August’s UFC 117 is highly expected to be more of a comeback fight for middleweight champion Anderson Silva, after being booed and criticized sourly in his last title defense with Demian Maia. President Dana White spoke up displeased right after the fight, and thought of Chael Sonnen to make Silva a hungry dog again.
The lead up to the fight is stinky, with Sonnen’s loud mouth criticizing Silva and friends. He even laughed at the Spider’s jiu jitsu black belt, saying having one from the Noguiera’s is no big deal. He’s hyped up, as well as the UFC betting grounds going to the fight. But the real question is not for Silva sharpening his killer instincts again, but for Sonnen’s ability to rob Silva of his gold ufabet.
Surely, Sonnen has won fights against elite fighters and even won a championship match in his route in the WEC middleweight division. When WEC disbanded the division after he won the title against a winded Paulo Filho, he shifted to the UFC and thought of having a “12-pound gold” around his waist.
But his entry was spoiled by UFC 112 championship contender Demian Maia, who submitted him via triangle choke and completely gave the bragging rights to Maia in fighting Silva again. Sonnen won 3 consecutive decision victories over Dan Miller, Yushin Okami, and Nate Marquardt, finally getting his second title shot as a UFC fighting machine.
Sonnen has his Greco-Roman wrestling background slung on his shoulders, which may not be that dangerous for Silva, after he defeated Pride middleweight champion and top wrestler Dan henderson. Other than that, Sonnen has nothing else but his loud mouth and his promise to knock Silva out, as punishment and to take the UFC middleweight championship.
Silva is expected to meet his reckoning, even after 12 consecutive wins, when Dana White established his willingness to cut Silva off UFC if he ever showed up with those tactics again. With this, the Spider will be forced to brawl and explode on Sonnen. Expect a nonstop war when they meet.
The UFC fight schedule was already finalized and released this week, and will have former two-time champion and hall of famer Matt Hughes square off with Gracie jiu jitsu black belter Ricardo Almeida to underline the fight.