Dana confirms Anderson fighting Sonnen next !!

UFC President, Dana White has confirmed that UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva will square off with Chael Sonnen in his next fight inside the octagon, warning “The Spider” if he ever fights the way he did in Abu Dhabi again he’ll cut him from the promotion.
Speaking via ESPN’s Jim Rome Is Burning, Dana said:

“We’ll find out in his next fight if I got through to him or not. He’s got a real tough fight coming up because his next fight is going to be against Chael Sonnen. And Chael Sonnen is one of these guys who’s not going to lay back, not going to do what these other guys did. When he’s been in this position when these types of fights have happened, he’s been against real good jiu jitsu guys, guys who want to get the fight to the ground. Well, Chael Sonnen is going to want to take this fight to the ground, but he’s going to double-leg him and bring him down.”

“Anderson Silva absolutely demolished Rich Franklin twice, destroyed Dan Henderson, destroyed Nate Marquardt, then moved up to 205 and destroyed the guys he fought there. Then you see fights like this and it’s just unexplainable.”

“Personally I think he was embarrassed by what he did that night. Maybe he had a mental breakdown — I don’t know what happened in the ring. All I can say is I know his next opponent isn’t going to be a guy who’s going to lay back. Chael Sonnen is going to take it to him, and hopefully we never see that again. If we do, I’ll tell you this: If he ever acts like that again in the ring, I will cut him. I don’t care if he’s the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, I don’t care if he is the middleweight champion. I will cut him, absolutely.”

Silva claimed he was disrespected by his last opponent, Demian Maia before their fight this past weekend, influencing the way he approached the fight. In Sonnen he faces one of the biggest trash-talkers in the business today, making his reaction to what is to come very interesting indeed.

"It was hard to watch…I didn’t watch the whole thing, but I tried. I saw the beginning and I saw the end. I was having plenty of conversations during it, I’m in the same boat as the rest of the world. Who cares? Nobody cares about Anderson Silva."

"He talked about retiring and nobody cared. He talked about going heavyweight and nobody cared. Now he talks about going to 205, and nobody cares! I did an autograph signing with Anderson Silva, there was a line around the building to get to my room. You could have heard a rat piss on cotton in his room! Nobody was in there. Nobody cares about Anderson Silva, it’s the hardest sell in the world. Nobody shows up to see him. If BJ Penn wasn’t on that card that building’s empty Saturday night."

"I’ve stuck my finger in this guy’s chest for 3 and a half years and he’s fought everyone in the world that isn’t named Chael Sonnen. I can’t tell you what a nuisance he is. This isn’t like some exciting thing to get to fight him, it’s just truly an annoyance, and I’m looking forward to it being over with just so I can move on and be done with the jerk."

Chael Sonnen is optimistic he'll get to fight middleweight champion Anderson Silva. But he also says he's a bit worried that it won't happen.

"I don't know if Anderson's going to accept," Sonnen told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmmajunkie.com).

UFC president Dana White on Wednesday told Jim Rome that Silva and Sonnen will face off in what would be the champions's seventh consecutive title defense. But there's a twist: after another lackluster fight against Demian Maia this past Saturday, Silva (26-4 MMA, 11-0 UFC) must deliver excitement or risk being cut from the organization.

Sonnen (24-10 MMA, 4-3 UFC) is happy to bait the champ – again – if it gets him the fight.

"The best I've seen, [Silva is] a man of his word," Sonnen said of the proposed matchup. "If I hear that he agreed, I'll feel a lot better."

The middleweight champion is clearly on the ropes after the Maia fight, which served as the main event of UFC 112. Silva spent the first two rounds dancing around the cage and the last three in a near-constant backward shuffle.

In now trademark fashion, Sonnen said it's nothing new for Silva.

"[Silva is] really good, he's really effective, and he's as unpleasing to watch as grass growing," Sonnen said. "That's why they called me to get rid of this cancer of the company."

Silva's camp declined to comment on the fight's possibility when contacted today by MMAjunkie.com.

Sonnen claims he's called out the middleweight champion for four years to no avail.

"Nobody has challenged Anderson Silva," Sonnen said. "Not one human being, not one interview. Go to what the kids call 'Google,' and prove me wrong. Show me one athlete in any weight class that's challenged this guy except me."


The West Linn, Ore., resident won a middleweight contender spot in February with a win over Nate Marquardt at UFC 109. He really perked up ears, though, when he went after Silva in the press and polarized fans with his no-nonsense talk.

"He won't even acknowledge the challenge," Sonnen said of the champion, who also holds a UFC record for most octagon wins with 11. "He just overlooks it like it's not happening. The first and only time he's ever acknowledged the challenge is on Feb. 7, 12 hours after I became the number one contender, he put out a press release stating seven different reasons he didn't think he should have to fight me."

White told Rome that Sonnen's wrestling-based style is the perfect antidote to the lackluster performances that ensue when Silva is paired with jiu-jitsu stylists.

Sonnen said it's more than that.

"What's different about me is that I acknowledge Anderson Silva's going to hit me and kick me," he said. "I acknowledge it's going to hurt a lot. But I don't care. I don't care if he hurts me. I'll go to the hospital later that night. But in that 25-minute period, he's going to be in a fight."

He said Silva's dance is just a ploy to get opponents to engage, and a ploy he's happy to follow.

"If he does it to me, it's going to work," Sonnen said. "It's going to make me angry, and I'm going to come after him. If he wants to throw those punches, by God throw them. But I'm going to walk straight through them."

A year ago, Sonnen was struggling to gain traction in the UFC after a unsuccessful run in the promotion between 2005 and 2006, but that position has changed with his recent performances.

If the fight materializes, Sonnen will work with his usual training partners at Team Quest as well as Xtreme Couture grappling coach Neil Melanson, who helped him prepare for Marquardt at UFC 109.

"He's one of those guys, you meet them very rarely but when you meet them, you hold onto them like a precious metal," Sonnen said. "He offered to help me. I don't have a lot of friends in this sport – he's one of them."

Meanwhile, Sonnen continues to campaign for the Oregon House of Representatives and is currently in a fundraising cycle. He remains no-nonsense about the biggest opportunity of his career.

"I guarantee you between now and Aug. 7, I'll get hurt," Sonnen said. "I'll get sick. I'm sure I'll get a staph infection that seems to be the new wave throughout MMA – oh, I have a staph infection, wah. When my music hits those speakers on Aug. 7, I will make that walk.

"That's a tremendous difference between me and the prima donnas who like to see their names on posters but are not real fighters."

Anderson has to entertain or he will get cut, so what he is really saying is the UFC is entertainment(WWE) and not a sport.