Chael Sonnen Has an Army of New Fans Behind Him in August

Since Anderson Silva's straight shot to the top of Mixed Martial Arts, you might find his upcoming fights usually create a debate throughout your friends. It's usually the same "This guy will finally do it," or "Silva is going to destroy him."

Really, those are the only two arguments.

With Chael Sonnen announced to battle Silva in August, the consensus is quite different. No longer are most people arguing over whether Silva is going to lose or not. It's more along the line of "After Anderson pulled those stunts against Maia, I really hope Chael Sonnen teaches him a lesson," for lack of better terms.

This has resulted in major fan uprising for Sonnen. Everywhere I read or talk about MMA, the respect for Sonnen has reached an all time high. A few nights ago I watched Sonnen on HDNet and found myself agreeing with everything he said. I actually want him to win, badly. Will he? Toss-up.

Chael Sonnen wasn't a favorite of mine before, but now I want him to take the title and hold it for a while. The influx in fans has to be apparent for Sonnen. Missing the shot of fighting Anderson in Abu Dhabi may have been a blessing in disguise.

After what transpired at UFC 112, Anderson Silva followers are dropping like flies and the Sonnen bandwagon has hit full speed.

Sonnen has embraced the role as the "next guy" to try and crack the nut that is Silva's impenetrable fighting style. For those who refer to the Spider as easy to beat with the right gameplan, "he's lost before" simply isn't a good enough argument.

It has to be considered that Anderson Silva is almost six years outside of a fight he actually lost. The fighter of the past and present is completely different. There is no overrating Anderson Silva, yet.

It's going to take a special strategy to beat him, and none of us know what it is until we see it.

With a bigger fanbase following, Sonnen should at least get some small boost from the crowd and fanfare when the event finally does happen. It's up in the air as to whether he will let that help him or hurt him.

The nervousness of such a spotlight could cause Sonnen to shy away from his gameplan, falling right in to Silva's hands. A gameplan like Sonnen's shouldn't be toyed with either. He can push the fight from bell to bell and bring Silva to waters he hasn't tread in before.

If Sonnen can tune out distraction and stick to his gameplan effectively, something tells me that in August we won't be seeing a typical Spider-like bout.