Tag: UFC 173

Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva Booked for UFC 173 Co-Main Event


(…let us never forget the Battle of the MGM Grand, and the brave American who gave his life that day. / Props: Facebook.com/ChaelSonnen)

As confirmed this weekend by UFC president Dana White, UFC 173: Weidman vs. Belfort (May 25th, Las Vegas) will be supported by another high-profile American vs. Brazilian rivalry. Fresh off their unsanctioned fight on the set of TUF Brazil 3, Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva will meet in the co-main event, at light-heavyweight. And for once, the phrase “grudge match” isn’t just promotional hot air; don’t expect these two to hug it out like homeboys after the fight is over.

Of course, there’s more at stake here than personal animosity. Wanderlei Silva has been competing professionally for over 17 years (!), and is coming off his bar-brawl KO of Brain Stann last March. A victory over Sonnen would give Silva two wins in a row for the first time in his UFC career. A loss would inevitably invoke calls for his retirement. That’s just the reality for a 37-year-old legend in a young man’s game.

Sonnen — who is a year younger than Silva and has been competing for nearly as long — recently got smoked by Rashad Evans at UFC 167. The American Gangster already has a promising broadcasting career in front of him, and a decisive loss against Wandy could speed up his transition out of the sport. So who are you pulling for?


(…let us never forget the Battle of the MGM Grand, and the brave American who gave his life that day. / Props: Facebook.com/ChaelSonnen)

As confirmed this weekend by UFC president Dana White, UFC 173: Weidman vs. Belfort (May 25th, Las Vegas) will be supported by another high-profile American vs. Brazilian rivalry. Fresh off their unsanctioned fight on the set of TUF Brazil 3, Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva will meet in the co-main event, at light-heavyweight. And for once, the phrase “grudge match” isn’t just promotional hot air; don’t expect these two to hug it out like homeboys after the fight is over.

Of course, there’s more at stake here than personal animosity. Wanderlei Silva has been competing professionally for over 17 years (!), and is coming off his bar-brawl KO of Brain Stann last March. A victory over Sonnen would give Silva two wins in a row for the first time in his UFC career. A loss would inevitably invoke calls for his retirement. That’s just the reality for a 37-year-old legend in a young man’s game.

Sonnen — who is a year younger than Silva and has been competing for nearly as long — recently got smoked by Rashad Evans at UFC 167. The American Gangster already has a promising broadcasting career in front of him, and a decisive loss against Wandy could speed up his transition out of the sport. So who are you pulling for?

Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva Will Co-Main on Weidman vs. Belfort Card

The highly anticipated light heavyweight grudge match between former Pride champion Wanderlei Silva and perennial contender Chael Sonnen officially has a date. UFC President Dana White, speaking during a Fox Sports 1 post-fight interview at UFC 169, co…

The highly anticipated light heavyweight grudge match between former Pride champion Wanderlei Silva and perennial contender Chael Sonnen officially has a date. UFC President Dana White, speaking during a Fox Sports 1 post-fight interview at UFC 169, confirmed that Sonnen vs. Silva will be the co-main event at UFC 173.

The event was officially announced earlier today, and will take place on May 24 in Las Vegas. It will be headlined by the highly anticipated middleweight title fight between Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort.

Sonnen and Silva have had a simmering feud for the last two years, stemming back to comments Sonnen made about various Brazilian fighters like Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Lyoto Machida. Sonnen, though, was hovering in and out of title contention while Wanderlei was struggling to get any wins at all.

That all changed, though, when “The Axe Murderer” knocked out Brian Stann at UFC on Fuel 8. With a renewed relevance, Silva began seeking out big fights, most notably one with “The American Gangster.” He has ruthlessly stalked Sonnen for months now, and parlayed the bad blood into a coaching gig with Sonnen on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3.

Unlike The Ultimate Fighter: Season 17, though, where Sonnen ended up becoming downright courtly with should-have-been-rival (and light heavyweight champion) Jon Jones, the rivalry between Sonnen and Silva seems to be alive and well. White quipped days after taping started that the season has been “crazy” and numerous reports came out last week that the two traded blows on set.

The build-up to this fight has been intense, so we’ll see if it can live up to the hype.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Booking Alert: Chris Weidman Will Face Vitor Belfort at UFC 173


(Chris Weidman cheers on NSAC officials as they deliberate. / Photo via Getty)

Chris Weidman‘s first middleweight title defense against someone not named Anderson Silva will take place at UFC 173 on May 24th. Weidman will be facing the young dinosaur Vitor Belfort, who is on a three-fight winning streak and most recently became the first man to knock out Dan Henderson at UFC Fight Night 32.

Of note: The fight is taking place in Las Vegas. Belfort’s last three fights were located in Brazil. Conspiratorially minded individuals suspected this clever booking had something to do with Belfort’s much-maligned TRT use. When venerable MMA journalist Kevin Iole tried to separate himself from Dana White’s cheerleaders (aka the MMA media) and call attention to the issue, he was reprimanded.

The TRT issue will, in some ways, overshadow the combatants and the other narratives present in the fight—Weidman coming into his own as champion after definitely proving his superiority over Silva, Belfort’s resurgence as a top contender, etc. The Nevada State Athletic Commission is unsure of whether they’ll award Belfort a therapeutic use exemption, while Dana White has switched stances on the TRT issue. He’s now hoping the commission denies Belfort’s TUE request and TRT gets banned from MMA. Go figure.

It’s going to be an interesting spring.


(Chris Weidman cheers on NSAC officials as they deliberate. / Photo via Getty)

Chris Weidman‘s first middleweight title defense against someone not named Anderson Silva will take place at UFC 173 on May 24th. Weidman will be facing the young dinosaur Vitor Belfort, who is on a three-fight winning streak and most recently became the first man to knock out Dan Henderson at UFC Fight Night 32.

Of note: The fight is taking place in Las Vegas. Belfort’s last three fights were located in Brazil. Conspiratorially minded individuals suspected this clever booking had something to do with Belfort’s much-maligned TRT use. When venerable MMA journalist Kevin Iole tried to separate himself from Dana White’s cheerleaders (aka the MMA media) and call attention to the issue, he was reprimanded.

The TRT issue will, in some ways, overshadow the combatants and the other narratives present in the fight—Weidman coming into his own as champion after definitely proving his superiority over Silva, Belfort’s resurgence as a top contender, etc. The Nevada State Athletic Commission is unsure of whether they’ll award Belfort a therapeutic use exemption, while Dana White has switched stances on the TRT issue. He’s now hoping the commission denies Belfort’s TUE request and TRT gets banned from MMA. Go figure.

It’s going to be an interesting spring.