Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen: Can They Back Up Their Trash Talk at UFC 148?

Unlike UFC 117 both Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva enter their rematch at UFC 148 with an abundance of trash talk.

In 2010 Silva and Sonnen met in Oakland, Calif., and Sonnen had to back up months of calling out Silva and hyping the fight.

Lucky for Sonnen, he did just that, with a one-sided beatdown for four and a half rounds.

While Silva would ultimately walk away as the victor following his miraculous triangle choke with less than two minutes remaining in the fight, he refrained from getting into any verbal exchanges with the pound-for-pound best trash talker in the business.

That has changed this time around.

As Sonnen did at UFC 117, Silva will have to back up his conference-call tirade in the most anticipated rematch in UFC history. During the call, Silva unleashed his frustrations in a way that UFC fans had never seen before from the champion.

"This is going to be violent. I'm going to make sure that every one of his teeth are broken, that his arms are broken and his legs are broken," Silva said.

But now, the time for talk is over. Inside the Octagon tonight, it'll be Silva and Sonnen, and everything that has been said will be irrelevant for both fighters.

But which fighter will back up his words?

Because Sonnen backed up his insults so well at UFC 117, people listened when he talked trash a second time. Though he might have been spewing hot garbage, fans knew that, though his words may be nonsensical, he can back them up come fight night.

But will Silva make good on his threats, or will Sonnen's mind games have a negative impact on "The Spider" tonight?

It's impossible to know either way, but if both fighters can make this bout a competitive one, they will have both backed up their words.

Sonnen has the style to defeat Silva, as he showed in the first fight, so a back-and-forth fight shouldn't take anything away from the champion. Silva will have to fight hard to keep Sonnen off of him, and if he connects with a big shot, he could finally silence his greatest adversary.

On the other hand, Sonnen's style is made to give Silva fits (again).

And with a victory tonight, Sonnen will have backed up everything he's ever said.