Chael Sonnen will challenge Anderson Silva anywhere, anytime, across any different sport.
When you took a step back and look at the greatest rivalries in UFC history, the Silva vs. Sonnen series is up there or at least it will be with their first fight from UFC 117 (2010) being inducted to the UFC’s Hall of Fame in June, come International Fight Week. Sonnen is notoriously 0-2 against Silva, coming up short by TKO in their 2012 rematch.
Twelve years after the fact, Sonnen will get a rare third shot at redemption and he’ll go into the boxing ring to do so against Silva, when he meets his UFC rival on June 15th. Sonnen returns from retirement and by the time he fights, he will not have competed in five years.
“Why Are They Boxing?”
Sonnen’s definitely getting sucked out of his element with boxing rules in place but that doesn’t seem to bother the skilled wrestler one bit against Silva, who’s been around the block with four boxing fights since his UFC departure in 2020. Sonnen sheds light on why he’s fighting again and what’s with this sweet science all of a sudden at 47 years old?
“That question has come, why are they boxing?” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “Do you mean when you say boxing, do you mean why am I competing? Or do you mean quite literally why am I boxing and I get confused on it. I couldn’t possibly care less what the ruleset is and never in my life could have. I’ve heard MMA fighters only fight where there’s places like elbows, I wouldn’t know. I wouldn’t know what jurisdiction’s rules. If you could do this or you can’t. And I would never look into it. And I would never care if I was gonna tuck and run.
“I would not do that if I tuck and run from a challenge— which by the way, I don’t know what I would do and I would never come and face you guys with, ’cause in my life that has never happened.”
Sonnen Still Ponders ‘The Spider’
Unlike Silva vs. Sonnen parts one and two, the UFC Middleweight Championship isn’t on the line this time around. The previous defeats to Silva placed a big chip on Sonnen’s shoulder and has weighed heavily on his fighting career as a whole, with Sonnen often being regarded as one of the biggest what if’s in MMA. This stems from Sonnen’s first fight with Silva where he would’ve defeated Silva to become the new champion, had he not been caught in a hail mary submission in the final round.
“The Bad Guy” has surely not forgot and hopes to finally settle the score with Silva more than a decade later.
“It’s going to be a fight, and the number one thing that you’re inspired to do is damage. He is going to try to hurt me. I’m gonna try to hurt him. Now I have my own personal reasons against Anderson, and I would imagine they’re not even, I think about that man for the last 12 years, every single day at some point. I don’t think he thinks about me. My experience with Anderson is the single most important piece of my career. Whether that means something to you or not, it was my career, it means something to me and without him, it doesn’t work.
“I don’t know that he would have to say the same thing. He had other guys that he fought for titles. He had other guys that were main events. He had other pay-per-views that did really well. There’s not a reason that he would have to think about me every day. I don’t suggest that there is. I’m just letting you know I have thought about him. So when the opportunity presents itself, I will stop you right there. You don’t have to tell me what the rules are. As soon as you use the word ‘fight’, I’m in.”
Sonnen Explains Why He’s Fighting Silva Again: “You Either Get That Or You Don’t”
Storylines and rulesets aside, Chael Sonnen says fighting Anderson Silva all comes down to a certain code shared between men, one that will see these UFC rivals tangle for the rest of time or at least until a commission deems they’re unable to compete…
“My wife asked me, I said, what are you doing? I said, honey, there’s a code, and you’ll understand or you won’t,” Sonnen added. “But, I only have one way to explain this. I’m going to explain to that. And whatever happens, happens though, don’t ask me a follow-up question. Here’s the answer to your question. If there is ever a time that I am breathing air on this earth and that man wants to fight me, I must fight him. Not everybody. Not anybody. I don’t have to walk around and defend my honor. If that man ever asks me to fight him, I must fight him. And you either get that or you don’t.”
