Silva vs. Sonnen 2: Is Chael Sonnen Doomed to Be the Middleweight Jon Fitch?

At UFC 148, the biggest event in UFC history, Chael Sonnen was once again defeated by his arch nemesis, Anderson Silva. 

Despite dominating the UFC middleweight champion for roughly 23 minutes at their first meeting at UFC 117, Sonnen only managed to last six minutes and 55 seconds with "The Spider" the second time around. 

The second loss had to be even more disappointing than the first for "The American Gangster," as he dominated the first round with his grappling, arguably doing enough to earn a 10-8 round. 

However, Sonnen's demise came when he inexplicably went for a spinning back...strike of some kind early in the second round. 

Not only did he miss, but the former All-American collegiate wrestler fell over with his back against the cage, making him easy prey for the champion. 

A vicious knee to the solar plexus and a couple rounds of ground and pound later, referee Yves Lavigne decided to step in and call it a fight. 

Once again, Sonnen was winning the fight decisively, but made a huge mistake that a fighter like Silva was not going to overlook. 

After challenging for the title twice (and coming up short), what's next for Chael P. Sonnen?

In all likelihood, not fighting anyone relevant in the middleweight division. Why? Remember Jon Fitch?

He challenged UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre for the belt at UFC 87, where he was absolutely dominated by the champion. 

Nevertheless, Fitch went the distance and won an incredible 16 fights in a row before getting a title shot. 

Afterwards, Fitch rattled off five more wins over names such as Mike Pierce, Paulo Thiago and Thiago Alves. However, he was never seriously considered for a title shot again during this time, since he's been labeled a boring wrestler.

After a draw with BJ Penn and flash KO loss to Johny Hendricks, Fitch is now all but guaranteed to never fight for the belt at 170 pounds again. 

So what does this have to do with Chael Sonnen? Everything. 

In the Octagon, Sonnen and Fitch are pretty similar fighters. Both are wrestlers who typically win by grinding out 15-minute decisions. 

In fact, Sonnen actually has a higher percentage of decision wins than Fitch in his career. In 27 professional wins, Sonnen saw the fight come down to the judge's scorecards 16 times (59 percent).

In 23 pro victories for Fitch, 13 have come by way of decision (56 percent).

To be fair, Sonnen has much more active ground and pound than Fitch and has been hunting for submissions much more actively in his past three fights. 

Still, if you take away the amazing pre-fight trash talk, Sonnen is widely considered another boring wrestler. 

After being humbled by Silva for a second time, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for Sonnen to keep talking the way he used to. 

He made a claim to be the best fighter the world has to offer at 185 pounds and came up short twice.

From here, Sonnen will win a couple more fights over the likes of the Wanderlei Silvas, Rich Franklins and Chris Lebens of the division, but he will eventually lose again to a top-five contender again.

Until that next loss comes, Sonnen will be regulated to middleweight purgatory, never to be involved in a legitimate title conversation ever again.