Anderson Silva may be the best fighter in the roster of the Ultimate Fighting Championship's stellar lineup, but that hasn't garnered massive PPV buys like the promotion's other stars like Brock Lesnar or GSP. The fight with Anderson Silva facing off with Dan Henderson was the absolute best match up that could be made within the middleweight division at the time. The card that had hardcore fans buzzing with interest didn't attract the eyes of the masses as it should have. Chael Sonnen is the next in line to face the record breaking Brazilian for the 185lb strap and although not considered the best fighter to enter the ring with Anderson he is definitely the most brash and quote-worthy to challenge Silva thus far.
Sonnen is a gritty wrestler with a heavy top game and decent, but not stellar, standup. his Achilles heel has always been his suspect submission defense throughout his up and down career. His dominating performance over then Middleweight Champion Paulo Filho was looking to be an upset in his favor until he got caught in an armbar by Filho which he claims to not have submitted to. The rematch with Filho was a strange affair with Paulo missing weight by a substantial margin and robbing Sonnen of the chance at the title. Sonnen won the contest but the WEC soon dissolved the 185lb class from their ranks and shifted a portion of the fighter to the Middleweight ranks of the UFC.
Sonnen made his UFC debut in his usual fashion; he lost via submission. This was no ordinary grappler however as Damian Maia has been the most dominant submission fighter as of late so the loss was more attributed to Maia's prowess rather than Sonnen's weakness. The next three fights for Sonnen put him on the map as a contender in the middleweight ranks of the UFC. Dan Miller, Ushin Okami, and especially Nate Marquardt were supposed to beat Sonnen but he ground out decision victories over all three men.
Fast forward to the present and Sonnen is the number one contender to Silva's belt and has by no means been quiet or reserved in his opinion of Silva. Sonnen came into the UFC with the intention of fighting the Muay Thai ace and made no secret of his dislike for Anderson's attitude or demeanor. The trash talk by way of Sonnen are at a steady, venomous apex with the bizzarro performance of Silva at the UFC's first event in Abu Dhabi earlier this year. The quotables, worthy of a full page article in and of itself, have been viewed by many as ridiculous and give Chael little chance at dethroning Silva.
I am not in the minority that thinks Sonnen will be the one to defeat Anderson Silva, but he has made some believers out of fans with his last few performances. The interesting thing will be seeing how all of the pre-fight hype and trash talk will generate that mysterious "casual fan interest" and translate into a higher PPV percentage for Silva. The fans love a grudge match as much as any pubescent pro wrestling fan this side of Alabama. Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans are just the latest installment of a heated rivalry inside the UFC's ranks to draw considerable interest and that PPV card has been speculated to draw over 900,000 PPV buys. Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz was a mismatch fight, and many knew it, but it still drew huge interest and viewers all three times.
If Chael Sonnen continues to take pages from the WWE play-book, this match up may actually get more of that illusive casual fan interest that A. Silva needs to generate interest in his fights, especially after his last performance against Maia. After that James Toney might be inclined to give him the stand up battle with a boxing legend that he has been asking for for the last couple of years should he somehow get a win against Couture in August.
After the jump a list of Chael Sonnen quotes, hilarity ensues:
“A.S. [Anderson Silva] A fraud is living in your house. You see him each day when you shave, he is in the mirror. Tell him hello…”
“…everybody else is lazy. That’s the God’s honest truth. These fighters who say, ‘I’m looking for the finish,’ they’re not looking for the finish. They’re looking to get out of there because it’s really hard work. These lazy fighters who don’t want to have to go out and grind for fifteen minutes, it’s not pleasant, but that’s the business we’re in.”
"185 pounds is the toughest division in the business. If you're going to go after the belt, go after the tough one. I'd love to get a night off and go beat up some of [the UFC's light heavyweights]. For god's sake, 205 had a karate guy that was their champion. That weight class is a joke."
"Mixed martial arts fighters are a bunch of meatheads.”
"If I beat Anderson Silva and become the World Champion, I imagine I'll get in a public dispute with the UFC, I'll call Dana a bunch of names throughout the media and I imagine I'll leave the company. After about a year or so, I'll realize that there's nowhere else to go, return to the UFC with a raise and probably coach the reality show. I'm just sayin' it seems to be the trend, doesn't it?"
“I don’t know who (Silva)’s beaten in the top ten. He beat up a drunk Chris Leben and a one-legged Patrick Cote and every bum that could get a plane ticket to Ohio. He went up to light heavyweight, but how hard is that? It’s the easiest weight class in the company.”
“He went up to light heavyweight, but how hard is that? It’s the easiest weight class in the company. He beat up some slow and unathletic guys up there.”
“I’m not one of those guys who says, ‘I just want go out there and entertain the fans.’ I’m not that guy.”
"I'd rather have Anderson who (is) big and tall and those long legs that I can come out and run over.”
"If Anderson ever signed to fight me, which is highly unlikely, he'll be getting a verbal beating like you've never seen."
"I'd rather have Anderson who (is) big and tall and those long legs that I can come out and run over.”
"If Anderson ever signed to fight me, which is highly unlikely, he'll be getting a verbal beating like you've never seen."
“I respect Anderson’s (skills) too. I respect all these guys and their skills, don’t get me wrong. I’m just saying let’s slow down on this stuff about Anderson being the greatest fighter ever.”
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