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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The UFC lost out on one major Title showdown on Saturday night when Carlos Condit defeated Nick Diaz at UFC 143, but they've got another agreed upon and lined up for this summer.
Though Diaz won't be fighting Georges St-Pierre in his next fight, UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva will indeed face off against Chael Sonnen in his return to action in June.
Sonnen's go-to line for months was that Silva had refused to fight him on a number of occasions, and he said he didn't think Silva would agree to this rematch even after he defeated Michael Bisping last week. However, UFC President Dana White confirmed after UFC 143 on Saturday night that verbal agreements are in place for the two to meet this June.
Though the fight is coming to an "as of yet undetermined date and location" in June, the fight is expected to headline a potential stadium event in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on June 16.
The two first fought at UFC 117 in August of 2010, where Sonnen shocked everyone by controlling the action against Silva for four and a half rounds. "The Spider" then pulled off one of the great come-from-behind victories in UFC history when he locked on a triangle choke with only minutes left in the fight, forcing Sonnen to submit.
Sonnen then was flagged for elevated levels of testosterone in his system and suspended. He attributed it to testosterone replacement therapy, and in a circus of a hearing with the California State Athletic Commission got the suspension reduced to six months.
After even more issues with both the law and then the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Sonnen finally returned to the cage in October, where he defeated Brian Stann. His decision win over Michael Bisping at UFC on Fox 2 set him up for this rematch.
Silva, meanwhile, followed up his submission of Sonnen with two dominating title defenses in 2011. A front face kick knockout of Vitor Belfort was followed up by a completely one-sided fight against Yushin Okami, where he stopped the Brazilian in the second round to avenge the last "loss" (a disqualification) of his career.
Penick's Analysis: This fight is huge. Sonnen didn't look nearly as impressive against Bisping as he did against Stann, but that's not the point in this bout. We've seen what Sonnen has to offer Silva, now it's time to see if Silva makes the adjustments needed in the rematch to not need a come from behind win. The Champion has little respect for Sonnen or his antics, but this is a fight that is going to be massive in Brazil, and if they can fill a soccer stadium with any fight, this is it. There's going to be some great build up to the fight, and Sonnen is sure to be as ridiculous as ever into June, but that's only going to raise the anticipation. Though the UFC did want to make this an immediate rematch last year, the fact that there's some time separating the two bouts is a good thing, with Sonnen working his way back up. It's going to be a spectacle, and it's going to be fantastic.
[Chael Sonnen art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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