Will Chael Sonnen get a rematch against Anderson Silva?
The dust hadn’t even settled after Saturday’s UFC 117 event, put on by the Ultimate Fighting Championships, that people had begun discussing the possibility of rematch of the fight they just witnessed, of middleweight champion Anderson Silva defending his belt against challenger Chael Sonnen.
Sonnen stunned the world by utterly dominating the long-time champion, considered the most dominant in UFC history, through four and a half rounds. None of the judges had a single round for Silva by the close of the fourth round, with the cards reading 40-36, 40-35 and 40-34 for Sonnen. But Silva snatched victory away from the jaws of defeat with a triangle choke and arm bar with just minutes left in the fight.
But seeing the champ dominated so thoroughly still has left fans calling for another shot for Sonnen. Sonnen’s gutsy performance saw Silva take more punishment in one fight than in his previous 11 UFC fights combined.
The counter-argument
Fans of Silva, or opponents of a rematch, can justly point out one thing: Silva did beat Sonnen fair and square. There was no controversial decision or referee error, and Sonnen had his chance and lost, making any rematch questionable.
Silva’s manager Ed Soares seemed to be firmly in that camp after the fight, speaking to fighthype.com
“I mean, I don't necessarily think an immediate rematch is legitimate. It's not like he won by decision. You got submitted, man. You were on top of him for 23 minutes of the fight and you couldn't finish him. Anderson got a few bumps and bruises, but let's be realistic, you're on a guy 23 minutes and you couldn't finish him? Why should he get a rematch?” said Soares.
Precedent
The most notable precedent for a rematch of a defeated challenger was when Mauricio “Shogun” Rua was given an immediate rematch after his loss to 205lb champ Lyoto Machida after UFC 104. That fight though had a controversial decision, with many commentators feeling Rua should have been given the victory. UFC president Dana White agreed, and booked the rematch, which Shogun won in the first round to collect the title.
Dominant champions can be given immediate rematches as well, as was the case when B.J Penn, a longtime lightweight phenom, lost his belt in a close match to Frankie Edgar at UFC 112. Penn was immediately given a rematch, and will have the first crack at Edgar at UFC 118. Once again that decision though was slightly controversial, though White said he thought Edgar had won fair and square.
Maybe the most important precedent though was the kind of rematch given to Ken Shamrock after losing a second time to Tito Ortiz. The match, pitting the over-the-hill legend against the younger heavy favourite Ortiz, was hardly ever going to be a competitive affair, and saw Ortiz quickly despatch Shamrock, but it was felt by some the match was stopped too quickly by the referee. Despite the result of the third match being a foregone conclusion, White booked the rematch, mainly for one reason: it was a fight fans wanted to see, with the fight doing huge numbers, and the rematch also drew attention.
That may be the deciding factor here. Early indications from White were that UFC 117 did very good numbers, and if UFC 117 did the numbers it’s been hinting to do, then it’ll be very difficult to avoid rematching Sonnen at some point in the future. On the other hand, with Silva out for some time with a rib injury, the UFC may decide to put Sonnen in against Vitor Belfort (who had previously been promised the next crack at the title) or Rich Franklin, with either fight being winnable for Sonnen to give him another title shot. Sonnen’s popularity is now such that they could headline a pay per view with him against Belfort. Either way, with his incredible performance on Saturday, Sonnen should be at most one fight away from a rematch, and if Silva’s injuries aren’t as bad as they seem, he may be able to step in immediately.
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