’ words” spark more interest for UFC 148.
Rematch
Rematches, more often than not, draw more attention in sports. In individual events such as mixed martial arts, however, rematches can be even greater than those in team sports.
During their first match, Silva didn’t get the submission hold until Round 5, so expect him to try to speed up that process. Sonnen, on the other hand, was heading into that first fight with great confidence and on a three-match win streak.
Plus, the third victory of that streak was a title elimination fight which turned into a unanimous decision over Nate Marquardt. Looking ahead, we now see Silva with something to lose once again—his title.
Silva’s Title Defenses
Anderson Silva has won his last 10 UFC middleweight title fights.
Taking the title back in October of 2006 from Rich Franklin, Silva has successfully defended his belt nine times. That’s unequivocally one of the most impressive accomplishments of any sport.
Enhancing Silva’s dominance in title fights even more, the man was 4-0 when part of Cage Rage. Winning that middleweight title in September of 2004, Silva defended his Cage Rage belt three times before his UFC debut.
Together, that’s 14-0 in title fights with 12 successful defenses as a middleweight fighter. That kind of consistency is almost unheard of regardless of the sport, and it’s a good bet that we can expect Silva to do just that in the rematch versus Sonnen.
Potential Outcome
With 12 title defenses, a 31-4 career record and a 15-match win streak, Anderson Silva doesn’t have much else to prove.
To that end, just imagine what a Chael Sonnen victory would mean for UFC and the immediate future.
For one, it would create a strong rivalry between Silva and Sonnen. It would also be reasonable to suspect a tiebreaker fight. More than anything, however, a Sonnen win opens the door to a wider field of fighters looking for their title shot.
No longer would the middleweight division title fight just be “Silva vs. The Challenger.” Sonnen only has a record of 27-11-1, so it’s not like he’s impossible to defeat. In short, we get to see the next wave of fighters chase after Silva’s legacy as a title defender.
And the longer that lasts, the more legendary Silva’s legacy becomes.
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