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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The fight between Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva will indeed be the co-main event under the Chris Weidman-Vitor Belfort Middleweight Title bout, UFC President Dana White confirmed on Saturday night.
It was announced prior to UFC 169's main card that the Weidman-Belfort fight would headline UFC 173 in Las Vegas on May 24, and White said on the post-fight show on Fox Sports 1 that the Sonnen-Silva fight would join it on the card.
Sonnen and Silva have had a verbal feud dating back quite some time, one which reached a head this past year and led to the two getting booked as coaches on "The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3."
Silva fights here for the first time in over a year, having last stepped into the cage in March of 2013, where he knocked out Brian Stann in a wild fight in Brazil. Sonnen hopes to bounce back from a stoppage loss to Rashad Evans suffered in November, which came after his submission win over "Shogun" Rua in August.
Penick's Analysis: The odd thing about pairing this fight with Weidman-Belfort in May is that it's going to come before the "TUF: Brazil 3" Finale, and possibly before the season even finishes airing. Unless White was mistaken when he said the fight was coming with Weidman-Belfort, and they change that later this week. But as of now, UFC 173 will feature Weidman-Belfort and Sonnen-Silva in Las Vegas.
[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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