Amidst the aftermath of UFC 134: Rio, the MMA world is just starting to comprehend how good Anderson Silva really is. Everybody is starting to wake up and realize that they are witnessing history in the making, a legend in the living flesh and a hero in his home nation, Brazil.
As the father of the UFC, Royce Gracie, watched on from the crowd, Anderson Silva set about cementing his legacy alongside the UFC 1, 2 and 4 champion’s prestige as one of the sport’s greatest competitors ever. To once and for all unify Silva’s pound for pound dominance, there is a buzz beginning to ring around the media—should Anderson Silva fight Georges St.Pierre? Should Anderson Silva fight Jon Jones? Or…should he give Chael Sonnen a well-earned rematch?
Sonnen did a lot of trash talking about Anderson Silva previous to their fight back at UFC 117. And, up until almost the final minute of the final round, he backed it up. Then Silva dished up a bit of that magic he seems to have in abundance, and slapped on a triangle choke. Sonnen defeated. Silva proved to be human, but still Champion.
So Sonnen proved in that fight that he IS able to rock Silva, he IS able to dominate him on the ground and, most of all, he IS able to stand with the Middleweight Champion.
What Sonnen wasn’t able to do, though, was beat The Spider. This is something that will eat away at him until a rematch is made—as he made so clear in the Post-fight conference at UFC 117.
So should a rematch be on the cards?
I think so. Before Anderson even considers moving up to Light Heavyweight to fight Jones or moving to a Catch-weight to fight St.Pierre, he should at least honour Sonnen’s legitimate requirement of a rematch. It was a great fight that saw the Brazilian pushed to his very limits—only to prove that he has genius and cunning far beyond what anyone thought possible.
Sonnen will certainly be haunted by the ghosts of UFC 117—and therefore I would expect to see him very hesitant and methodical when on the ground. Likewise, I think Anderson Silva would respect Sonnen’s punching power a lot more the second time around. Both fighter’s gained each other’s respect after their first encounter, so naturally the second encounter would be a lot more wary and cautious.
My Prediction:
If these two were to meet again—a likely possibility—I see Silva winning…again. He would know what to expect with Sonnen, he would train to counter-act Sonnen’s strategy and, ultimately, Silva possesses that ability to always find a way to win, no matter what. Just like Ali laid back on the ropes in 1974 for eight rounds—whilst George Foreman abused his ribs—Anderson took a severe beating from Sonnen. Just like Ali sparked a picture perfect KO in the eighth and literally changed history in a second, Anderson finished Sonnen with a breath of time to go. History is in the making again—this time in MMA.
Anderson would win the rematch by either a dominant decision victory or a KO later in the fight.
Disagree?
Let me know why below.
Thanks for reading!
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