Dana White announced on ESPN’s “Jim Rome is Burning” that Anderson Silva’s next opponent will be UFC middleweight and former WEC middleweight champion Chael Sonnen.
“He’s got a real tough fight coming up. His next fight’s going to be against Chael Sonnen, and Chael Sonnen’s one of these guys who’s not going to lay back, not do what these other guys (did),” White told Rome.
He believes that Sonnen’s style will not allow for any showboating or avoidance, as Silva showed in his last fight with Demian Maia.
“When he’s been in this position when these types of fights have happened, it’s been against real good jiu-jitsu guys, guys that want to get the fight to the ground. Well, Chael Sonnen’s going to want to take this fight to the ground, but he’s going to double leg him and bring him down,” said White.
Payout Perspective:
I think I’m having a slight change of heart where Anderson Silva at 185lbs. is concerned. In this week’s UFC 112: Payout Perspective I stated that I didn’t believe there was much interest left in Anderson at middleweight, and while I still believe that’s the case today, I could see that changing in the next couple of months.
Yesterday’s announcement that Silva will defend against Sonnen over the summer likely gave fans an ugly flashback to last Saturday’s performance – it’s too soon! – but Sonnen’s comments immediately after the announcement have given me hope. This main event could sell very well on the combination of Sonnen’s hyping prowess, the UFC’s fan bases growing disdain for Anderson Silva, and the fact that UFC will likely throw a ton of money into promoting this bout.
The UFC has a very obvious play here and that’s to remind everyone just how much Silva pissed them off – he’s this uber talented enigma that just refuses to fight sometimes – and here’s their chance to see him get what he’s got coming to him. Sonnen obviously plays a role in that.
I’ve talked previously about how guys like Dan Hardy and Chael Sonnen are pioneering the trash talking PR strategy for fight hype, but there’s a distinct difference between Sonnen and Hardy: attitude and demeanor. Dan Hardy is a prankster with a quick whit – somewhat of a cheeky Brit – but he doesn’t quite have that believability about him. Sonnen, though, has this straight-faced, cut-to-the-chase, and conservative attitude that is absolutely convincing; if he tells someone they’re an idiot and he wants to whoop their ass, he means it.
That’s effective in and of itself, but even more so now that people are naturally more inclined to believe him, simply because they really want to see someone take the fight to Anderson after his performance at UFC 112.
Sonnen will bring some much needed spice to this match up! If Anderson felt insulted by Maia’s comments this can only get better from here. Belfort and Sonnen are fights that I would still like to see at 185 before Anderson leaves the division for good.
I agree with the match, as stated, I think Chael will be the perfect mouthpiece to hype the hell out of this match, and hey, he surprised the hell out of me in the Marquardt match… also, if Belfort comes back and tears through his next opponent it sets up a quality match for the title
I dont see how Sonnen has much of a chance. He will get killed on the feet and fights like a zombie on the ground. A lang guy like Silva with his gaurd will eventually get a submission on the clueless Sonnen.
Smasher, I agree, but I think Zuffa is really at a loss of what to do with Silva at this point, I think they would love Belfort to beat him, but maybe they feel he needs a tune-up bout once he comes back