TOP 5
WHO: CHAEL SONNEN
WHERE: WHEREVER MONEY TALKS THE LOUDEST
Silva and Chael Sonnen were
slated to fight following the
filming of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil
- The circumstances surrounding
their fight is ultimately what brought
both men down, and what saw both
eventually released from their contracts
with the UFC. The two men had an
intense — and storied rivalry — with
Sonnen consistently delivering verbal
knockouts to Silva, who was often left
confused and angry.
There were many altercations
between the two, including their
infamous brawl on set of The Ultimate
Fighter that saw Silva injured and
unable to compete against Sonnen in
their scheduled bout. Failure to submit
documents, a drug test refusal and then
a drug test failure later and we’re pretty
much at 2016. The last three years
haven’t been the best for either man
when it comes to professional fighting.
Although Sonnen retired, many
expect that if the right offer came along
he would still fight — money talks after
all. It’s unlikely that a fight between
these two would take place on United
States soil, so it’s likely a bout between
the pair would take place in whatever
promotion from around the world
had the most money to throw at the
two rivals. Wherever it did take place,
though, no matter which country it
was, the promotion that parts wayswith the big money could make one of
the most talked about fights of the year.
If these two did ever meet in a
professional bout, it’s likely that
Silva’s emotions would get the best
of him. His recklessness combined
with his desire to rip Sonnen’s head
off would more than likely play into
Sonnen’s favour. Win, lose, or draw,
Sonnen wouldn’t get back into the
cage without the price being right,
so if this was being shopped around,
expect whoever did end up making
this huge investment to make the
most of the pre-fight confrontations
between the two fighters. Sonnen
knows how to sell a fight, and in this
case it’d probably end up being at
Silva’s expense.WHY:
44 | FIGHT AUSTRALIA fightaustralia.com.au