Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva love one another now. Certain, Uncle Chael will say it with much more testosterone, and that’s as a result of he admits to loving a few of that juice however that beef is over now!
Throughout the principle occasion of UFC 117 again in 2010, Sonnen took the combat to Silva, dominating the then-middleweight champion for a complete 20 minutes – a feat that was unseen so far. Whereas Sonnen finally misplaced the bout within the fifth, he uncovered Silva, beating the Brazilian striker even on the toes earlier than the latter locked up a triangle choke.
That was the primary of three bouts that will later stem out of their rivalry. Nevertheless, now in 2024, Sonnen has conquered his demons, deeming that the feud with Silva is simply water below the bridge, lastly burying the hatchet for good.
Chatting with Tim Welch on his YouTube channel, the ‘Dangerous Man’ opened up. He mentioned,
“I’ve had this actually great point that occurred to me which is that I buried the hatchet with Anderson Silva which I didn’t know was potential. I assumed I used to be going to go for the remainder of my life.”
Now for the unversed, Sonnen vs Silva again within the day was the modern-day equal of Khabib vs Conor. Whereas the eventualities and skills of the fighters could differ, the real animosity between the 2 was an enormous USP.
Credit: Imago
A brash cocky but expert fighter at one finish in opposition to a masterful champion striker- the storyline was unparalleled and couple this together with Sonnen’s notorious smack discuss and the fandom bought at their first critically heated rivalry since Randy Couture vs Chuck Liddell.
The truth is, the feelings ran excessive to such an extent that Sonnen since his feud with Silva by no means thought he might let bygones be bygones. Nevertheless because it seems, the duo’s exhibition boxing bout buried the hatchet and the as soon as bitter rivals are actually tight buddies.
As of now, Sonnen is an astute analyst of the game with the veteran giving us his knowledgeable opinion on the present happenings. And he has been actually taken with the UFC mild heavyweight champion.
Reacting to Pereira’s rise to the highest, Sonnen advised followers that he believes the Brazilian will quickly be part of the likes of Mike Tyson and Anderson Silva by way of greatness as he lauded his work.
Sonnen predicts Alex Pereira’s legendary standing
The truth is, Sonnen detailed precisely why he believes Pereira is on the trail to changing into one of the feared fighters in UFC historical past. He mentioned,
“In my lifetime, two guys—Anderson Silva and Mike Tyson—went right into a class the place that they had such concern they’d shut folks down within the locker room. Individuals would cease calling them out… Pereira goes to enter the class of Anderson Silva and Mike Tyson, changing into nearly a stoic enigma.”
The stone-faced champion certainly is a pressure to be reckoned together with his typical talk-less-do-more angle. The truth is, inside a brief span of two years, he has racked up titles – tearing by way of the competitors to defeat Israel Adesanya for the MW title and snag the LHW belt from Jiri Prochazka.
Moreover, his intimidating aura even made ‘The Czech Samurai’ imagine that the Brazilian was successful due to black magic, questioned his potential, and finally slumped in entrance of him at UFC 303.
The veteran then argued that Pereira could be addressed as “the good” if he went to heavyweight and claimed the throne, making him the corporate’s first three division champion.
