UFC 117: Chael Sonnen - “Put up of Shut up”
Chael Sonnen challenges Anderson Silva's belt in UFC 117's main event
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On the heels of the biggest fight of his eight year mixed martial arts career, Team Quest-trained Chael Sonnen is showing very little in the way of nerves. You would think that someone who is challenging longtime middleweight champion Anderson Silva, 11-0 in the UFC, for the title would be somewhat tense about the opportunity. If he is at all, Sonnen is doing an amazing job of hiding it. In fact, instead of nerves, Sonnen is displaying a world-class trash talking seminar that is overflowing with confidence as he heads into his UFC 117 main event on August 7th.
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Sonnen is riding high mainly based off his recent string of impressive performances that has many believing his claims of dethroning Silva. He comes in with three consecutive victories defeating Dan Miller, Yushin Okami, and Nate Marquardt with lopsided unanimous decision scores. With his recent wins, he has proven that he can handle himself inside the octagon, but now he is also proving that he is able to handle himself outside as well. Also a politician from the state of Oregon, Sonnen has put those skills to work by blasting Silva in the lead-up to this fight questioning both his toughness as well as his intelligence.
Confidence is a great thing to have, but questioning Silva’s intelligence has some thinking that Sonnen may be off his rocker. No matter how you look at it, Silva presents problems for Sonnen; although you wouldn’t think so listening to Sonnen speak. Sonnen believes that he will be able to rough Silva up by taking him to the ground and outmuscling him with his wrestling. Figuratively speaking, he should be able to handle his own, that is as long as he is able to get Silva on his back. Not many opponents have been able to do that to Silva, so, as much as I’d like to listen to his madness, I’ll believe it when I see it.
In order to get the fight to the ground where he has somewhat of a chance, Sonnen must be able to defend against Silva’s precise strikes, especially early on in the fight. His striking skill set has evolved over his last few fights, actually to the point where he should be able to contend with Silva in the stand-up. As far as overwhelm “The Spider,” Sonnen would have to be in the best shape of his life and take control in the fourth and fifth rounds. Silva is one of the world’s most elusive fighters, so catching him and putting it on him is definitely easier said than done.
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The fight between these two has already begun, at least in Sonnen’s eyes. He has done his best to try and get in Silva’s head with his insults and criticism. His politician skills may have given the early mental edge, but the simple fact is Silva hasn’t been a champion for this long with just his physical skills. The mental part is almost over, however, and it’s now time for Sonnen to put up or shut up. Let’s see if he backs all of his talk up.
By Nick Russell
ProFighting-fans.com Senior MMA Staff Writer