Chael Sonnen has been quite busy since his last fight with Anderson Silva just over a year ago. The American Gangster has since moved up to 205 lbs, became a coach on The Ultimate Fighter, a full-time analyst on Fuel TV and fought Jon Jones for the 205 lb. strap. He is now set to face Shogun Rua this Saturday night on the new channel Fox Sports 1.
Sonnen created quite a stir when he said in a media conference call this week that he would want a third fight with Silva. “If Anderson beats Chris Weidman, they’ll go into a rubber match, but I want to fight Anderson either way, regardless of the title,” Sonnen said. “I want to fight Anderson Silva whether he’s got the belt or not. I’d like to fight him right now”.
It seems to many that this match would be pointless to make because Silva beat Sonnen in both of their fights. However, it should be emphasized that Sonnen was the only fighter to come close to beating Silva (until Weidman knocked out Silva at UFC 162).
In the first Silva fight, Sonnen landed nearly 300 punches against the champion (which was the most ever in a title bout) and in the second Silva fight, the 36-year-old held a 22-15 significant strikes advantage. Also, in both fights, Sonnen lost by two simple mistakes by a triangle late in the 5th and an accidental trip and fall. Who knows what would have happened if he hadn’t made those mistakes.
With the West Linn native interested in moving down a weight class, it is possible that we see Sonnen in title contention again. It might take him a while before he fights Silva because if Silva defeats Weidman at UFC 168, more than likely, we will see a rubber match between the two.
However, if Silva loses again to Weidman that will open the doors to a five round non-title fight main event between Silva and Sonnen. So either way, the chances are high that Sonnen will meet the Brazilian once again inside the Octagon.
Although Sonnen stated that he would fight Silva in a title or a non-title bout, it would be more interesting to see them fight for the middleweight championship. The hype would be sensational and the hate would be real.
Maybe this time, Dana White can make the fight happen in Sao Paulo, Brazil in a soccer stadium with 80,000 people. With Chael Sonnen’s past controversial remarks on Anderson Silva, there is no question that Brazilians would want to see this fight happen.
Let’s say that Sonnen beats Silva this time around, it’ll just prove that rematches shouldn’t matter if a fighter has earned it. Sonnen hasn’t lost a non-title bout since 2009 and remains one of the more dominant fighters in the UFC. And if Silva beats Sonnen in a convincing and devastating fashion, Silva fans would be happy to see their favorite fighter defeat MMA’s notorious fighter. It is a win-win situation for the UFC and the MMA community.
If Rampage Jackson was able to get two rematches against Wanderlei Silva, and Juan Marquez was able to get multiple rematches against Manny Pacquiao, there should be no problem seeing the American Gangster getting another shot at Anderson Silva down the road.
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