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Last night's UFC 117 main event between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen was a special fight. The exhilarating five round war saw the challenger Sonnen doing absolutely everything right for more than four rounds, and Silva continually working to find some way to win the fight from his back throughout that time as well. Ultimately, Silva was able to lock on the fight ending triangle choke to win his 12th straight fight in the UFC and defend his Middleweight Championship a seventh consecutive time.
With the epic nature of this matchup, along with how well it was built up by the challenger, there is already a very vocal call from a lot of UFC fans for an immediate rematch between the two. Generally, I'm not a fan of immediate rematches unless it's a close decision that perhaps goes the wrong way, or there's some early stoppage or referee failure that brings an early halt to the fight. That said, I wouldn't have a problem seeing a rematch between these two fighters put together because of how Sonnen was able to dominate the fight for 22 minutes before losing late.
But say the UFC doesn't opt to go with the immediate rematch, there's a way it can be built up to be one of the biggest fights in UFC history in the summer of 2011. And this is how I'd set it up.
Getting this rematch the most exposure possible in this scenario would happen by pitting them as coaches on the Ultimate Fighter for it's 13th season, which would film in early 2011 and air in the spring. The fight would then most likely take place in June of 2011, based on the timing of previous seasons.
So how do we get there? Both fighters will need to win fights late this year to set up their coaching stint, but getting both of them in action in either November or December shouldn't be much of an issue. And there are at least two options for fights to set up for either fighter on a November or December event, so providing they win the following proposed fights, they'll set up what could be an excellent season of trash talking and build up to what would be a massive, massive rematch.
Possible Silva Opponents
Vitor Belfort: This is the most likely option the UFC goes with if they don't give Chael the immediate rematch. He hasn't fought since his return victory over Rich Franklin last September, but he's been talked about as an opponent of Silva's since that win. Despite it being a 195 lb. catchweight and him not having a fight in the middleweight division in a while, he provides a hard hitting challenger who could still provide an entertaining fight against Silva. He's getting ready to return by this November, and a fight with Silva would be a good one for any of the rumored events in that month. A Silva win here would then bring a seven month break in between title fights for the next one, which isn't a bad number.
Yushin Okami: The only other fighter who can make any type of claim for a title shot in the division right now, Okami is also the last person to claim a victory over Anderson Silva. Granted, it was by DQ when he was hit with an upkick while in Silva's guard. Still, after the blueprint laid out by Sonnen on last night's card, a rematch with Okami has become infinitely more interesting. Okami's footwork is excellent, and his wrestling is good enough to get Silva to the ground. It's not good enough to keep him there with the consistency that Sonnen was able to, but he makes for an interesting challenger and could provide another tough fight for the Champion.
Possible Sonnen Opponents
Vitor Belfort: If Silva gets Okami, Sonnen should face Belfort to determine the next challenger. A win over Sonnen by Belfort would give him a legitimate claim to the number one contendership in the division, but at the same time a win by Sonnen establishes him further as deserving of another shot at Silva.
Demian Maia: If Maia gets past Mario Miranda later this month at UFC 118, Sonnen could have a chance to avenge the last loss on his record. Maia presents the same stylistic challenge to Sonnen, and Maia already holds a submission victory over him. If Sonnen can rebound from this submission loss by avenging that triangle choke loss, it will give him a ton more confidence heading into a Silva rematch and the Ultimate Fighter.
Alan Belcher: Another possible opponent for Sonnen, Belcher is recovering from a detached retina that forced him out of the bout with Maia in September. He's been clamoring to fight the top end of the division, and Sonnen would be a huge step in that direction for him. It would be an excellent match up, and if it can take place in November or December, they'll set up the winner for big things in 2011.
If both Silva and Sonnen can pick up wins against any one of these opponents late this year, they can enter filming for Ultimate Fighter just a couple of months later. It would also give them plenty of time to recover and prepare to turn around for a June meeting. And with placement on TUF, both fighters would be able to play up this feud even further. Can you imagine 12 weeks of Chael Sonnen on Spike hyping this fight? It might get crazy, but the fight will sell again, and their meeting in June of 2011 would be the most anticipated rematch since Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir II.
It's just a few of the many options the UFC could go with, and again an immediate rematch isn't out of the question. But if they want to take a slight gamble and put both fighters in the cage once more before facing each other again, they could find themselves with a big payoff in a rematch bolstered by a full season of TUF. It could definitely make for some massive business next year.
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