Jono of all Trades: UFC 148 Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II

Tonight is the rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen for the UFC Middleweight Championship. Needless to say, I've been looking forward to this for years. Technically, yes, these are both really good fighters and from an athletic stand point, it will be good. Anderson Silva is viewed by most, and myself, as the pound for pound best UFC fighter. But there are more reasons why this fight will be great.

Two years ago in August of 2010, Sonnen and Silva met for the first time. Silva was destroying opponents. It was obvious that no one was on his level. Then Sonnen came in and pounded on Silva for four and a half rounds. Sonnen would have easily won the belt if it had gone to decision. However, credit to Silva, he caught Sonnen in a triangle armbar submission causing Sonnen to tap and Silva to retain the belt. This was the closest anyone has ever come to beating Silva.

There was talk that Silva was fighting with broken ribs. Regardless, it was an impressive fight on both parts. But now we come to UFC 148. Sonnen gets his rematch and it will be interesting to see how round two goes between these fighters. I think we will see a much different Anderson Silva this time around. He won't be worked the same way he did before. He won't be injured (hopefully), and he would have had time to actually study Chael Sonnen. Silva is definitely more of an martial artist where as Sonnen is more of a brawler. Though Sonnen is probably in better shape than he was two years ago, he probably isn't that much smarter. Silva knows now that he is human. He knows he can make mistakes. He will learn from them too. The only thing that could certainly secure a win for Sonnen is if Silva comes in fighting too emotionally and throwing off his game plan.

Some highlights from the pre-fight press conference:

...and the stare down. You don't think Anderson Silva wants to beat his face in?

The main reason why this fight is getting so much publicity as well, is because Sonnen is an idiot. A very entertaining one at that! He is a self-publicist (but denies it); he runs his mouth quite a bit. There doesn't seem to be a filter. He is the best smack talker in the UFC. His comments are usually laughable, either because he is quick witted or what he says is completely preposterous. But you know what, the man is doing a great job because now he will for the next couple years always be a headliner or top card fight because he's entertaining. People want to watch him fight, even though he hasn't won a belt yet. The guy's doing a great job at making sure he keeps his job, and gets paid well to do it. And honestly, he is a good fighter as well. Most of the time, he can back up his talk, when his talk is actually about fighting.

It's going to be a good fight either way. Both fighters have a chance to win, but I would say Silva is too good of an athlete. Anderson would win 3 out of every 4 fights with Sonnen. I'm predicting a third round submission victory for Anderson. First round to Sonnen because Silva will be fighting emotionally. Second round to Silva because he'll fight smart.

Here are some other videos for you to enjoy the antics of Chael Sonnen

From the mean streets of West Linn, Oregon. Pure Gold!!!