We don’t have an exact date or even an exact location, but we do know one thing: The rematch between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen—the bane of Silva’s existence for over two years now—will finally go down in just under three months.
UFC President Dana White noted during yesterday’s press conference in Calgary that Silva and Sonnen will meet in an 80,000-seat soccer stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The fight was long expected to happen in Sao Paolo, but the UFC ran into noise ordinance problems there and ultimately could not come to a deal with the city.
And so they’ll travel back to Rio for the third time in under a year. That’s not a bad thing, though.
Rio, as we’ve all seen from media reports and with our own eyes on pay-per-view broadcasts, is likely the owner of the most vocal and vicious mixed martial arts fans in the entire world. For everything we say about Canadians and their loyalty to the sport, Rio tops them all by sheer force of will.
Make no mistake about it: Silva vs. Sonnen 2 is the biggest fight in the history of the sport. It may not draw the kind of PPV numbers that Brock Lesnar often did during his brief heyday in the sport, but it will not be topped by sheer atmosphere.
Not even UFC 129, which had over 50,000 fans packed into the Rogers Centre for the first stadium show in UFC history, will compare to what goes down in Rio this summer.
As ESPN’s Chuck Mindenhall explains:
It might be hyperbole to start comparing the outdoor fight to the “Thrilla in Manila” or Ali-Liston II or the “Rumble in the Jungle,” but maybe only narrowly. Who knows if in 40 years we’ll be talking about Silva/Sonnen II?
But as of 2012, it looks like the biggest fight in MMA history, with context filling in every corner. Their first fight, at UFC 117 in August 2010, was so one-sided as to become surreal for nine-tenths of the bout. Then came the late submission that has made Sonnen the butt of geometry jokes worldwide. Once again it’s Sonnen’s dogged wrestling against Silva’s violent grace. What buildup awaits. Sonnen knows what to do with a microphone, just like Ali did — and he has his own parcel of scandals, too. In a bargain bin way, testosterone replacement therapy is Sonnen’s “Vietnam” references. Ali lived in turbulent political times. Sonnen is a politician (as well as real estate agent and author) with an uninspiring overall record.
Somehow, here we are.
Lost in all the talk of the rematch is the intricate—and some might say masterful—job that Sonnen has done in building up this fight. It’s an exact match for the kind of old-school pro wrestling storylines that Sonnen so adores.
Years spent watching Portland wrestling and taking the best from Superstar Billy Graham promos prepared him for this very moment, and he has delivered in spades.
Think about it for a second, if you will. Two years ago, Sonnen was an unknown commodity in fighting. But then he started trashing Silva at a time when every other “Spider” opponent was nothing but respectful.
On top of that, he continually trashed Brazil and just about every other Brazilian fighter you can think of. This went on for two years, a period of time that saw him lose to Silva in the most dramatic bout in UFC history.
Sonnen dismissed the loss as a fluke. In reality, he understands that he actually lost the fight, but he’ll never say so publicly. Admitting defeat isn’t part of the plan.
He continued to trash Brazil and Silva and worked his way back to a title shot. And now that title shot, in a moment reflecting the best of those fake wrestling storylines that so hooked him as a kid, will come in the hometown of the fighter he’s been trashing for two years, in the place he’s spent countless hours running down verbally.
No matter what happens at UFC 147, Sonnen did his job. It would be nice to take home the UFC title, but he’s created a memory that will last much longer than any mere title win.
He’s created the biggest fight in UFC history.
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