WORDS BY MIKEY AGULTO
August 5, 2010 | 2887 views
CHAEL SONNEN IS THE KING OF SELF-PROMOTION
UFC President Dana White was so pissed with Silva’s performance at UFC 112 that he contemplated never to market any of the champion’s fights ever again.
No problem for Silva there: Sonnen has been promoting this fight non-stop, accompanied by a dash of trash talk.
And Anderson Silva is: quickly losing his fan base. After his winning yet lackluster performances on UFC 90 and UFC 97, Silva’s ultimate low would come on UFC 107, where he toyed around with a bruised and battered Demian Maia, eliciting jeers for the first time in his career.
Sonnen Sound Bite: “His running is done and I'm gonna bring it to an abrupt halt. Anderson Silva's hurt a lot of people. That bothers me a lot. It's a payback thing, absolutely. Let's get rid of this guy. Anderson Silva's really the nuisance, he's truly the problem, and we’ve all had it with him."
CHAEL SONNEN HAS THE BIGGER HEART
Sonnen, whose last 5 wins ended in a unanimous decision, is also not much of a finisher but has been known to endure the nastiest of them hits.
Sonnen suffered a cut and was severely choked out by Nate Marquardt at UFC 109, yet managed to survive the round and snag a victory.
And Anderson Silva is: never to be associated with heart. It will be difficult to see how much heart Anderson has at this point, considering he has never been on the losing end for the better part of his career. He’s also known to do the opposite, eluding attacks most of the time.
Sonnen Sound Bite: “He's still going to be better than me. He's still going to punch better than me and kick better. He's going to be better, and I'm fine with that. He's going to hurt me when he punches me, and I'm fine with that.”
CHAEL SONNEN CAN MOST DEFINITELY WRESTLE BETTER
A pretty good Greco-Roman wrestler, Sonnen is a former NCAA Division 1 All-American honoree. He will most likely attempt to overpower Anderson Silva, who in turn is a fast-moving son of a gun. A typical scenario of speed meets power is in the works. Sonnen’s arms are also massive.
And Anderson Silva is: the better jiu-jitsu fighter in return. His striking is phenomenal, but given his lack of action on a grappling standpoint, Sonnen might be the bigger man should he manage to get a hold of Anderson. As with most cases, there’s a really good chance it won’t happen.
Sonnen Sound Bite: “He's going to have a black belt in jiu-jitsu and I'm going to have no belt in jiu-jitsu. But I'm gonna walk straight up to him, put him on his ass and beat a hole in his face. And as long as this sport has been around, that strategy has never been beaten."
Also, check out Sports Insider's take on the Silva-Sonnen match-up, only on FHM TV.
