UFC 117: Can Chael Sonnen Bring Out the Best Anderson Silva?

When an athlete is so talented that they feel they have no equal, do they transcend the quest for competition? When a fighter is so lethal that he can not help but destroy all they touch, what challenges can he look to?  How does he test himself?

The cream rises to the top—it has always been that way. But every so often even the cream has to look up and appreciate the type of greatness that can’t be caged in by such a term that describes them as the very best.

Looking down at the cream of the crop sit the once in a lifetime athletes, the defining and gleaming examples of the possible legendary success that can be found like diamonds in the rough.  They have no equal, and everyone knows it.

There is no better example of this than Anderson “The Spider” Silva.

This is a man who has had a run in the UFC that defies history, logic, and from time to time, it has defied the entire sport and the expectations it has of a champion.

Silva has been on one of the most dominant runs this sport has ever seen, save for a few even more legendary fighters.  Yet while on that run, the peaks and valleys of his performances have opened the door for much criticism.

There is no doubt what so ever after watching Silva absolutely decimate Rich Franklin twice that he is quite simply one of the most dangerous fighters MMA has ever seen.

He showed a level of talent against the legendary Franklin that left many with their jaws on the floor, and left many questions as to who would pose a challenge for him.

It turns out to this day the only challenge he has seen was the fight found in the heart and mind of former Pride MW Champ Dan Henderson.  But even Hendo could only steal one round before becoming ensnared in “The Spider’s” web.

Silva has finished plenty of fighters. He has done his job regardless of who his opponent was. The point is that Silva fights based on what appears to be respect for his opponents' abilities, or, in some cases, a lack of respect.

He rises to the occasion more than he dictates what the occasion may hold.  He is the champion and expects someone to challenge him for his belt or a win over him.  That has yet to come even close to happening.

His resume looks much better on paper than it does in reputation among those looking on.  For those people who expect so much from him, when they get less than expected, it leaves a burn that is not quickly forgotten.

Wins over Travis Lutter and Nate Marquardt were legitimate wins over decent contenders at the time.  Yet it is the nature of his victories over guys like Patrick Cote, Thales Leites, and Demian Maia that leave a bad taste in the mouth of the MMA community.

Smashing Rich Franklin and choking out Dan Henderson were impressive victories. Watching Silva do Muhammad Ali impressions for 25 minutes against Demian Maia leaves quite a bit to be desired, especially to some poor soul who dropped 50 bucks to watch it happen. God forbid that same fan paid hundreds of dollars to see it happen live.

The thing is, as mentioned before, Silva believes it is the job of the challenger to challenge him.  People can point to Maia, or Leites’ poor performances just as much as they can point to Silva for not putting them away when they turned up as lame contenders.

Bottom line—if they had engaged more so than they did the fights would have gone much differently.  Yet the same can be said for Silva as well.  But they never threatened him or  posed a problem, so Silva went along.

He may be the very best there is, but it takes a strong fighter to bring the best out of him.  Looking back at his lackluster bouts with some questionable challengers, it is not a difficult concept to buy into.

It's not like they put him in there with true threats to his title.  He was fighting the line of competitors while he and the UFC prayed that one of them could contend.  Wishful thinking on everyone's part.

Even in the wildest of underdog predictions, was there really ever any hope that Patrick Cote would do what Franklin and Hendo couldn't?  Quite simply, not all challengers were up for the task of pushing Anderson Silva.

It is in his fights against Franklin, Hendo, and at light heavyweight where the fight fan has seen the true Anderson Silva.  The threat of fighters like Ace and Hendo put Silva into seek and destroy mode.

Guys like that brought the best of of him because Silva knew what they were capable of. He knew Franklin could be dangerous and he got a taste of what Hendo could do to him.  

He didn't like it and he smashed them.

He knew when he entered a cage with Forrest Griffin that he was squaring off with a former LHW champ, and he fought as such.  He probably didn't see much of a threat in James Irvin, but didn't want to find out about his one punch KO power and put him away quickly at LHW.

When a guy doesn't pose a threat, Silva waits and rides out the storm.  When a guy looks to pose a challenge or threat to Silva, he crushes opponents with an ease unlike this sport has ever seen.

With his next bout lurking just around the corner at UFC 117 against former WEC MW standout Chael Sonnen, the questions are starting to surface once again.

Which Anderson Silva will show up?  Will the fans get their money’s worth this time out or will it be more showboating and clowning on another unworthy opponent?  Can Chael Sonnen bring the best out of Anderson Silva?

Listening to Sonnen tell it, the answer is yes.  In fact, he thinks and will readily tell anyone who will listen that he is about to bring the worst out of Silva.  Sonnen believes, perhaps more so than any challenger yet, that he can dethrone “The Spider”.

His campaign against Silva, in a war of words, is pretty comical and entertaining to say the least. However, Sonnen has proven lately that his word game is not just hot air.  After recently derailing the very impressive run of Nate Marquardt with authority, no one can count Chael out moving forward.

He has lost once to Demian Maia since coming to the UFC.  Other than that, he has been putting the hurt on guys that reside somewhere in that MW cream of the crop mentioned earlier.  Dan Miller and Yushin Okami join Marquardt in the “where the hell did this guy come from” clubhouse.

Sonnen has been ground and pounding guys with a relentless pace and a deep belief in his own abilities.  He assures all of MMA it wont stop with Silva when they meet at UFC 117.

His talent is undeniable and he is game with great cardio and a world class wrestling pedigree.  World class wrestling as it turns out is what it took to win the only round against Silva ever.  So who knows.

To be honest, it doesn't really matter, either.  Fight fans don't care if Sonnen can beat Silva and they don't care if he can win a round.  What they really want to see is Sonnen drag Silva into a fight.

If Sonnen can do half as well as he expects to, he will threaten the champion.  If he can threaten the champion, then he will do what only a hand full of UFC fighters have been able to do and that is make him fight like he is capable of.

If that happens, one has to imagine fight fans will accept any outcome that may come to pass. Be it another impressive Silva win, or even a passing of the guard to Sonnen, as long as these two engage with bad intentions, the fans will surely accept it.

And for the record, if Sonnen can bring the best out of Silva and actually compete with him, then he will have already won; it has been a long time since a man can say they accomplished that feat.

Either way, here is to hoping Sonnen is in the fighting shape his mouth is writing checks for, and here is to hoping he can bring it to Silva next month so the UFC can return to the days of a competitive MW division.

This article was originally published at Hurtsbad.com.