UFC 148’s co-main event is the not-nearly-as-anticipated rubber match between Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin. “In this third one, there has to be a convincing winner,” Ortiz says, “and that’s gonna be me.” No matter what the outcome of the fight, July 7th will mark Ortiz’s transition from UFC star into retired Hall of Famer. So how will he perform in the last three rounds of his career? And if he manages to carve out a victory, what does that mean for Forrest Griffin?
UFC 148′s co-main event is the not-nearly-as-anticipated rubber match between Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin. “In this third one, there has to be a convincing winner,” Ortiz says, “and that’s gonna be me.” No matter what the outcome of the fight, July 7th will mark Ortiz’s transition from UFC star into retired Hall of Famer. So how will he perform in the last three rounds of his career? And if he manages to carve out a victory, what does that mean for Forrest Griffin?
Reigning middleweight champ Anderson Silva is usually one of the more respectful mixed martial artists, however, on today’s UFC 148 media call, Silva went off on his long-time antagonist, Chael Sonnen.Infuriated by two years of verbal jabbing fro…
Reigning middleweight champ Anderson Silva is usually one of the more respectful mixed martial artists, however, on today’s UFC 148 media call, Silva went off on his long-time antagonist, Chael Sonnen.
Infuriated by two years of verbal jabbing from Sonnen, Silva took the opportunity to sound a warning to the man who came within two minutes of taking his title in August 2010.
“I’m going to break his face and every tooth in his mouth,” Silva said through his interpreter and manager Ed Soares. “I know he’s on the call listening to this and playtime is over. There’s no more talking from him. I’m going to beat him out of the UFC. I’m going to make him pay for everything he’s said about me, my family and my country. I’m going to beat him maybe like his parents should have to teach him some manners. I’ll teach him those manners myself.
“No more sh** talking from him. Chael Sonnen’s going to get his ass kicked like he’s never gotten his ass kicked before. What I’m going to do inside the Octagon is something that’s going to change the image of the sport, I’m sorry. I’m going to beat his ass like he’s never been beaten before. This is going to be violent and I am sorry. I’m going to make sure that every one of his teeth are broken, that his arms are broken and his legs are broken. He’s not going to be able to walk out of the Octagon by himself. I can guarantee that. He will need a plastic surgeon afterwards.”
Sonnen was disconnected from the call but later said:
“People can’t understand why I’m not getting caught up on the hype of Anderson Silva, but he can’t take the magazine covers and press stories into the Octagon with him. He’s just a man with two arms, two legs—and I’m going to beat him on July 7 because I want it more than he does. I don’t need anything in my life—but I have to have that belt. Everything I’ve done, everything I’ve worked for and sacrificed—everything I have in life—I would give it all away to be the UFC champion for just one night.”
Dana White seemed a bit taken aback but almost amused by what went down:
I’ve promoted every Anderson Silva fight since he’s been in the UFC in 2006, and I’ve never heard him talk even remotely like this. He is usually so respectful and doesn’t say anything negative or disrespectful. I’ve never heard Anderson talk like this once—and I’ve never heard Chael be so sincere about how bad he wants to win this fight and what it means to him to be the UFC world champion.”
Silva has certainly upped the ante tenfold. Will Sonnen have a response or will he fly under the radar and let his wrestling do the talking on July 7?
You’d expect nothing less than for Sonnen to fire back with something nothing short of brilliant—and absurd—so hopefully he will deliver nothing short of gold in the remaining week and a half before their epic clash. Stay tuned!
This just in: Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen do not like each other very much. While their two-year feud has been impossible for any fight fan to ignore, the rivalry primarily involved Chael P. Sonnen throwing caution to the wind with his insults…
This just in: Anderson Silva and ChaelSonnen do not like each other very much.
While their two-year feud has been impossible for any fight fan to ignore, the rivalry primarily involved Chael P. Sonnen throwing caution to the wind with his insults…that is until the UFC 148 conference call Monday afternoon.
The reigning UFC middleweight champion absolutely went off on his American adversary, as anyone can plainly hear by the first clip provided by the UFC.
Silva, who spoke in Portuguese, had his words translated to English by his long-time manager, Ed Soares.
What I’m going to do inside the octagon is something that’s going to change the image of the sport,” he said. “I’m going to beat his ass like he’s never been beaten before. I’m going to make sure that 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.
The second clip didn’t exactly have “The Spider” wishing Sonnen the best of luck, either.
“He doesn’t deserve to be inside of the octagon. When the time comes and the time is right, I’m going to break his face and break every one of the teeth in his mouth,” Silva said.
The top tier 185-pounders first clashed back in UFC 117 in Aug. 2010, where Sonnen infamously dominated the champion for four-and-a-half rounds before getting submitted by a triangle choke in the fifth and final round.
Nevertheless, the trash talk from Sonnen has never stopped, and it appears that Silva has finally had enough.
Will Silva prove the first fight was a fluke, or will Sonnen prove he is truly the greatest middleweight in the world?
The answer will come at the conclusion of UFC 148, which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 7.
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 …
Anderson Silva has greatly intensified his upcoming match at UFC 148 against Chael Sonnen.
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.
I know that headline is fairly bold.We’ve had plenty of highly anticipated fights over the long history of the UFC, and some of them have ultimately ended up being absolutely gigantic fights.The second meeting between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir, back a…
I know that headline is fairly bold.
We’ve had plenty of highly anticipated fights over the long history of the UFC, and some of them have ultimately ended up being absolutely gigantic fights.
The second meeting between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir, back at UFC 100, comes to mind. That was a fight with plenty of history, buildup and verbal sparring between the two combatants. And it delivered in spades on pay-per-view, to the tune of 1.6 million pay-per-view buys—the largest in UFC history by a wide margin.
But bear with me for a second, if you will, and I’ll explain why I think this fight is more anticipated than even Lesnar/Mir 2.
The History
Chael Sonnen started his extremely public tirades toward Anderson Silva somewhere in the vicinity of February 2010, shortly after he’d defeated Nate Marquardt at UFC 109.
For Sonnen, the verbal blasts were a way of getting himself noticed in the media, but there was a larger story at play: Anderson Silva didn’t have a new challenger just yet, and Sonnen wanted the spot.
So Sonnen started calling Silva out in the press. This was new and notable. Nobody ever talked about Anderson Silva in that manner. He was considered by almost everyone to be the best fighter in the world. On top of that, he was quiet, reserved and respectful. He was the picture of what everyone wants a martial artist to be.
Sonnen got noticed, and he also got the title shot. You know how that one played out: Sonnen delivered a beating to Silva for nearly 25 minutes, only to succumb to a triangle choke at the end that scored Silva the win. Sonnen gave Silva the toughest challenge he’d had in years, but he still went out the loser.
Sonnen didn’t stop talking, though. Despite his troubles with the California State Athletic Commission—and the one-year suspension that followed—Sonnen continued talking. He barely took a break.
Sonnen ultimately came back to the cage and scored a dominant win over Brian Stann, following it up with a win over Michael Bisping. He’d earned a second title shot with two wins over tough challengers, and despite Silva’s insistence that Sonnen didn’t deserve another crack at the belt, Sonnen was named the top contender.
All the while, Sonnen continued berating Silva as often and as loudly as he could.
The Marketing
Most of the buildup for the rematch was handled by Sonnen, a long-time pro wrestling fan who understands the importance of hooking fans and making them anticipate fights.
“I’m going to break every bone in his face and all of the teeth in his mouth,” Silva said. “He’s a criminal that doesn’t even deserve to be in the UFC. I am going to beat his ass out of the UFC. He will never want to fight again once I’m done with him.”
The reaction from Silva is what Sonnen had been looking for from the beginning. Every dancer needs a partner. Until the conference call, Silva had been unwilling to respond to much of what Sonnen said, leaving the marketing as a one-sided push to drive interest in the fight.
That all changed. And from the sound of Silva’s voice, he’s not doing it to market a fight. He’s doing it because he’s legitimately pissed off.
But the end result is the same—fan interest in the rematch will go through the roof.
You can expect a giant marketing push from the UFC over the next 10 days, and don’t be surprised to hear Silva’s heated comments replayed constantly. And, for only the second time since Zuffa signed their television deal with FOX, the network will play the Countdown preview show for UFC 148.
The Public Reach
UFC president Dana White said that Zuffa is expecting historic numbers for the event.
“We’re expecting UFC 100-level numbers for this one,” White said on the conference call.
It’s hard to say if UFC 148 will ultimately reach those numbers. But the UFC will benefit from the lack of other major sporting events taking place on that weekend. For the first time in quite awhile, the UFC will be the only major game in town, and that should lead to elevated pay-per-view buyers from sports fans looking for something to do.
The fight may not do the kind of escalated numbers that UFC 100 did. But the UFC’s landscape has changed drastically since that fight took place.
Lesnar, the mainstream super-draw, is gone from the sport. The UFC runs far more events than they did when UFC 100 took place, leading to a product that feels watered-down at times.
But for hardcore fight fans, and even for mainstream fans, Silva vs. Sonnen 2 is the ultimate grudge match. With two years of history and true bad blood between both combatants, it’s the perfect storm of opportunity and marketing.
Silva is touted as the best fighter in the world, and Sonnen is the one guy who has taken him to the limit since his UFC career started.
When all is said and done, I fully expect UFC 148 to be among the biggest UFC events in history. Will it be the biggest? It’s doubtful. But it may just be the most memorable.
(“Well, this little red-and-white number is my killing shirt, and if you see it, that usually means this is your last day on earth.”)
The UFC held a conference call today hyping UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen 2 (you can listen to the full audio here), and somebody replaced the normally composed and respectful Anderson Silva with a murderous, rage-fueled psychopath. Fed up with all of Chael Sonnen‘s bullshit over the last couple years, Silva unleashed a torrent of chilling threats during the call that went beyond the usual boundaries of trash-talk, and were totally out-of-character for the smooth Burger King pitchman. Here are the highlights:
“First of all, Chael is a criminal. He’s been convicted of crimes. He doesn’t deserve to be inside the Octagon. And when the time is right, I’m going to break his face and break every one of his teeth in his mouth.”
“The playtime is over. I’m gonna beat Chael like he’s never been beat before. There’s no more talking. I know he’s on the line listening, and the game’s over. I’m going to beat his ass out of the UFC. He’s never gonna want to fight again after I’m done with him.”
“It doesn’t matter if I’m on the bottom, the side, the top, it doesn’t matter. Chael Sonnen’s gonna get his ass kicked like he’s never gotten his ass kicked before. What I’m gonna do inside the Octagon is something that’s gonna change the image of the sport. I’m gonna beat his ass like he’s never been beaten before. I’m gonna make sure that every one of his teeth are broken, his arms are broke, his legs are broke. He’s not going to be able to walk out of the Octagon by himself. I can guarantee that. And I know that he’s listening. The game’s over. No more shit-talking. It’s on now.”
(“Well, this little red-and-white number is my killing shirt, and if you see it, that usually means this is your last day on earth.”)
The UFC held a conference call today hyping UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen 2 (you can listen to the full audio here), and somebody replaced the normally composed and respectful Anderson Silva with a murderous, rage-fueled psychopath. Fed up with all of Chael Sonnen‘s bullshit over the last couple years, Silva unleashed a torrent of chilling threats during the call that went beyond the usual boundaries of trash-talk, and were totally out-of-character for the smooth Burger King pitchman. Here are the highlights:
“First of all, Chael is a criminal. He’s been convicted of crimes. He doesn’t deserve to be inside the Octagon. And when the time is right, I’m going to break his face and break every one of his teeth in his mouth.”
“The playtime is over. I’m gonna beat Chael like he’s never been beat before. There’s no more talking. I know he’s on the line listening, and the game’s over. I’m going to beat his ass out of the UFC. He’s never gonna want to fight again after I’m done with him.”
“It doesn’t matter if I’m on the bottom, the side, the top, it doesn’t matter. Chael Sonnen‘s gonna get his ass kicked like he’s never gotten his ass kicked before. What I’m gonna do inside the Octagon is something that’s gonna change the image of the sport. I’m gonna beat his ass like he’s never been beaten before. I’m gonna make sure that every one of his teeth are broken, his arms are broke, his legs are broke. He’s not going to be able to walk out of the Octagon by himself. I can guarantee that. And I know that he’s listening. The game’s over. No more shit-talking. It’s on now.”
“I’m just gonna make him pay, and make him eat everything he said, not only about myself, but about our country, about everything. I’m gonna make him pay and make sure that he never disrespects any fighter — not only Brazilian [fighters], any fighter. I’m going to beat him maybe the way his parents should have beaten him to teach him some manners, because he’s disrespectful, he’s a criminal, and I’m gonna beat him up like he’s never been beat before.”
“The first time we fought, he stepped out [as] the loser, and he’s gonna step out losing again this time, the only difference is that this time he’s gonna have to go see a plastic surgeon after the fight.”
Sonnen didn’t get nearly as many opportunities to speak during the call, although he did call Silva an “amateur,” and fell back onto his old “medium rare” catchphrase.
I don’t know, guys…I think Sonnen might be seriously fucked here. Anderson Silva generally fights with an eerie calmness that highlights what a brilliantly violent destroyer of men he is. (You might call it Fedor-esque.) But an Anderson who is clearly pissed off and committed to hurting his opponent so badly that it might lead to a worldwide ban on MMA? What would that even look like? Can you really manage to break all of your opponent’s teeth and all four of his limbs before the fight is stopped? Kind of a far-fetched threat — but hey, if anybody can pull that off, it’s Silva.
