UFC 148

UFC 148 is this Saturday night and the long awaited rematch between middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen is finally here.

 

In the first fight Sonnen was within 2 minutes of shocking the world. That was until he made one crucial mistake that resulted in him tapping out to a triangle choke. Sonnen dominated Silva for four plus rounds. His utilization of ground and pound had Silva confused and looking for answers.  For over five years we had never seen him in that position before.

 

Now one thing that must be asked is, did Anderson Silva underestimate Chael Sonnen or is father time slowly creeping up on him? It would be easy to say Silva thought Sonnen was a push over and didn't train as hard.  However, at the age of 37, it would be foolish to say Anderson hasn't lost a step. If that is the case he sure didn’t show it against Vitor Belfort;  he looked as fast as he did in any previous fight.  Same can be said for his fight against Yushin Okami.

 

So do we just chalk it up to saying styles make fights and Anderson just didn’t like being on his back for most of the fight? What if we just said that Chael Sonnen did fail his post fight drug test? Does Sonnen dominate Silva the way he did in their first fight without the elevated testosterone levels found in his drug test? Can we take a look at his physique after leaving the WEC?

 

His body changed like night and day; his body fat percentage reduced tremendously. Plain and simple—the guy went from having an average looking body to being beyond cut with added mass. And this all happened after the age of 32???? Red flag anyone????? It’s one thing to change a diet, but it’s another to add muscle after a certain age. For those who may not know, testosterone levels of an adult male over the age of 30 lowers each year.

If you look at Sonnen’s mediocre career, you will see that prior to his current stint in the UFC, he really didn’t have many quality wins.  In fact, it’s fair to say he was in the WEC for a reason—he wasn’t very good. Why would Dana White employ the best fighters in the world, but not Chael Sonnen?

 

Knowing he would get another opportunity in the UFC after the WEC was cannibalized, perhaps Sonnen thought getting a competitive advantage may prolong his MMA career on a national stage. Now I’m sure the question can be asked,  if he was using for the last few years, why was he only caught once and how hasn’t he tested positive since?  It’s simple—guys get caught because they make mistakes.  Alistar Overeem is a prime example of this.  Most times fighters who use (not saying all fighters use) will cycle off in time to pass drug tests.  This issue plagues all sports—baseball being the biggest culprit.

Now we learn Sonnen has been undergoing testosterone replacement therapy. The Nevada State athletic commission just voted to give Sonnen an exemption that will allow him to continue the treatment with restrictions up until the fight. How is this not an advantage? This whole thing just screams BS!

 

When you think about it, it’s a shame the judges were blind for Sonnen’s fight with Michael Bisping, because he shouldn’t even be getting this re-match with Anderson Silva. It was amazing as to how many people who loathe Bisping and his personality, went out of their way to say he was robbed.  Well, that may have been karma finally coming back to get him for that shady decision several years ago when he beat Matt Hamill.

 

Did the thought ever cross anyone’s mind that the decision of the Sonnen/Bisping fight made the UFC that much more money by giving us a Silva/Sonnen re-match? I’m just saying—things that make ya go hmmmm. If the NBA has already had one official admit games can be fixed, would it be impossible to fix a decision in the UFC?

 

I think Anderson Silva can lose 10 steps and still beat a clean Chael Sonnen. I will be stunned if this fight doesn’t end early, and in devastating fashion. Hopefully then Sonnen will go away quietly and end his own hype machine.  He always has the option to go on the juice and become a pro wrestler.  Hell, he does cut one hell of a promo.  I’m sure Vince McMahon would love to use him to make money.