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Has Chael Sonnen's trash talking made you want to cheer for or against him at UFC 117? And will he be able to defeat Anderson Silva on Saturday?
CHRIS PARK, MMATORCH UK SPECIALIST
What Chael Sonnen has achieved is to make me actually want to see an Anderson Silva fight again.
His trash talking has been priceless and I have enjoyed every second of it, particularly the recent Q&A which more resembled a stand up comedy show.
Sonnen deserves this title shot and if he had have come in with a more, well let's just say "low key" approach, then I would have fancied his chances going in.
I like Chael Sonnen a lot, but I think if ever someone was to motivate Silva to turn on the style of his early UFC performances, then it's Sonnen and his world class trash talking.
ANWAR PEREZ, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
Chael Sonnen has just made me hope and pray that Anderson Silva destroys him. He talks a big game, but that's all. He's entertaining for sure but his words mean nothing and Silva will destroy him and shut him up. Sonnen will go back to being just another statistic in Anderson Silva's career.
ALEX WILLIAMS, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
His occasional gay-baiting jokes aside, it's made me want to cheer for him. I love fighters who play the heel, and I'm not sure if I've seen anyone in MMA do it better than Chael Sonnen. He claims he doesn't know anything about pro wrestling, but according to Dave Meltzer, he does. (It's quite possible that, having grown up in Portland, his primary influence on promos is Roddy Piper.) Sonnen's not a spring chicken, but with his talking ability and athleticism, he could have a run in WWE. Hopefully they wouldn't ruin it by scripting all of his material.
He should explore that possibility after Saturday night, because it's unlikely that he'll end the evening with a claim on the UFC title. Chael should be able to take Anderson Silva down, but I anticipate Silva submitting him or catching Chael when he shoots with a KO strike. If Chael can survive the early rounds, he has a shot at winning. Anderson just didn't start avoiding fighting in the Demian Maia bout; he displayed the same timidity versus Thales Leites and Patrick Cote. I think it boils down to a lack of conditioning. Sonnen will have the bigger gas tank and could punish a tired Silva with enough late ground & pound to take the decision or even score a stoppage. That said, I'll reiterate that I'm going with what I consider the safer pick of Silva by submission.
MIKE BACIOR, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
It has made me want to cheer for him, though the things that make me support him are statements such as "I have a moral obligation to society to beat Anderson Silva up," not his off-topic rants. But I was already a Sonnen fan far before all of this, so that changes things, of course. I feel that he can win, and that of anyone in the middleweight division, he has the proper skill set to beat Silva. That still might not be enough, however, as Silva is an amazing fighter. I think that Chael could put Anderson on his back continually and either get a corner or doctor stoppage, or a decision win. I also feel that Silva might overwhelm him on the feet quickly, or perhaps lock on a submission. I'll put it this way, there is a 40% chance that Chael will win, and a 60% chance Silva will win. That is just my opinion though, and I am very excited about this fight and the card in general!
TOBEN SHELBY, MMATORCH AUDIO CO-HOST
Chael Sonnen's trash talk takes me back to when I used to watch pro wrestling. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing, but it's certainly made the build up to Sonnen's fight with Anderson Silva. However, I'm not really sure if it's made me want to cheer for him more or less. Some of his statements make him sound delusional at times, so it's hard to get with his thought process. At the very least, Sonnen's trash talk has made me interested in Chael Sonnen - which is something I don't think many people were last year.
As far as the fight goes, I don't think Sonnen will beat Silva. He's shown bad submission defense in the past and I'd be very impressed if he can keep Silva down with his wrestling for the whole fight. To win, Sonnen has to take three rounds and not get caught with strikes or a submission. Silva has more options to win and more tools at his disposal.
JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
I think for a time his statements were legitimately getting people to back him, wanting to see him take Silva out after a third straight title defense fought in a lackluster fashion. Then, he continued getting more and more ridiculous with his comments, and it turned into people wanting to see Silva just shut him up. At this point, he's done his job of getting people interested in an Anderson Silva fight again, but I don't see too many actually wanting to cheer for him. They're just hoping that he's brought out the fight in Silva for this one.
The fight itself I see playing out in one of three ways: 1)Silva knocks him out early as he tries to shoot in during the first round, 2) Silva submits him from the bottom after Sonnen successfully takes him down or 3) Silva does what he's done in his last three title fights and toys with Sonnen to prove that he's simply that much better than him. None of those scenarios involve Chael winning because I don't think he can. He may prove me and numerous others wrong in Oakland, but I don't see it happening.
UPCOMING ROUNDTABLE QUESTIONS
• What are your early thoughts on how Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez match up in their UFC 121 showdown?
RELATED STORY: Part two of this roundtable with responses from Carter, Marsh, Hyden, Wyatt and Pelkey: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
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