The pound for pound best fighter in the world (when he chooses to actually fight) is up against an elite wrestler who’s been calling him out since day 1. It should be noted that in the past, Anderson Silva has had the most trouble against the top wrestlers he’s faced. Silva has faced a lot of scrutiny lately because of his recent lackluster matches against Demian Maia and Thales Leites, when he spent more time playing matador, and less time as the bull. Meanwhile Chael Sonnen has been spouting off so much trash talk to try and get under Silva’s skin, it’s been unbearable. I’ve got a video with a ‘best of’ Sonnen’s yapping after the jump if you want to check it out.
As if anything was needed to ramp up the intensity of this fight after all this talking, Dana White has threatened to cut Silva from the UFC if he fights the same way he did in his last bout in Abu Dhabi. “I’m telling you right now, if he acts like that again in the ring, I will cut him,” said White. “I don’t care if he’s the pound for pound best fighter in the world. I don’t care if he’s the middleweight champion.” Now, keep in mind that Dana White is a big talker in his own right, so I have a hard time seeing him cutting Silva, but it definitely adds an interesting angle to this fight. I wouldn’t miss this fight for anything and I expect fireworks from the main event, but regardless, the winner will face Vitor Belfort in a matchup currently targeted for November.
The rest of the card is made up with very solid matchups as well. We’ve finally got a long delayed re-match between Fitch and Alves. They originally met back in June of 2006 and this fight has been rescheduled 3 different time. Fitch has torn through everybody he’s faced in the UFC except for his title fight against GSP. The always entertaining Clay Guida and new UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes will also appear on this card, not facing each other of course, but they should be good fights.
Dana White also confirmed that the winner of the Nelson/dos Santos fight will get a UFC Heavyweight title shot against the Lesnar/Velasquez winner. Here’s a rundown of the fights:
Main card
- Middleweight Championship bout:
Anderson Silva (c) vs.
Chael Sonnen
- Welterweight bout:
Jon Fitch vs.
Thiago Alves
- Lightweight bout:
Clay Guida vs.
Rafael dos Anjos
- Welterweight bout:
Matt Hughes vs.
Ricardo Almeida
- Heavyweight bout:
Roy Nelson vs.
Junior dos Santos
And of course, here’s my picks: Silva takes Sonnen seriously and finishes him off (you really can’t pick against someone as established as Silva until they show a drop-off in their game, Silva hasn’t, so I’m sticking with him), Fitch to take down Alves for the 2nd time, Guida over dos Anjos, I think Hughes will outpoint Almeida for a decision victory, and dos Santos over Nelson. It should be a good card! Again, if you’re interested, the Sonnen video is after the jump.
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