In the first televised bout of the night Junior Dos Santos will look to extend his incredible winning run against Roy Nelson. Nelson has been a long time student of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master Renzo Gracie, who granted him a Black Belt on August 26, 2009. Nelson has competed at the Abu Dhabi Grappling Championships (ADCC) and has trained with some of the world's best fighters including UFC's Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Ricco Rodriguez and Ken Shamrock. As a member of Ken Shamrock's Lion's Den he was asked to become a member of the IFL's Nevada Lions in 2007. In the 2007 IFL World Grand Prix, Nelson became the league's first ever heavyweight champion, defeating Antoine Jaoude on December 29, 2007. Nelson successfully defended his title twice, before the IFL ceased operations. In 2003, Roy Nelson defeated Frank Mir on points in a grappling tournament hosted by Grapplers Quest.Nelson was one of the 16 fighters in The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights. He did commentaries on the show for multiple websites, including weekly Q&A sessions about each episode for USA Today's Fighting Stances and a blog for SpikeTV.com. In his first fight of the show, Nelson defeated former street-fighter Kimbo Slice via TKO stoppage in round 2 with repeated punches to the head in the crucifix position. The broadcast was the highest rated MMA show in U.S. history with a 3.7 rating. The fight itself had 6 million viewers. In the quarterfinals, Nelson defeated Justin Wren in a two-round majority decision. In the semifinals, Nelson defeated James McSweeney via strikes in the first round. He defeated Brendan Schaub at The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale to become the winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights. In the finale, Nelson knocked out Schaub at 3:45 into the first round with a powerful right hook to Schaub's left temple and then hit Schaub on the ground with one punch to the face before the referee pulled Nelson off Schaub. With the win, Nelson earned a six-figure contract with the UFC. In his first fight since The Ultimate Fighter Finale, Nelson knocked out Stefan Struve after 39 seconds in the first round at the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 21 on March 31, 2010, winning his second straight Knockout of the Night Bonus.
Junior Dos Santos made his professional MMA debut in 2006 against Jailson Silva Santos; Junior stopped his opponent in the very first round via TKO. His next 4 fights all took place in Brazil as he compiled a record of 5-0, however this streak came to an end when Joaquim Ferreira submitted Dos Santos to hand him his first ever defeat. Dos Santos went on to win his next fight via TKO.
Junior dos Santos was for the most part an unknown MMA fighter until his UFC debut at UFC 90: Silva vs. Côté, when he defeated a Top 5 Heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum with a first round KO from a devastating uppercut. Dos Santos currently fights under the tutelage of the former interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. After the Werdum fight, Dos Santos took on Stefan Struve at UFC 95, defeating him by TKO in the first round. After this fight Junior obtained his biggest win to date over Mirko Filipović at UFC 103. During the third round, Junior dominated Mirko in the clinch with knee strikes, and followed up with punches. The last punch impaired Mirko's vision which resulted in an immediate verbal submission from Filipovic.
Dos Santos was supposed to fight Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 108; however, Gonzaga pulled out of the bout on November 25, 2009, due to a staph infection. Instead, dos Santos fought Gilbert Yvel, winning the fight via TKO during the first round, giving him his fourth straight UFC victory, finishing all his opponents by way of stoppage. Dos Santos then defeated Gabriel Gonzaga on March 21, 2010, at UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones by knockout in the first round.
Junior Dos Santos has been nothing short of impressive since debuting in the UFC, so far he’s rattled off 5 consecutive victories and if he is able to stop Roy Nelson in this fight then he must surely be considered next in line for a title shot. Nelson has also been in impressive form recently earning two 1st round KO’s in his last couple of fights. Nelson is very agile for his size & has some excellent grappling skills, using his weight very effectively to keep his opponents down once he completes the takedown. Even though Roy has some pretty good stand-up I think his main strategy in this fight will be to get Dos Santos down to the ground where he can look to use his ground & pound. In the build-up to this fight Dos Santos has mentioned that he is preparing for the possibility of the fight going to the ground by working on his Brazilian jiu-jitsu with the Nogueira brothers, so Roy will need to ensure he doesn’t get careless on the ground as Junior could very well surprise him with his submission skills. As well as working on his ground game Junior mentioned that he is working hard on his main strength which is his boxing, as this is where he feels that he holds a significant advantage. I tend to agree with him, Dos Santos has very good technique and devastating power in his strikes. If he connects early then I feel he may just put Roy away, in order for Roy to implement his game plan he going to need to close the distance but I can see Junior catching him as he attempts to do this and putting another W on his record.
My Prediction: Junior Dos Santos via KO.
Ricardo Almeida will make his 2nd appearance at welterweight against future hall of famer Matt Hughes in this bout. Hughes made his debut in MMA in January 1998 against Erick Snyder, Hughes wasted no time at all in announcing his arrival in MMA, slamming Snyder just 15 seconds into the fight & forcing his opponent to submit almost immediately. Hughes continued to dominate all 3 of his next opponents, ending all 3 fights in the 1st round to take his record to 4-0. With Hughes’ confidence growing each time he stepped into the cage, his next result came as a reality check when his opponent Dennis Hallman put him in a guillotine choke just 18 seconds into the first round, forcing Matt to submit. This loss seemed to put the focus back into Hughes as he stacked up win after win improving his record to 22-1 before getting a re-match with Hallman at UFC 29. Even though Hughes was dominating every other opponent, Hallman seemed to have his number tapping Hughes out yet again just 20 seconds into the first round with an armbar. Immediately after his 2nd loss to Hallman, Matt suffered the first back-to-back losses of his career when he was KO’d by Jose Landi-Jons.Determined to come back strong, Hughes won his next 7 fights to get another chance with the UFC, this time he would face Carlos Newton for the Welterweight title at UFC 34. The fight ended when Hughes was caught in a triangle choke by Carlos Newton, but somehow Matt was able to lift Carlos in the air and slam him to the mat, causing Newton to hit his head and lose consciousness just as Hughes was on the verge of blacking out himself from the choke. After the match Carlos stated that he felt the reason Hughes fell to the mat was because he was rendered unconscious from the triangle choke. This was confirmed when reviews of the tape showed Hughes telling his corner after the fight "I was out." Almost a year later Hughes defeated Newton in a re-match via TKO to put an end to the controversy surrounding their first encounter. Hughes went on to defend his title 5 times before finally losing it to BJ Penn via rear naked choke towards the end of the first round. He would later get another chance to win back his title after BJ vacated the belt, which opened the door for Georges St.Pierre vs. Hughes 1 with the championship at stake at UFC 50. GSP was the underdog coming into the fight but ended up taking the fight to the former champ and was actually winning the fight until he got caught in an armbar with 1 second to go in the first round.
After re-gaining his title, Hughes won his next 4 fights including victories over BJ Penn & the legendary Royce Gracie. At UFC 65 Hughes & GSP faced off for the second time, this time GSP made no mistake and stopped Hughes in the 2nd round with a flurry of punches and elbows to end the champion’s 2nd reign. Hughes won his next fight and found himself once again in line for a shot at the Welterweight championship when it was announced that he would take on newly crowned champ, Matt Serra, however the fight was put on hold when Serra sustained a herniated disc in his lower back and was out indefinitely. As a replacement GSP vs. Hughes 3 was signed to take place at UFC 79, this 3rd match between the 2 was perhaps the most one-sided as GSP avoided all of Hughes’ takedown attempts while using Matt’s own style of ground & pound against him before finally ending the fight in the 2nd round due to verbal submission.
Hughes took on Thiago Alves at UFC 85 & ended up losing the fight after receiving a flying knee from Alves in the 2nd round which dropped him to the ground with his own left knee pinned behind his hips. After this loss Hughes stated that he had at least ‘one last fight’ left in him against Matt Serra. On January 9, 2009 Hughes won the grudge match against Serra at UFC 98 via unanimous decision. After the fight Hughes and Serra embraced each other and ended their feud. Hughes defeated Renzo Gracie via third round TKO at UFC 112, setting the record for most wins in the UFC with 17.
Ricardo Almeida is a third degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Renzo Gracie, and part of the Gracie Barra Combat Team. Almeida is a veteran of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, PRIDE Fighting Championships, Grapplers Quest and a former Middleweight King of Pancrase. In Pancrase he had notable wins over Nathan Marquardt and Kazuo Misaki. On November 30, 2003, Almeida was involved in an altercation with middleweight opponent Nate Marquardt in a Pancrase title fight. Marquardt was put into a guillotine choke in which the referee believed he tapped out. The referee was unable to immediately separate the fighters and the choke remained applied around Marquardt's neck after Marquardt's apparent submission. After the choke was let go, Marquardt threw a strike at Almeida's face, prompting both corners to storm into the ring – including Renzo Gracie, who was cornering Almeida and kicked Marquardt in the face. The confrontation came to an end and Marquardt approached Almeida after the bout to congratulate him. Almeida then vacated his title in July 2004. Almeida retired for a three-year period after a six fight win streak to focus on running his Jiu-Jitsu school in Hamilton, New Jersey.
His return bout in the UFC occurred at UFC 81, where he submitted Rob Yundt at 1:08 in the first round. Almeida's next fight was against Patrick Cote, where he lost a close split decision. Almeida returned at UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann, this time on the preliminary card, to face Matt Horwich, winning by unanimous decision. His next fight took place on August 8 in Philadelphia against Kendall Grove at UFC 101. Almeida won by outgrappling his opponent for the majority of the bout and controlling the fight to earn a unanimous decision victory. He was scheduled to fight Jon Fitch at UFC 106 but had to withdraw due to a knee injury suffered while training. Almeida faced Matt Brown on March 27, 2010 at UFC 111 in his welterweight debut. Almeida defeated Brown by rear naked choke at 2:30 in round 2.
This will be Almeida’s 2nd fight at welterweight after making a successful debut in the weight class against Matt Brown and he will be looking to avenge the losses of his coaches Matt Serra & Renzo Gracie by defeating Hughes. Almeida’s main strength is his jiu-jitsu, but he also possesses fairly good striking and with his 6 foot frame he should be able to use his height & reach to his advantage if Hughes sticks to his recent trend of keeping his fights standing. Hughes main strength is of course his wrestling ability, over the years he has improved his stand-up considerably but when he comes up against good strikers he tends to get picked apart. In order for Hughes to win this fight he will need to use his wrestling to get the takedown and try to use his ground & pound while avoiding any submission attempts. As I mentioned earlier Almeida has excellent submissions and can be dangerous off of his back so Hughes will need to be careful. For Almeida to win I think he’ll need to keep the fight standing where I feel he has the skills to out-strike Hughes on his way to a decision victory. Even though Matt has won his last couple of fights, there has been a noticeable decline in his ability & this is leading me to pick Almeida in this fight.
My Prediction: Ricardo Almeida via decision.
In the main lightweight fight of the night Clay Guida will look to put an abrupt end to Rafaels dos Anos’ current winning streak. Rafael dos Anjos is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt under Roberto "Gordo" Correa de Lima and trains out of Evolve Mixed Martial Arts in Brazil and Singapore. He is also well-versed in Muay Thai under the tutelage of the legendary Sityodtong Team at Evolve MMA. Rafael has fought most of his professional career in brazil, compiling an 11-2 record before coming over to the US to test his skills in the UFC. Rafeal made his UFC debut at UFC 91, losing via KO to Jeremy Stephens. After his loss to Stephens, Rafeal suffered a 2nd consecutive loss to Tyson Griffin at UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann via unanimous decision. After these losses Rafael fought Rob Emerson and got a much-needed win by unanimous decision. Rafael then defeated Kyle Bradley via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 20. At UFC 112, dos Anjos defeated Terry Etim via second round submission, earning him Submission of the Night.Clay Guida made his MMA debut in July 2003, losing via submission to Adam Copenhaver. Despite this loss Guida bounced back and shortly after he put together a 14 fight win streak to take his overall record to an impressive 18-3. It was around this time that Guida signed with Strikeforce and won the Lightweight title after defeating Josh Thompson via unanimous decision. However his title reign didn’t last long as he lost a split decision to Gilbert Melendez in his first title defence. Towards the end of 2006, Guida signed with the UFC and made his debut for the organization at UFC 64 against Justin James, picking up a submission victory in the 2nd round. Guida went on to lose his next 2 fights to Din Thomas & Tyson Griffin, however his loss to Griffin won fight of the night honours and seemed to make the fans take notice of him.
In Guida's next fight, he defeated Marcus Aurelio at UFC 74 by decision. Guida was defeated by Roger Huerta at The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale via rear naked choke in the 3rd round in a closely contested fight. Guida's recent bouts include UFC - Fight Night 13 where he defeated Samy Schiavo via TKO at 4:15 of round 1. In a bout at UFC - Fight Night 15, he defeated Mac Danzig via unanimous decision. Guida then went on to defeat Nate Diaz via split decision at UFC 94: Georges St-Pierre vs. BJ Penn 2. Guida then took on Diego Sanchez, at the The Ultimate Fighter 9 finale which he lost by split-decision. The fight had a frantic pace in which Guida weathered a ferocious striking offensive from Sanchez, with a seemingly endless barrage of punches and a brutal headkick which dropped Guida in the first round. This fight went on to win "Fight of the Night" honours and would later make #13 on the "100 Greatest UFC fights" list. On December 12, 2009 he fought Kenny Florian at UFC 107. In the second round, after being dropped with a hard right hand, Guida would lose the fight by submission (rear naked choke). Guida was expected to face Sean Sherk on March 21, 2010 at UFC LIVE: Vera vs. Jones, but Sherk was forced off the card with an injury. Shannon Gugerty stepped up to become Guida's new opponent. Guida had defeated Shannon Gugerty at 3:40 of round 2 by way of arm-triangle choke, ending Guida's two fight losing streak along with winning his first UFC Submission Of The Night award.
Rafael has put together a 3 fight win streak coming into this fight and a win over Clay Guida will definitely propel him in the lightweight rankings. Dos Anjos has some excellent submissions & some solid stand-up to go with that so he is a well rounded fighter and should be a real test for Guida. Guida has only recently broken a 2 fight losing streak and he will be determined not to get another loss on his record, Clay is a relentless fighter and one of his biggest strengths is his cardio which allows him to set an unbelievable pace when he fights. This is something that dos Anjos will need to prepare for as it can be extremely difficult to deal with, Clay loves to take people down or get them in a clinch and then use his dirty boxing and ground & pound. This style has proven successful for him in the past but we’ve also seen that it can be beaten. Guida has been submitted 6 times in his career and with Rafael’s world class BJJ, we could see that number rise to 7.
My Prediction: Rafael dos Anjos via submission.
Jon Fitch will look to continue his march towards another shot at the welterweight title by defeating Thiago Alves for the 2nd time in his caree in this fight. Jon Fitch began his MMA career fighting as a Light-Heavyweight with a record of 4-2-1. Looking to make more of an impact in his new career Fitch soon began to train with the American Kickboxing Academy, which turned into one of the best decisions of his career as he went undefeated until his loss to UFC welterweight title-holder, Georges St-Pierre.In his next seven fights, Fitch amassed wins over fighters such as Shonie Carter, Alex Serdyukov, and Jeff Joslin. After failing to make the selection process for the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, Fitch earned a shot in the UFC on October 3, 2005, where Fitch defeated Brock Larson in a middleweight bout. Soon after, Fitch dropped to the welterweight division and won his next six fights. With victories over Josh Burkman, Thiago Alves, Luigi Fioravanti, and Diego Sanchez, Fitch was now seen as a potential title contender. On March 1, 2008, Fitch defeated Chris Wilson by unanimous decision at UFC 82. This marked his 8th consecutive victory in the UFC, tying the record set by Royce Gracie for most consecutive wins in the UFC.
This impressive record earned Fitch a shot at Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre at UFC 87, Fitch went the distance with the champion but ultimately lost via unanimous decision with scores of 50-43, 50-44, 50-44. He rebounded from this loss with a dominant performance over Pride veteran Akihiro Gono en route to a convincing unanimous decision at UFC 94. After his win over Gono, Fitch took on Paulo Thiago, who had previously KO’d Fitch’s training partner Josh Koscheck, Fitch controlled Thiago throughout the fight with his wrestling & ground and pound before getting a unanimous decision win. In his next fight Fitch fought & defeated Mike Pierce via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) at UFC 107. Fitch was expected to finally face Thiago Alves on March 27, 2010 at UFC 111: St.Pierre vs. Hardy, but Alves was forced off the card due to a brain irregularity that appeared on a pre fight CAT scan. Jon Fitch replaced Jake Ellenberger on the card and face Jeet Kune Do fighter Ben Saunders. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
Thiago Alves began training in Muay Thai when he was 15 years old and mixed martial arts at 17. He won his first professional bout at just age 18, defeating a 31-year-old by unanimous decision. At 19, Thiago relocated from Brazil to Coconut Creek, Florida to train full-time at the prestigious American Top Team camp.
After compiling a record of 7-1 in smaller organizations such as the Ironheart Crown, Absolute Fighting Championships and King of the Cage, Alves made his UFC debut at Ultimate Fight Night 2 against fellow UFC newcomer Spencer Fisher. Despite having early success in the bout, especially on the ground, Alves fell victim to a dramatic triangle choke late in the second round. Thiago returned to action on the undercard of UFC 56, defeating previously-undefeated Ansar Chalangov by TKO due to punches just 2:25 into the first round. At UFC 59, Thiago was matched up against Derrick Noble, the lone man to defeat him prior to entering the UFC. Alves avenged the loss, winning by TKO from punches less than three minutes into the bout. At Ultimate Fight Night 5, Alves was matched up against fellow up-and-comer Jon Fitch. In a match-up of two future top welterweight contenders, Fitch defeated Alves by TKO started by a successful upkick to the head of Alves 4:37 into the second round.
After this loss Alves put together a 5 fight win streak which set up a fight against former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes. Prior to the bout, Alves surprised many by missing weight, coming in at 174 pounds. Despite his opponent missing the 170-pound limit, Hughes accepted the fight at a catchweight. Despite the pre-fight blunder, Alves shocked the crowd by dominating the heavily-favored former champion. After picking apart Hughes standing and displaying vastly-improved takedown defense throughout the first round, "The Pitbull" knocked Hughes down with a flying knee and followed him to the ground with punches early in the second, earning a TKO stoppage. In the post fight interview, Alves attributed not making weight to spraining his ankle two weeks before the fight.
Next, Alves was slated to face Diego Sanchez at UFC 90, in what many believed would be a match for the number-one contender spot. Sanchez, however, would be forced to pull out of the bout just weeks before the event due to injury. Josh Koscheck, another top-contender and 4-time NCAA wrestling All-American, stepped in for Sanchez on short notice. Alves controlled most of the fight and won by unanimous decision. The Brazilian's improved takedown-defense was once again on display, as the American Top Team fighter forced Koscheck into a kick boxing battle. Alves' devastating leg kicks proved to be a factor throughout the bout, taking away much of Koscheck's mobility. He also managed to drop Koscheck several times during the 3-round bout, but Koscheck's quick recovery enabled him to survive the onslaughts. Thiago Alves fought Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight title at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on July 11, 2009 at UFC 100. During the fight, Alves was taken down a total of ten times. Although he showed potential on his feet and put in a resilient performance on the ground, continually getting back up, he was ultimately subjected to a clinic put on by St.Pierre and being outwrestled in all five rounds ultimately losing via unanimous decision.
In a re-match from 2006 Alves will finally get his chance to avenge the TKO loss he suffered to Fitch. Alves fought Fitch early on in his career & he has evolved considerably since the first time they met, as has Fitch. Taking this into consideration I’m expecting a different type of fight from the first encounter. Alves has some of the most dangerous Muay-Thai in the welterweight division & he has improved his takedown defence a lot in past couple of years. I expect Alves to use his strength & his sprawl to try & keep the fight standing where he should possess the advantage, if he is able to do this then I think we could very well see him avenge his loss in emphatic fashion. Fitch will look to do what he does best and that’s get the takedown and then work his ground & pound while using his world class wrestling to control Alves. Fitch may stand & trade with Alves in the opening round but I doubt he’ll leave it too long before he shoots in for a takedown. I think this fight will depend on whether Fitch is able to get Alves down and keep him there, if he gets the takedown with ease then he should be able to grind out an unanimous decision, however if Alves is able to get up then we could see the Brazilian getting a KO victory. This is another one of those fights that i’ve constantly been going back & forth over but i’m going to go with Alves to avenge the loss via KO.
My Prediction: Thiago Alves via KO.
In the main event of the evening all the trash talking finally comes to an end as Chael Sonnen finally gets his chance to step into the octagon with the middleweight champ Anderson Silva. Silva made his MMA debut in May 2000 fighting for the Mecca organization in Brazil. Silva lost his debut to Luiz Azeredo by split decision. After that fight, he went on a nine-fight winning streak, winning six of those fights by either submission or TKO before losing to Daiju Takase, despite being a strong underdog Takase submitted Silva with a triangle choke late in the first round. Silva went on to win his next 3 fights before returning to Pride to face Ryo Chonan, Silva looked to be in control in the 1st round after getting a takedown and body triangle. Chonan was able to counter Silva's knees from the clinch, with knees, and takedowns in the 2nd round before ending the fight in the third round with a flying scissor heel hook to give Silva his 3rd loss in MMA.After losing to Chonan, Silva fought his next 2 fights in Cage Rage, earning two victories before fighting at Rumble on the Rock 8 against Yushin Okami in the first round of the 175 lb tournament. Although Silva considered the favorite to win the tournament, he lost in the first round when he kicked Okami in the face from the guard position. Okami's knees were on the ground at the time, making the attack an illegal strike to the head of a downed opponent. After this controversial disqualification Silva went back to Cage Rage to defend the Cage Rage championship against Tony Fryklund. Silva ended the fight with a reverse elbow, knocking out Fryklund early in the first round. Shortly after this fight Silva signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC.
Silva made his anticipated debut at Ultimate Fight Night 5 on June 28, 2006 against Chris Leben. Silva wasted no time making an impression in the UFC as he knocked out Leben with a flurry of strikes, followed by a final knee strike at 49 seconds into the first round. Immediately following his debut Silva was given a shot at Rich Franklin and his Middleweight title at UFC 64. Franklin was considered the UFC’s best middleweight at the time and many people were anticipating a close fight with Franklin taking the win, however Silva had other plans as he put the champion into a Muay-Thai clinch in the 1st round before unleashing a flurry of knees which broke Franklin’s nose and put him down, making Silva the new champion due to TKO.
After winning the championship Silva went 5-0 including wins over Travis Lutter, Nate Marquardt, Rich Franklin, a unification fight against Pride champion Dan Henderson and a KO win over James Irvin in a light heavyweight bout. Silva’s next fight took place on October 25, 2008 at UFC 90 against Patrick Côté. In the third round, Côté landed awkwardly on his right leg while throwing a kick and fell to the mat grasping his right knee in obvious pain. The fight was stopped immediately with referee Herb Dean ruling it as a TKO victory for Silva. At UFC 97
Silva defeated Thales Leites by Unanimous Decision, defending his Middleweight Championship and recording his UFC record 9th consecutive win in the octagon. This also was the longest fight Silva has ever had in the UFC, going the full 5 rounds of the fight. At UFC 101 Silva again fought at 205 pounds against former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin. Griffin was knocked down three times in the first round as Silva added yet another KO to his record. Silva took on Demian Maia at UFC 112,in the first two rounds Silva appeared to mock his opponent while employing quick, precise striking. In the third round, however, Silva's tempo seemed to change. He looked to Maia to be the aggressor while he largely circled and taunted his opponent. In the fifth round, Silva's lack of action prompted referee Dan Miragliotta to warn Silva for his conduct. The crowd began to side with Maia, who was the only fighter attempting to engage. After 5 rounds, Silva was declared the winner via unanimous decision.
Chael Sonnen made his MMA debut in March 2002 against Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller winning via decision after two five minute rounds at HFP 1: Rumble On The Reservation. Thus far Chael has compiled an overall record of 23-9-1, which includes a unanimous decision over the previously undefeated WEC Middleweight champion Paulo Filho at WEC 36. Prior to the fight, Paulo Filho did not make weight (weighing in almost seven pounds over 185 weight limit) thus taking away the chance for Sonnen to capture Filho’s WEC Middleweight title.
A lot of people started to take note of Sonnen after his victory over Filho and he was given the chance to show that this win was no fluke when he made his UFC debut against Demian Maia at UFC 95. Sonnen went into the fight looking to break the Brazilian’s undefeated record, but managed to last just 2 minutes 37 seconds before getting caught in a triangle and forced to tap out. In his next bout Chael Sonnen beat Dan Miller at UFC 98 on May 23 in a unanimous decision. Sonnen came in as a late replacement for Yushin Okami when Okami sustained a torn ligament while training. Sonnen took the fight on 22 days notice, and lost 36 pounds to compete. In his next fight Chael beat world-ranked opponent Yushin Okami at UFC 104 by unanimous decision. Sonnen was expected to face Nate Marquardt on February 21, 2010 at UFC 110, but the fight was moved up and the two fought at UFC 109 on February 6, with Sonnen winning via unanimous decision after outwrestling the heavily favoured Marquardt for three rounds.
Silva should be extremely motivated for this fight after all of the trash talking that Sonnen has been doing in the build-up, which may possibly lead to him being a lot more focused on ending this fight rather than show-boating as he did in his last fight. I think Anderson will want to send a message to Chael & all the other middleweights by ending this fight in brutal fashion. We all know Anderson’s strengths by now, so it’ll be no surprise that Chael will not want any part of the striking battle. All he’ll be focused on is getting within range so he can shoot for the takedown and then use his strength, which is his wrestling and ground & pound, to grind Silva down. This won’t be easy but Chael will look for that takedown relentlessly and if he manages to get it then he will be in a very good position to do the unthinkable in this fight. Anderson has very good takedown defence and he will know exactly what Sonnen wants to do in this fight, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he looks to time a knee to catch Sonnen on his way in for the takedown, Silva is such a precise & unpredictable striker that he could very well end the fight with a shot like this. His striking is on such a different level to Chael in this fight that I think it will be very difficult for Chael to even get in close, which is what he needs to do to stand any chance of winning. At the end of the night I think Silva will put an end to Chael’s talking once and for all by KO’ing him & and adding yet another win to that incredible streak.
My Prediction: Anderson Silva via KO.
