UFC 136 Results: Odds of Chael Sonnen Actually Beating Anderson Silva

On Saturday, Chael Sonnen defeated Brian Stann in emphatic fashion and then proceeded to call out his self-made arch-rival Anderson Silva.

In overcoming Stann, Sonnen showed that not only can he finish a fight, but he can do it with a little pizzazz as well—locking in an arm-triangle choke, forcing Stann to tap out at 3:51 of the second round.

Sonnen, in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan had this to say about Silva:

"Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck!"

Sonnen went a step further with an interview with Ariel Helwani citing Silva as being pusillanimous.

Regardless to say, this win now puts Sonnen in the No. 1 spot as contender to the Silva’s UFC middleweight crown or at least one fight away from throwing down with the champ.

The question is, in an eventual re-match with Silva, can Sonnen replicate the same strategy he employed in their first fight—constant takedowns and controlling the fight on the ground, eventuating in Sonnen being victorious over Silva?

If there is anyone in the middleweight division who can give Silva a run for his money, then that person is Sonnen.

With this victory the odds may now seem to be stacked in favour of Sonnen upsetting the natural order of things at the helm of the middleweight division.

Those odds might be justified, but I don’t believe for one minute that Sonnen is capable of or will unseat Silva as king of the middleweight division, whenever these two combatants meet in the Octagon.

In their first fight Sonnen had the measure of Silva—Silva on the other hand had put in a lacklustre performance, the cause of which was due to a cracked rib that Silva had suffered in the first round of their encounter.

Silva will be both healthy and better prepared the next time they meet, and I’m sure that he’ll find a way past Sonnen’s elite wrestling skills to retain his title.

I will posit that no matter how good Sonnen may have looked in his win over Stan, this is one fight Sonnen won’t win.