Silva’s manager on a Sonnen rematch: ‘He had his chance and tapped’
Oct 17, 2011, 3:46 PM EDT
AP Following Chael Sonnen’s post-fight challenge to Anderson Silva, Sonnen said he did it partly because he didn’t expect Silva to take the fight. That sounded like just another jab, another incentive, a double dare, to me. It was assumed that this was the next fight on the table whether Sonnen opened his mouth or not, but comments by Ed Soares, Silva’s manager, created a sliver of doubt.
“My opinion is that he had his chance and tapped, he should go back to the end of the line” Soares said. “The same thing is true with Vitor Belfort. They’re great fighters, but they had their chance. Sonnen would make a big fight, as would Dan Henderson and Georges St. Pierre, but we should recognize that Anderson only has around 4 fights left in his career.”
And it would be a shame if one of those last remaining fights wasn’t against Sonnen. Belfort is not a fair comparison. While Belfort too has the skills and talent to beat Silva, he accomplished little to nothing in their first meeting, losing by knockout in the first round. Sonnen, as we’ve all heard a thousand times, pushed him further than anyone ever has in the UFC before his tapout in the fifth round. Certain scenarios demand rematches, and this was one of them.
When many felt Mauricio “Shogun” Rua had done enough to earn a decision win against Lyoto Machida, but it went the other way, Machida didn’t tell Shogun to take a number and head to the back of the line. Frankie Edgar didn’t consider his draw with Gray Maynard reason enough to move on to the next challenger even though he kept the belt. Poor Edgar even had to beat BJ Penn twice to prove it wasn’t a fluke.
This fight may be most comparable to Frank Mir – Brock Lesnar I. Mir won by submission, but looked to be in trouble every second up to that point. There was no chance of not seeing a rematch. When a guy beats on you for 23 minutes but loses, he’s still at the front of the line. The number one contender is, in theory, supposed to be the biggest challenge for the champion. The biggest challenge for Silva is the man who came so close to beating him.
Silva doesn’t have to accept the terms of the ultimatum (loser leaves the division or the UFC), but it would help his legacy for him to accept the fight. It gives him a chance to prove that he had an off night, injuries were bothering him, and he’s still the unbeatable. If not, we’ve got a Floyd Mayweather situation, where a dominant champion won’t take a fight with the one guy who may have the best chance to beat him. It’s not good for his image.
Silva may be able to avoid the fight, if that’s what he wants, but he won’t be able to avoid the trash talk and accusations of being a coward. There’s only one way to put that to rest. Beat Sonnen a second time, and no matter how you win, this chapter in your career will be over. At that point even Sonnen will admit you’re the better fighter, and will back off from the ‘you suck’ comments. I think.
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Previously in The Beatdown …
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Tim Gilmour is a sports reporter and author of the humor blog LetMeThinkForYou.com. His column appears on Monday. For more NBCSports.com MMA coverage, click here.
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- drmonkeyarmy - Oct 17, 2011 at 9:07 PM
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Silva might not be able to avoid being called a “coward” but will Sonnen be able to avoid being called a cheater and a criminal?
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- rjohnson2842 - Oct 18, 2011 at 2:19 PM
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hmmm, it would help his legacy if he took the fight – uugh ?? coming back from the brink of defeat is helping your legacy (sonnen), defeating the quickest and most powerful striker BY KO in the mw division is helping your legacy (vitor), defeating the last man (who technically defeated you) is helping your legacy (okami!!!). Going up in weight and defeating not one but 2 lhw is helping your legacy (irvin, griffin)… but should he eventually take the fight – yes!!! but don’t say he’s a coward: cause sonnen is the only man who has outwrestled him for consecutive rounds, don’t say he’s a coward cause he tapped chael and stopped him decisively, don’t say he’s a coward if he fights a man while injured, not knowing sonnen was amped on on juice/trt, JUST CAUSE YOU WANT TO SEE THE FIGHT AGAIN!!! CAUSE YOU HATE ON SILVA AND CHAEL IS THE CLOSEST THING TO DEFEATING HIM AS OF YET!!!
Coward, is a poor choice of words my friend!!! He’s the champ, he’s nursing an injury, he’s offended by the things sonnen has said, he’s disgusted w/ this dude to the point that he calls him a loser in every since of the word, and now the LOSER challenges himt to a rematch and he’s supposed to hurry back from injury and fight – so he won’t be perceived as a coward by whom- hmmm YOU?
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- Tim_Gilmour - Oct 21, 2011 at 1:52 AM
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I’m not calling Silva a coward, but Chael will if this fight doesn’t happen next. But I do think if he’s offended and disgusted, and perhaps rightly so, then kick the guy’s a**. If the rematch never happens, I don’t think it hurts Silva’s legacy. But, I do think it will help his legacy to beat him convincingly, or at least beat him for a second time. My one knock on Silva is that I think he should be excited to fight Sonnen again, to prove once and for all that he’s better. I think back to Chuck Liddell winning the light heavyweight title, and immediately looking to fight the guy that first beat him, then the guy who beat him second. True, those were actual losses, but he wanted to prove without a doubt there was nobody better.
