"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.-Chael Sonnen
" I’m gonna break his face! I’m gonna expel him from the UFC! He’s gonna have a beating like he never had in his life. I’m gonna beat him so he can learn some manners. I’m gonna give him the beating that his mommy and daddy should have gave him when he was a kid so he can learn some manners. Learn to respect other people and other countries! ....... After I finish, a lot of people are going to be scared about the path that our sport is going to take. I’m dedicated, focus, prepared and, most of all, on a mission to make something that anybody did before at the UFC: break every single bone of Sonnen’s body. He’s gonna walk out with his face broken, arms broken, legs broken. I’m gonna break him up entirely. He’s listening. He’s gonna get his ass kicked. He’s gonna get a beatdown. He’ll need a stretcher to get out from the octagon!"-Anderson Silva
On Saturday July 7th, UFC's biggest fight of 2012, a rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen for the UFC Middleweight Championship, at UFC 148. With all the story lines heading into the fight here's a timeline of their rivalry.
April 10, 2010: UFC 112
Anderson Silva successfully defended his belt against Demian Maia in controversial fashion. Despite arguably being the pound for pound best fighter in the world, Silva made a mockery of the fight by dancing around, and even playing air guitar at one point! Anderson had Maia hurt several times, but lacked the killer instinct he usually shows in the Octagon. Dana White was so mad at The Spider for making a mockery of the sport, that he was debating cutting the wildly popular fighter.
May 2010-August 2010: Chael Sonnen Hypes Fight
Chael Sonnen, the #1 Contender for Silva's Middleweight Championship, made a name for himself with a constant stream of trash talk. Nothing was out of bounds for "The American Gangster from West Linn, Oregon", taking shots at Silva, Silva's wife, Brazil, and the Nogueira Brothers. Some of his comments included:
“Oh, that's very nice. You guys brought a gift for me? That's wonderful, considering all of the tremendous gifts that my country has given you. For example, the Internet, which I heard you (Brazil) have now ... You got it from America, you are welcome.”
“People tell me he’s a great fighter. I say ‘Really? When did you see him fight? Cause I haven’t seen him fight."
“I want an easy fight. Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva. Either of the Silvas. Bigfoot Silva. They all suck. Gimme a Silva.”
"You tell Anderson Silva that I'm coming over and I'm kicking down his backdoor and patting his little lady on the ass and I'm telling her to make me a steak, medium-rare just how I like it."
After all the hype their first fight not only lived up to expectations, but exceeded it. Chael proved to be more than a worthy contender, taking Anderson Silva down at will, and dominating through 4 rounds. Sonnen landed more significant shots in just the first round than anyone landed in an entire fight against Silva. After four rounds, Silva spent twice as much time on his back against Sonnen then he had in his entire UFC career! One mistake with less than two minutes left in the fight though cost Sonnen the fight. After 3:10 into the fifth and final round, Silva caught Sonnen in a triangle choke and forced the contender to tap out. If you've never seen this fight, I strongly recommend you go out of your way to watch it. After the fight, Anderson Silva claimed he injured his ribs in training.
September 10, 2010
A little over a month after the fight, while the UFC was trying to get an immediate rematch, but the California State Athletic Commission had some bad news. Sonnen's post-fight drug test came up positive for having a high T/E (testosterone to estrogen) levels, which is indicative of steroid use. His level, 16.9-1, is almost 17 times over the legal limit. Sonnen would eventually go on to say that he was approved to used TRT (testosterone replacement therapy) because of a disease he had. Despite several appeals, the athletic commission held up his suspension.
January 3, 2011
Chael received more bad news, as he plead guilty of money laundering. To save you from the boring details, Sonnen received two years probation and paid a fee of $10,000.
February 5, 2011 UFC 126
With Chael sidelined, Silva defended his title belt against fellow Brazilian Vitor Belfort. Silva didn't play around knocking Belfort out with a front kick to the face at 3:25 of the first round.
August 27, 2011 UFC 134
Silva continued his dominance by beating Yushin Okami in Rio. Silva won via TKO at 2:04 in the second round. It was his 15th straight win, and his 9th straight successful title defense.
October 8, 2011 UFC 136
Chael Sonnen's suspension was up, and had a tough test against fellow middleweight contender Brian Stann. Sonnen looked impressive against the former Marine, defeating him via arm triangle at 3:51 of the second round. After the fight Sonnen called out Silva WWE-style saying
"Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck! Super Bowl weekend, the biggest rematch in the history of the business. I'm calling you out, Silva, but we're upping the stakes. I beat you, you leave the division. You beat me, I will leave the UFC forever."
January 28, 2012 UFC on Fox 2
Chael and Michael Bisping fought in the co-main event of UFC's second event on FOX to become the number one contender for the Middleweight Championship. Sonnen and Bisping fought a close fight that went to the judge's decision. Sonnen won by unanimous decision, and the rematch the world wanted to see was official again.
February 2012-July 2012
The fight was on, but the question was where and when will they fight. At first, Dana wanted to have the fight in Brazil in June, but due to several complications it was moved to Las Vegas on Fourth of July weekend.
Sonnen once again had a number of things to say about Anderson.
"Well, for those of you who can't see, this is the championship belt that I took from Anderson Silva. In this country, possession is 9/10 of the law. Finders keepers, losers weepers. If he wants it back, he knows where he can find it."
“In what parallel universe can you punch a man 300 times, he wraps his legs around your head for eight seconds and they declare him the winner? On the streets of West Linn, Oregon, if you lay on your back with your legs wrapped around a man’s head for eight seconds, that does not make you a winner. That makes…not a winner.”
On June 24th, during a conference call with MMA media, Silva finally snapped. He threatened to give Chael the beating he should of gotten as a kid, and to change the image of the sport because of how badly he's going to get beaten. Silva, who is usually knocked for not doing a lot to hype a fight, has finally had enough of Chael Sonnen. The question is if Chael was trying to get under Silva's skin, or if we are going to see a side of the Spider that we haven't seen yet in the Octagon.
July 7th 2012 UFC 148
Almost two years of anticipation is over, and the fight is now less than a week away. After both fighters walk out, Bruce Buffer does the introductions, and the door to the Octagon is locked, it is time for Sonnen and Silva to put their money where their mouths are.
Nobody sells a fight better than Chael Sonnen, but I think he may have crossed a line one too many times. While I'm not a fan of his, Anderson Silva is one of the best fighters in UFC history. In their first fight Chael did things to Anderson that nobody else ever has inside The Octagon. You have to wonder if the heart-breaking loss did anything to Chael's confidence. Sometimes it is hard to catch lightning in a bottle twice, and that is why I'm predicting Anderson Silva to successfully defend his Middleweight Championship once again, and probably doing it with a highlight reel knockout.
Coming up later this week UFC 148 Preview Part 2: The Career of Tito Ortiz
No comments:
Post a Comment