As has been well-documented in the MMA community, Chael Sonnen is the only fighter who has given UFC middleweight champion any problems a midst his 15 fight win streak in the UFC. Sonnen’s boxing, takedowns and ground and pound convincingly won h…
As has been well-documented in the MMA community, Chael Sonnen is the only fighter who has given UFC middleweight champion any problems a midst his 15 fight win streak in the UFC.
Sonnen’s boxing, takedowns and ground and pound convincingly won him four rounds on the judges score cards before getting submitted in the fifth and final round with a triangle choke.
After a dominant performance against Brian Stann at UFC 136, it seems to be a forgone conclusion that Silva-Sonnen II will happen in early 2012.
There were a couple of questions surrounding the first fight, such as how healthy was Anderson Silva coming in?
Was Chael Sonnen illegally using performance enhancing drugs, or was the matter simply an issue of disclosure?
Despite these issues, here are a few reasons why Sonnen will get his revenge and finally make good on all of his trash talk the second time around.
Chael Sonnen is back.In a dominant performance against Brian Stann at UFC 136, it looked as if someone forgot to tell Sonnen that he was supposed to be rusty after a 14 month layoff.Utilizing his superior grappling, Sonnen brought Stann to the ground w…
Chael Sonnen is back.
In a dominant performance against Brian Stann at UFC 136, it looked as if someone forgot to tell Sonnen that he was supposed to be rusty after a 14 month layoff.
Utilizing his superior grappling, Sonnen brought Stann to the ground with relative ease and transitioned past Stann’s guard seemingly at will. After controlling his way to a 10-9 first round, Sonnen worked Stann into a head and arm triangle choke, easily passed to side control, and forced Stann to tap at minute 3:51 of round two.
Though he’s typically seen as a hard-nosed grinder, having earned more than half of his victories by decision, Sonnen very much looked the part of finisher last night. He stayed active on top of Stann and tallied his fourth career submission win.
Though many fighters would allow their dismantling of a game opponent to speak for itself, Sonnen wasted no time getting back to his old ways.
After being understandably subdued in the pre-fight lead up to UFC 136—Stann, an American war hero and all-around great guy, is near impossible to trash talk—Sonnen went on the offensive in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. Ignoring Rogan’s opening question, Sonnen took control of the mic and called out middleweight champion, Anderson Silva:
Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck. I’m calling you out, Silva, but we’re upping the stakes. I beat you, you leave the division. You beat me, I’ll leave the UFC forever.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Sonnen use his wise-cracking mouth to his advantage. Following a three fight win streak, Sonnen went on a trash talking campaign to position himself for his first title shot against Silva in August 2010. After his loss to Silva, and subsequent suspension for high testosterone levels, Sonnen directed barbs at the entire country of Brazil, keeping himself relevant in the MMA universe, and ultimately positioning himself for a return to the Octagon in a title elimination fight.
Though there are those that criticize Sonnen’s over-the-top style of promotion, it apparently works. When asked by MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani (at the 7:35 mark) if a rematch with Sonnen would be next for the middleweight champion, Dana White responded simply, “Uhh, yeah I’d be pretty stupid not to do it.”
While nothing is official yet, it seems likely that Sonnen is en route to another title shot against Silva, proving yet again that despite all of his tools in the cage, Sonnen’s number one asset is his wise-cracking mouth.
Sonnen took care of business against Brian Stann, and his rematch with Anderson Silva may be imminent. Sonnen should be careful—he may not enjoy getting his wish.Sonnen has high hopes, and they are understandable considering he had considerable s…
Sonnen took care of business against Brian Stann, and his rematch with Anderson Silva may be imminent. Sonnen should be careful—he may not enjoy getting his wish.
Sonnen has high hopes, and they are understandable considering he had considerable success in their first match-up before Silva submitted him via triangle choke.
During his time away he has used twitter as his personal forum for calling out many MMA fighters, including Vitor Belfort, Mirko Cro Cop and Lyoto Machida.
After he submitted Brian Stann on Saturday night, he used the post fight interview as a opportunity to call on the Spider.
It is true, the match against Sonnen was the worst I’ve seen Silva look in years, but the fact is, he still beat Sonnen. Compound the result of the fight with the fact that Sonnen may not have been competing on a level playing field. Those facts don’t exactly make Sonnen a favorite in the rematch.
Silva has looked dominating since. Kicking Vitor Belfort’s face off and dominating an overmatched Yushin Okami to avenge the last blemish on his legendary career.
It will certainly be a big-time fight, when it takes place, but Sonnen better be prepared to face a prepared and pissed Anderson Silva.
Pound-for-pound rankings are things that change wildly after every event. This is no truer than after UFC 136, where UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar took a tremendous leap up the rankings.But is this deserved? Does Edgar truly deserve to be rank…
Pound-for-pound rankings are things that change wildly after every event. This is no truer than after UFC 136, where UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar took a tremendous leap up the rankings.
But is this deserved? Does Edgar truly deserve to be ranked higher than the other champions?
It’s not a question that can be answered easily; an entire slideshow needs to be dedicated to figuring out “The Answer” and how he matches up against each of the other six UFC champions.
Frankie Edgar, despite being a champion, is the perennial underdog due to his small stature and humble demeanor. However, this is undeserved because his skills are definitely on par with those of the other UFC champions (if not exceeding them).Even UFC…
Frankie Edgar, despite being a champion, is the perennial underdog due to his small stature and humble demeanor. However, this is undeserved because his skills are definitely on par with those of the other UFC champions (if not exceeding them).
Even UFC president Dana Whitesaid that Edgar was the number two pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
Where do Edgar’s skills rank among those of the other six champions? Read and find out.
Chael Sonnen might be the greatest pro-wrestler in MMA history. After his thrilling arm-triangle submission of Brian Stann at UFC 136 last night, Sonnen got on the mic, channeled his inner Ric Flair, and cut a promo directed at a single person — his arch-rival, Anderson Silva:
“Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck. Super Bowl weekend, the biggest rematch in the history of the business, 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.”
Gotta love the Charles Barkley cameo at the end. So will the Spider take the bait? And how did you feel about Sonnen’s WWE-style hype-routine?
Chael Sonnen might be the greatest pro-wrestler in MMA history. After his thrilling arm-triangle submission of Brian Stann at UFC 136 last night, Sonnen got on the mic, channeled his inner Ric Flair, and cut a promo directed at a single person — his arch-rival, Anderson Silva:
“Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck. Super Bowl weekend, the biggest rematch in the history of the business, 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.”
Gotta love the Charles Barkley cameo at the end. So will the Spider take the bait? And how did you feel about Sonnen’s WWE-style hype-routine?
Chael Sonnen is back.