In less than a fortnight UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva 26-4 defends his title against American Chael Sonnen 24-10-1 at UFC 117 on the 7th August.
Silva has racked up 12 consecutive wins in the UFC and his last loss, which was due to a DQ for an illegal head kick, was way back in 2006 against Yushin Okami at Rumble on the Rock 8. Since winning the title from Rich Franklin in October 2006 the Brazilian has defended his belt 6 times, he has also defeated Travis Luther in a middleweight non title fight due to Luther failing to make weight and he has also won twice at light heavyweight against James Irvin and then Forrest Griffin.
With 15 knockouts to his name you would be forgiven for not realizing that Silva is a black belt in BJJ. Of his 26 wins only 4 have come courtesy of submission and 3 of those were due to strikes. His most notable submission victory was against Dan Henderson at UFC 82 where he won by near naked choke, unifying the Pride and UFC belts in the process.
Chael Sonnen is the man who currently finds himself proudly occupying the number one contender slot. Sonnen is currently on a 3 fight winning streak having beaten Dan Miller, Yushin Okami and Nate Marquardt respectively. Those 3 fights were all won by unanimous decision. This will be Sonnen’s 8th fight in the UFC but his 12th for Zuffa having fought 4 times previously for the promotion in the WEC. His UFC debut ended in a submission defeat against Brazilian Renato Sobral.
An NCAA division 1 ‘All American Wrestler’ it is no secret that Sonnen's strength is in his ground game and ground and pound although with 7 losses in his career coming by way of submission he is susceptible from that position. He will be looking to oppose his will on Silva, take the fight to the ground and follow up with his vicious and relentless ground and pound.
Silva will undoubtedly be confident ahead of this fight, he knows that Sonnen has lost against fighters that he has beaten, most notably Forrest Griffin and Damien Maia. The outspoken Sonnen has made no bones about his dislike of the champion. In just about every interview he has called Silva a liar, a phony and declared that the Brazilian shows no respect to the fans or the media.
The last person to ‘allegedly’ disrespect Silva before a fight was fellow Brazilian Maia and we all know how that one turned out. UFC President Dana White will be watching the performance of Silva closely. He was not pleased with his middleweight champion in respect of his display against Maia at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi. During that fight he embarrassed the UFC and many of its fans, and even left questions hanging over Silva’s mental state. White has already threatened that a repeat of that showing might result in the UFC cutting its champion completely.
As it stands Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva is without doubt one of the best MMA fighters ever. The Brazilian has built a legacy for himself by competing and winning on MMA promotions around the world for many years, since he signed for the UFC that legacy has increased tenfold however, on the 7th of August it’s not only his middleweight title that is on the line, ‘The Spider’ has to defend his legacy also. The fans and media are the ones who help keep a fighters legacy alive and Silva risks being disowned by those that have helped build him up.
With some questionable performances recently the Brazilian is now expected to start winning again in decisive and exciting fashion, whether he is upset by what his opponents say about him or if he isn’t ‘turned on’ by some of the fights his employers put in front of him can no longer be allowed to influence his display. Silva must produce the goods, the fight game after all is an entertainments business and its stars are expected to do just that, ‘entertain’.
Sonnen talks a great game and I’m sure he will bring it to Silva however, he is a huge underdog in this one. With so much having been said and with so much at stake it is certain that the fans cannot wait for this title fight to happen. The winner is expected to face Vitor Belfort. Wither Silva performs as his employers expect him to is yet to be seen, if he doesn’t then perhaps we will see Silva walk out of the Octagon as a champion never to return.
UFC 117 will be held in the Oracle Arena, Oakland, California on the 7st of August. For further information please visit www.ufc.com
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