Chael Sonnen's Pro Wrestling antics after his last fight in Houston managed to entertain and provoke a lot of people, except for the one he targeted. Telling someone they "absolutely suck" in front of millions of people is a good way to get their attention and in the combat sports business it’s almost guaranteed to get a fight out of someone (“fighting words”). Anderson Silva has gone on the defense after being called out again, believing he does not owe the loud mouthed middleweight another chance at his title. The middleweight champion is practically allergic to losing, and avoids it at all costs. But is avoiding a fight worse than battling it out and losing? Silva is losing respect by ducking this rematch and shouldn’t be at the liberty to make this decision.
UFC 136 was home to plenty of great fights and surprises, all topped off by Joe Rogan’s post fight interview with Chael Sonnen. Sonnen had walked through the fan favorite Brian Stann when he immediately went to work in calling out Middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
The history between Sonnen and Silva includes months of talk and build up to one hell of a fight. Silva was not eager to take a fight with the Oregonian the first time around for whatever reason (maybe he was threatened). The champion was busy being the champion, fighting whomever he wanted. Once there was literally no one left for Silva, the Sonnen fight was inevitable. In Anderson Siva's UFC career he had come very close to defeat only two times; against Travis Lutter and Patrick Cote. Lutter was ground and pounding Silva when he decided to for some reason stop, and attempt a sloppy arm bar from mount. Patrick Cote took the champion into the third round of a back and forth battle before injuring his knee. Silva otherwise hadn't been tested, until he fought Chael Sonnen.
The Oracle Arena in Oakland, California witnessed Sonnen fulfill his promise by beating down the champ for four and a half rounds. According to Compu Strike, Sonnen landed 289 total strikes against Silva, 270 of which were from the top on the ground. In The Spider’s previous 11 fights combined, he had been touched by only 208 total strikes. Sonnen came in and to say he imposed his will is criminally understated. He was just over two minutes away from victory when he was smothered by yet another triangle choke (Sonnen, historically susceptible to triangles). Once the thought of "What in the world did I just witness?" passed through everyone's head, it was the rematch that people wanted.
Chael Sonnen's personal money laundering case in addition with testosterone elevation issues left the 185er inactive and put the rematch up in the air for over a year. Now after walking through, whom many people thought was Silva's biggest threat in Brian Stann; Sonnen is in the perfect position for a rematch with the champion. Right?
Not according to Silva's camp and Ed Soares. Despite the fact that a legitimate argument could have been made for an immediate rematch after the 117 bout, Soares doesn't see it this way.
"I think Chael is delusional. At the end of the day [referring to UFC 117] he tapped, he quit, he gave up" Soares continues, "Take a number and get to the back of the line"
Sure, Chael lost to Silva, in what was one of the most talked about fights in recent MMA history. But by clearly dominating the Brazilian for over twenty minutes and then “tapping”, Sonnen had already done the damage of exposing Silva like he never had been before. Silva may not want to fight Sonnen again, but the fear of losing is a clear motive for Silva’s avoidance of this fight and everyone knows it. People desperately want to see this fight again and they will hold it against Silva and his legacy should he not take it.
After coming back to beat up Brian Stann has Sonnen really not earned a rematch? Dana White even confirmed that the winner of this fight would be awarded a title shot, and if Stann won, Silva would not have complained, right? In fact, many accomplished fighters in MMA believe that after winning, a rematch is almost owed to that fighter.
Silva wants to finish his career strongly and without a blemish, and this fight poses a significant threat. He wants to be perfect and remain to be viewed as the undisputed middleweight champion. Silva’s pursuit of perfection has become detrimental as he is losing his competitive nature and failing to rise to this occasion.
Despite the Spider’s obsession with his legacy, he still must give a deserving challenger a fair shot at his belt, even if it is a rematch. A champion shouldn't be able to pick and choose which fights they are interested in. Whatever fight the UFC throws at them should be the verdict, just like the rest of the fighters in the organization. Not to mention anybody is more deserving than Sonnen to fight for the title now.
Silva and camp are ducking the fight, yet are in no position to have any sway in whether or not it happens.
All of the talk that Sonnen puts out accomplishes exactly what he wants it to; it highlights the fact that Silva doesn't want to fight him. People can love or hate Sonnen, but everyone hears him. Soares and Silva's claim of Sonnen being crazy is a cover for their distaste with fighting against the West Linn self proclaimed “American Gangster”.
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