Silva vs Sonnen II:  The Most Anticipated Fight of 2012

Dana White said that the rematch between Silva and Sonnen has been set for Sau Paulo, Brazil in June.  Both fighters have agreed verbally to fight.  The date and venue is still not fixed, however Anderson has finally started to respond back to Sonnen's attacks.

If you watched the first fight between the two, you would understand why this fight is a big deal.  For the first time in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) career of Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen was dominating him clearly on the feet and on the ground for 4 rounds in a row.  By the time fith round was halfway done, I was beginning to feel that the "spider" Silva was finally going to lose to Sonnen.  Amazingly, Anderson managed to get an armbar, tringle combination that made Sonnen tap and lose.  I jumped up in excitement when they were replaying slow motion of Sonnen tapping!

Although humble and gracious after the fight, Sonnen was busted for elevated levels of testosterone by the CSAC (California State Athletic Commission) and his license was suspended.  Eventually CSAC shortened his sentence and Sonnen came back to the UFC.  Sonnen has been taunting Silva for a rematch after beating Brian Stann with a choke of his own.

Silva never agreed to the rematch saying Sonnen had already tapped and did not feel that Sonnen deserved a rematch.  Surprisingly, after Sonnen beat Michael Bisping recently, although not in very impressive fashion, Anderson has accepted the rematch provided the fight takes place in his native country of Brazil probably in a big soccer stadium.

The question for the second fight between these world class fighters is Can Sonnen repeat the performance he put on in UFC 117 against Silva and take the title from Anderson Silva?  Or will Silva adjust his training accordingly and find a strategy to end the fight in the earlier rounds with better take down defense, sprawl and his killer Muay Thai technique and Nogueira brothers trained Jiu Jitsu?  This should be a great fight and an opportunity for both men to prove their haters wrong.

I have always been a great fan of Silva, so I am hoping that he can prove that he really was not hundred percent ready on the first fight.  I am predicting a second or third round TKO from the champ with hands, knees, elbows or anything he wants!

picture source:  http://fitnessphp.blogspot.com/2010/08/ufc-117-review-part-2-silva-vs-sonnen.html