Sonnen Silva Rematch Moved to UFC 148

[Conley]

Middleweight champion Anderson Silva will defend his title for the second time against top contender Chael Sonnen on July 7 at UFC 148 in Las Vegas, promotion president Dana White said Tuesday.

The fight was originally planned for UFC 147 on June 23 in Rio de Janeiro. But UFC has yet to secure a venue for the event, which prompted it to move the fight to the United States.

"We wanted to do the fight here (Brazil) in a soccer stadium," White said at a news conference in Rio. "First we tried Sao Paulo, then we tried to get some stuff done in Rio.

"Not only did that not work out, but we still don't have a venue for The Ultimate Fitghter (Brazil) finale. But we're still working on a venue here."

With Silva-Sonnen II now headlining UFC 148, the bantamweight title bout between champion Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber, which was expected to top the card, has been moved to co-feature status. Cruz (19-1) and Faber (26-5) have split their previous two meetings.

http://espn.go.com/mma/story/_/id/7850229/anderson-silva-vs-chael-sonnen-moved-ufc-148-las-vegas

That was an awesome fight the first time around. I wonder if Sonnen can repeat the performance without juicing.

[MMC]

Why is that what he did for the first fight?

[Conley]

Yeah, it went all five rounds last time and then it came out Sonnen was on steroids. He used the same old tired tiny balls excuse as others have.

[Foul Owl]

Not sure there is a middleweight in the UFC that can beat Silva. PFP, he's the best MMA fighter.

I never get tired of watching him rearrange Rich Franklin's face in their first fight. He beat him down like he just slept with his sister or something.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAVgNYNuus8

[Conley]

I remember that fight...Ace got destroyed. I was a lot more into UFC back in the day. Silva and Machida seemed unstoppable. Silva is getting up there in age (but not damage) and probably still is the best P4P as you said.

[MMC]

If you one knew some guy was doing that. If one was a fighter.....wouldnt one want to hurt him more. Make him suffer more. Just for juicing, and trying to get over.

[Conley]

If you one knew some guy was doing that. If one was a fighter.....wouldnt one want to hurt him more. Make him suffer more. Just for juicing, and trying to get over.

In some cases yes but these guys already hated each other. I guess it could be worse now but it was bad before that came out. Sonnen is well known for his um...personality. :laugh:

[MMC]

Yeah I miss those days of Alexi Arguello. Boxing isn't like it use to be either. Think any of these guys could hang in the Kumite.

[Conley]

It's a vicious cycle...start juicing -> balls shrink -> need juice. Hypogonadism

In his further sworn testimony, Sonnen claimed to have been previously approved for TRT by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), and to have spoken directly to NSAC's Executive Director, Keith Kizer, who allegedly informed Sonnen that he was approved for TRT and should not again disclose the treatment on the pre-bout medical disclosure statements required by NSAC.[25] Sonnen testified that he believed Keith Kizer's alleged advice about omitting his TRT on Nevada disclosure forms applied equally to the forms of other state Athletic Commissions.[25] Additionally, Sonnen testified that he had previously disclosed his condition to CSAC, specifically citing his UFC 104 bout against Yushin Okami, which took place in Los Angeles on October 24, 2009.[26] Based on the above sworn testimony, CSAC voted to re-characterize Sonnen's transgression as a failure to properly disclose a medical treatment, and correspondingly reduced his suspension from 12 to six months, ending March 2, 2011.
Keith Kizer has since publicly responded to Sonnen's testimony, stating that NSAC had never approved Sonnen for TRT, that Sonnen had never applied for the approval process, and that he "[had] never talked to Chael Sonnen in [his] life."[21][27][28] At a subsequent meeting between the UFC, Sonnen, and NSAC, Kizer confronted Sonnen about the false testimony he had given at the December 2, 2010 CSAC hearing. According to Kizer, Sonnen initially deflected Kizer's questions, but when pressed further, admitted that no such conversation had occurred, explaining that "My manager and you talked about therapeutic exemptions, and therefore, I just used the wrong word. I should have said 'my' instead of 'I.' As in 'my manager' instead of 'I'" which Kizer said was a "strange story" and a "ridiculous explanation"[29] Incidentally, Kizer has acknowledged speaking with Sonnen's manager, Matt Lindland, about TRT, but stated that the conversation concerned only the procedure itself, not the application of any particular fighter.[30]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chael_Sonnen#CSAC_Suspensions_and_Appeals

I forgot about his money laundering too. Dana should pay these guys more so they don't have to resort to crime to make ends meet. :facepalm:

[BlackAsCoal]

I remember that fight...Ace got destroyed. I was a lot more into UFC back in the day. Silva and Machida seemed unstoppable. Silva is getting up there in age (but not damage) and probably still is the best P4P as you said.

I'd say that Jon Jones is probaby the best the UFC has ever seen.