UFC 117: Dana White, Anderson and Chael Talk Middleweight Title Fight

Undefeated in the UFC and one of the most dominant champions to ever grace the Octagon, Anderson “The Spider” Silva will look to defend his belt for a record seventh consecutive time when he takes on former U.S. Olympic team alternate, two—time National Champion in Greco—Roman wrestling Chael Sonnen at UFC 117.

“Chael is a very good fighter,” Silva said in a recent press release.

“I am training very hard with my team, as well as Minotauro Nogueira and Lyoto Machida, and I will be ready. This is a title fight and I expect him to be ready because I know I will be. If the guy wants to talk that’s fine. It’s a lot different inside the Octagon.”

Riding a three fight win streak, Chael Sonnen has racked up wins over top—level UFC competition by taking out the likes of Dan Miller, Yushin Okami, and Nate Marquardt, and he wants to make it four—in—a—row by adding the name of Anderson Silva to that list.

“He’s been ducking me for four years,” Sonnen said of the UFC middleweight champion.

“This fight is a large part about the title and a large part about him. We’re not going to be friends. He’s not my kind of guy. But this fight is also to prove a point to the rest of the guys in the division. One guy has challenged him in four years and it’s been me.”

UFC President Dana White added his own thoughts on Sonnen.

“When we offered Chael Sonnen this shot at the title, he promised us one thing: that he was going to make this a fight,” said UFC President Dana White.

“I know he means it, and after beating three legit contenders in Nate Marquardt, Yushin Okami, and Dan Miller, he's definitely going to bring the best out of Anderson Silva on August 7th. And as far as Anderson is concerned, he wants to remind everybody why he’s considered the best pound—for—pound fighter in the world.”

This will be the first UFC fight card to be held in the city of Oakland, California.

“We are very excited about this event coming to Oakland and have been receiving many inquiries about the match,” said Mark Kaufman, SMG’s GM at Oracle Arena. “We anticipate seeing many more fights in years to come.”

Chael Sonnen been very vocal  leading up to this fight, saying a lot of scathing things about Silva before the match up was even booked; and he spelled out his strategy for the fight when he said that he just needs five takedowns at the start of each round to win.

Clearly looking for the fight to go to a decision, can Sonnen avoid the acerbic striking of Silva for twenty—five minutes of action?

As far as the gambling gods , they have spoken, and they have pegged “The Spider” as a 5—to—1 favorite to recapture his mojo and extend his Octagon winning streak to 12.

Silva was an 8—to—1 favorite in his scrap against Maia, so the odds makers clearly believe Sonnen is a step—up in competition for the planet’s baddest 185—pounder.

On August 7 in Oakland, one thing is for certain: Sonnen will look to take Silva down, and hold him there, while Anderson Silva will look to T(KO) or submit him.

"The Spider" can’t possibly let it go to a decision like he did with Demian Maia or Thales Leites, can he?