Middleweight Championship Bout Anderson "The Spider" Silva (-450) vs Chael Sonnen (+350)
Chael Sonnen (24-10-2) has been running his mouth off for some time now trying to hype up his mixed martial arts fight with pound for pound king and UFC middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva (30-4).
Sonnen has been saying a lot of things to try to get under Silva’s skin which is probably the worst thing he can do. Silva is bored with fighting in the UFC and it shows. He knows she can beat most guts with ease so he goes into a fight and plays with his opponents. Silva looked bored in his fights with Patrick Côté at UFC 90: Silva vs. Côté, Thales Leites at UFC 97: Redemption and Demian Maia at UFC 112: Invincible. In all 3 of those fights Silva could have finished those fighters but Silva was just toying with them and playing around.
If was almost embarrassing how easy it is for Silva. Despite this Silva has not been an exciting fighter lately and is almost an embracement to the UFC. UFC president Dana White has even stated that "If he [Silva] ever acts like that again in the ring, I will cut him.”
This combined with Sonnen’s recent comments on Silva is going to make Anderson an even more dangerous and lethal fighters. I have no idea what Sonnen is thinking trying to get under Silva’s skin. He is either trying hype the fight for more pay per views or trying to make Silva mad (see video below). Either way he is going to male Silva fight harder that he has fought and that is not a good thing.
“[Silva is] really good. He’s really effective, and he’s as unpleasing to watch as grass growing,” Sonnen continued. “That’s why they called me to get rid of this cancer of the company.”
But he has a black belt from the Nogueira brothers, which is like getting a toy in your happy meal if you ask me. One of them is a punching bag and the other is really just irrelevant. He does stay active on the ground, though.
Sonnen has been running his mouth off and this has pissed off Anderson Silva. He is basically tempting Silva to get mad and take this fight seriously. Sonnen’s tactics will backfire and Silva will fight like the Silva of old and basically destroy Sonnen in this fight. If he didn’t yap his mouth Sonnen might have made it past the third round but in this fight a mad and determined Silva will destroy Sonnen quick and fast.
Striking wise there is no contest who is the better fighter. Sonnen has 7 knockouts in his career and has not KO’ed an big names in his career and has never recorded and KO in the UFC. In fact since since in the bigger named shows like the WEC and the UFC he has fought 7 times with 2 loses by submission to Paulo Filho and Demian Maia at UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson. His other wins all came by decision with 5 decision victories. This shows that Sonnen can not finish fights. Yes Sonnen has fought good fighters but if he can’t finish fights and fighting a top level guy like Anderson Silva means it does not bode well for Sonnen.
This fight standing will be a massacre. Silva has an wide array of punches, kicks and can confuse and hurt Sonnen at any time. The good thing is that Sonnen has only been KO;ed twice in his career which shows that he can take a punch. However, he was been KO’ed by Terry Martin and Jeremy Horn and Silva is a much better striker than either of these two fighters.
Silva is much too fast and powerful and the other defense that Sonnen has to counter the Silva strikes is to rush in for a takedown. However to get in close means Sonnen will be in direct contact with Silva’s knees, elbows, punches and most importantly his clinch. Silva has the deadliest clinch in mixed martial arts and if he gets Sonnen in the Thai clinch he will be able to knee Sonnen in the face over and over again.
Even though Sonnen knows he can not strike with Silva he knows he has to get in to take Silva down. Either way Sonnen has to get in close and that where Silva will hit Sonnen and hurt him. I am giving Sonnen a 1% chance of KO’ing Silva in this fight.
Let’s be honest, if Silva wanted to he could have KO’ed Patrick Côté, Thales Leites or Demian Maia any time he wanted. When Silva wants to KO someone he will do it fast and do it quick like he did with Forrest Griffin at UFC 101 - Declaration and James Irvin at UFC - Fight Night 14. Now that Sonnen has made him mad, this will just as quick as both of those fights.
Sonnen does have one advantage. He is a very good wrestler. He was a NCAA Division I All-American wrestler at the University of Oregon, two-time University National Champion in Greco Roman, and a US Olympic team alternate. He definitely beats Silva in the wrestling department. However, if he does take Silva to the ground what does that mean?
If Sonnen does take Silva to the ground Silva is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and possesses a good ground game despite what Sonnen thinks. Sonnen has called out Silva’s ground game and thinks that even though he was given his BJJ black belt by Nogueira it means nothing. First Nogueira is one of the best grapplers in the world and has legitimate skills. He got his black belt from De La Riva who is considered to be one of the top 5 greatest BJJ fighters in history. De La Riva got his black belt from Carlson Gracie and his style of BJJ is the best for MMA.
To say that Silva’s black belt is not legit is not even a question. Silva already submitted a high level wrestler in Dan Henderson at UFC 82 - Pride of a Champion with a Rear-Naked Choke and Henderson has the same fighting style of Sonnen. If this fight does go to the ground Sonnen will find out how good a grappler Silva really is.
Bottom Line: UFC betting wise the minus 450 lines are pretty steep. I personally would not bet on this fight since the UFC betting lines are so steep but I really don’t see Silva losing this fight. So if you have the money to dish out at an online sportsbook I would do so. I personally would do a bet that have reduced betting lines like a UFC prop bet for Silva to KO Sonnen in the first round. The lines are much more reasonable. Keep in mind my UFC prop bets for Silva have been bang on.
Remember Sonnen is just good in one aspect of MMA. Anderson Silva is great at many areas. Yes Sonnen is a great wrestler but Silva is a
Black belt in Tae Kwon Do
Black belt in Judo
Black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Yellow rope in Capoeira
Also bear in mind that Silva trains with some of the best fighters in the world like World BJJ champ Andre Galvao, the Nogueira brothers who are expert grapplers and former world champs, Jose Aldo WEC and pound for pound top ten fighter, Junior Dos Santos a top 5 UFC heavyweight and devastating striker, Lyoto Machida former UFC light heavyweight champion and Paulo Filho who was former WEC champ and already beat Sonnen who can provide Silva some good advice. Sonnen does not have guys to help him prepare for this fight like Silva has.
Anderson Silva has come under a lot of fire for his antics in the UFC octagon and has to put on a good performance to win back his fans. That is not good for Sonnen who will feel the wrath of the best pound for pound fighter in the world.
This fight will be over quick. Silva will come out early in the first round and Sonnen will try to keep his distance. Silva will throw jabs and short kicks to measure the distance and timing. Near the end of the first round Sonnen will try to engage and he will be caught by Silva’s strikes. This fight will be over in the first round and there will be nothing left to say by Sonnen except tuck his tail and walk away.
Look for Silva to Restore his Name and Dominate Sonnen with a First Round KO
