Chael Sonnen Is a Bad Matchup for Both "The Spider" and "The Phenom"

Chael Sonnen's victory over highly regarded contender Nate Marquardt during last night's UFC 109 broadcast has completely shaken up the UFC's middleweight division. But in this situation, change is good, and the upset makes things even more exciting within the 185-lbs. kingdom.

Prior to the fight, Marquardt was viewed as the second best middleweight in the world next to the current champion Anderson Silva. Everyone and their crazy MMA-loving Grandmother expected "The Great" to completely run through the Team Quest original on his road back to a rematch with Silva. Marquardt was supposed to be too good and too powerful for Sonnen, but as it turned out just the opposite was true.

The former NCAA All-American wrestler and U.S Olympic team alternate utterly humiliated Marquardt with an overwhelming display of Octagon control. The former King of Pancrase did not have an answer for Sonnen's relentless takedowns and vicious ground and pound.

At one point in the fight, Marquardt was actually able to cut Sonnen open with an elbow from his back, but even with blood gushing through his head, the hard-nosed Republican was still able to keep the pressure on Marquardt en route to a unanimous decision victory.

The bout received fight of the night honors, and with the win Sonnen has earned a guaranteed shot at the UFC middleweight championship, after the champ defends his crown against Vitor Belfort at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi. Not only has Sonnen catapulted himself up the middleweight rankings but, due to his pre-fight antics, he has also elevated his level of marketability within the world's elite MMA organization.

While calling UFC hall of famer Mark Coleman a "bum" and stating that Silva is lying to the fans and media about not being able to speak fluent English may irritate some fans, the fact of the matter is that Sonnen has more people talking about him now than ever before in his career.

Everyone is anticipating a matchup between the Team Quest member and "The Spider," and so long as Silva is victorious against Belfort at UFC 112, that is the next big fight we will see in the middleweight division.

Before UFC 109, it would have sounded absurd (to some fans) to consider Sonnen as a legitimate threat to Silva, but after completely dominating Marquardt fans are finally giving Sonnen the credit he so rightfully deserves. Yes, Sonnen was submitted rather quickly in his UFC return against Demian Maia, but since then he has ground out decisive wins over Dan Miller, Yushin Okami, and Marquardt.

Sonnen is a bad matchup for any middleweight, and that includes both "The Spider" and "The Phenom." Whoever comes out on top at UFC 112 is going to have a difficult time dealing with the relentlessness of Sonnen.

Let's first assume that Silva successfully defends his championship with a destructive finish over Belfort. In the eyes of most observers, "The Spider" is either the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the world or the second best below Fedor Emelianenko.

The Brazilian wrecking machine has looked absolutely untouchable in all ten of his UFC victories, but the one area of his game that has been rather questionable has been his wrestling ability, or lack thereof.

Silva's Muay Thai is world-class and he's a dangerous Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under the Nogueira brothers, but Sonnen's elite wrestling pedigree doesn't bode well for Silva. Now on the other hand, Silva has faced world class wrestlers before and he has beaten them.

At UFC 82, Silva successfully defended his title against another Team Quest wrestler in Dan Henderson, and choked the former PRIDE champion out in the second round.

If you look back at that fight, though, Henderson gave Silva some trouble in the first round. If Sonnen can learn from the mistakes of Henderson, he can definitely shock the world and claim UFC gold in another huge upset.

Let us not overlook "The Phenom," though. If Belfort were to send Silva crashing down to the canvas in Abu Dhabi then he will be the one Sonnen will face for the championship. Belfort knocked out Sonnen's coach and Team Quest founder Matt Lindland at Affliction 2: Day of Reckoning, so Sonnen must be wary of Belfort's lightning fast hand-speed and thunderous knockout power.

Although as talented as Belfort is, he would be an easier draw for Sonnen than Silva would be. We've seen Belfort mentally breakdown before when the pressure is put on him. He has been overwhelmed in previous fights against powerful wrestlers in Randy Couture and the aforementioned "Hollywood" Henderson.

If Sonnen can weather Belfort's early storm, he can without doubt impose his will much like he did against Marquardt and claim the UFC middleweight championship in the process.

He may not look like much, but rest assured Chael Sonnen is a bad matchup for anyone in the middleweight division, and it would not be entirely surprising to see him with UFC gold around his waist before year's end.

This article was originally featured on fiveknuckles.com.