Wanderlei Silva elated to face Chael Sonnen in 50th fight: ‘I’ll beat him up’

Wanderlei Silva is excited to take on longtime rival Chael Sonnen at Bellator 180. After several years in the making, longtime rivals Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen will finally have a chance to settle their bad blood when they meet at Bel…

Wanderlei Silva is excited to take on longtime rival Chael Sonnen at Bellator 180.

After several years in the making, longtime rivals Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen will finally have a chance to settle their bad blood when they meet at Bellator 180. As Silva explained on his Facebook page, the fight will be extra special, because it will also mark his 50th outing as a professional fighter.

“It’s a pleasure to tell you guys that my fight against Chael Sonnen at Bellator 180 is a done deal. It’s an old rivalry that will finally be settled. I have 49 fights and I really wanted to have my fight number 50. Even more than that, it had to be against him. I was supposed to face Cro Cop in the end of 2016, but I wasn’t able to heal. But I really wanted to have my 50th fight against Sonnen and it will be. And I’ll beat him up.”

Wanderlei Silva will face Chael Sonnen in a light heavyweight bout in the main event of Bellator 180 on June 24, in New York City. Fedor Emelianenko will also take on UFC veteran Matt Mitrione in the co-main event of the evening.