Chael Sonnen: Why He Doesn't Deserve a Rematch with Anderson Silva

Contrary to the general consensus, Chael Sonnen doesn’t deserve a rematch with Anderson Silva, even though the fight was too close for comfort for the latter.

Since Sonnen’s return to the UFC fold, he’s berated Silva at every given opportunity.

His most recent verbal attack on “The Spider” was a winner-takes-all call-out immediately after his victory over Brian Stann at UFC 136 return to the octagon:

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“Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck. Super Bowl weekend … the biggest rematch in the history of the sport. I’m calling you out, Silva, but we’re upping the stakes. I beat you, you leave the division. You beat me, I’ll leave the UFC forever.”

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Sonnen, the great rhetorician that he is, never misses a beat, let alone an opportunity to spew his shameful comments towards Silva whilst at the same time trying his best to convince whomever might listen that he’s the one and only worthy challenger to Silva’s UFC middleweight crown.

He could be right, but like any fighter who's fallen short in their quest for UFC gold, he needs to take a step back and join the queue.

Substance Abuse

Sonnen’s been out of title contention since he was suspended for testing positive for a banned substance.

His elevated testosterone level obviously gave him an advantage in the fight, and even though Silva had suffered an injury to his ribs, Sonnen still couldn’t finish the job.

To some, Sonnen (26-11-1, MMA) has paid his dues, and his 15 months out of the game is punishment enough.

Still, it’s debatable.

The bottom line is this: Sonnen tried to cheat his way to victory and failed woefully.

Silva, who was at the wrong end of Sonnen’s beat down, likely hasn’t taken kindly to finding out that the thrashing he endured was at the hands of a cheat.

Sonnen is lucky he’s still an employee of UFC.

Defeating Brian Stann

Sonnen’s win over Brian Stann at UFC 136 shouldn’t give him carte blanche to suddenly think that it’s his God-given right to be entitled to a title shot thereafter.

His current ranking in the middleweight division shouldn’t have any bearing on his No. 1 contendership to the Silva’s title.

There are other middleweights who have quietly gone about their businesses, notching up wins here and there whilst he was on his self-imposed furlough.

Mark Munoz comes to mind, as does Demian Maia.

Missed Opportunity

At UFC 117, for almost the entirety of the match, Sonnen put an absolute clinic on The Spider.

Sonnen was on the verge of defeating the indomitable Silva (31-4 MMA) and shocking the MMA world in the process, as well.

Be that as it may, the fact remains that Sonnen left the octagon as the loser whilst Silva, though bruised and battered, left the arena knowing he was still the middleweight champ.

And all the woulda's, shoulda's and coulda’s in the world won’t change that fact, and neither will the redemptive trash talk to cover up his glaring errors which were apparent for all to see.

“In what parallel universe can you punch a man 300 times, he wraps his legs around your head for eight seconds and they declare him the winner?!”

Sonnen lost the bout unfair but square (via triangle armbar) and at this point in time doesn’t deserve an immediate shot at Silva’s title.

Maybe he will one or two fights down the line, but that should be as good as it gets for the self-proclaimed “American Gangster.”

I can opine all I want, but the buck stops with UFC President Dana White.