It's Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime. Mike Goldberg will probably say that this is the biggest rematch in the history of our sport.....and you know something.....he's right.
Quick history for those who forgot:
Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen.
Sonnen beats Silva for 4.5 rounds.
Silva locks the triangle.
Silva wins.
Sonnen fails his drug test....elevated testosterone.
Sonnen almost ends up in jail for real estate / money laundering.
2 years later we get this rematch but with a twist. Sonnen is allowed to use his TRT (testosterone replacement therapy) and there is nothing Silva can do about it......unless he kills him in the octagon.
Why does Silva Win?
Striking, BJJ
Why does Chael Sonnen win?
Wrestling, TRT
Honestly Sonnen does have the best wrestling in the middleweight division. Combine that with his TRT and it would be like the Incredible Hulk wrestling a bear.
 | ||||
| "Sonnen Smash" |
Why Silva doesn't win?
Take-down defense. Pre-existing injuries.
A few weeks ago there was a story that said Silva tweaked his knee in practice. I didn't buy it, but even if he did I don't think he would have dropped out of the fight. Also his take-down defense isn't the greatest. I've seen a majority of Silva's fights in & outside the UFC. He's never had the best take-down defense. Against Travis Lutter, Hendo & Sonnen he was taken down @ least once, and dominated for @ least 1 round. I can see it happening again but not for a full 5 rounds. 2 rounds max.
Why Sonnen doesn't win.
Submission defense.
He can't stop the armbar / triangle choke. Even Forrest Griffin submitted him with a triangle early in his career. If you have been submitted 8 times in your career, and 7 of those have been by triangle / armbar.......then you need to work on your BJJ.
Who wins this & why?
Chael Sonnen has ran his mouth for the last 2 years.....and he's saying he will beat Silva for 5 full rounds. Silva has told the press he will break the arms, legs, and teeth of Sonnen on Saturday. What can we expect?
Silva by TKO. He will try to end this early, and he will. I can't really see this going past the 2nd round....but I said that the last time. Who knows what will really happen on Saturday? All I know is that it's going to be a slobber knocker.
ha, incredible hulk. This TRT issue is getting out of hand. Hopefully Chael retires or moves to a different weight class after he gets wooped
ReplyDeleteI don't get the TRT issue and I don't really want to. I mean if your natural level is that you aren't producing enough.....then aren't you enhancing?
ReplyDeleteEither way. I hope silva comes out and doesn't even spend a round playing with him. Get him to throw one punch, counter, jump on him, arm bar him into the ER. How's that for a slice of fried gold?
I didn't get home early enough to watch the fights last night. I just watched the fight and I have to say, I was worried for Silva. Round 1 was a one sided ass kicking. I'm really glad that Silva did such a good job of maintaining "control" from the bottom and took no damage. When Sonnen got mount....I was jumping. That knee looked risky, but I guess if I could hit stuff with the same accuracy as Silva I wouldn't have had to watch the replay to make sure he didn't knee Sonnen in the face. The dodge on the spinning backfist was jedi like. It made it look like Silva was fighting a kid.
ReplyDeletew00t!