Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva love each other now. Sure, Uncle Chael will say it with a lot more testosterone, and that’s because he admits to loving some of that juice but that beef is over now!
During the main event of UFC 117 back in 2010, Sonnen took the fight to Silva, dominating the then-middleweight champion for a whole 20 minutes – a feat that was unseen to date. While Sonnen eventually lost the bout in the fifth, he exposed Silva, beating the Brazilian striker even on the feet before the latter locked up a triangle choke.
That was the first of three bouts that would later stem out of their rivalry. However, now in 2024, Sonnen has conquered his demons, deeming that the feud with Silva is just water under the bridge, finally burying the hatchet for good.
Speaking to Tim Welch on his YouTube channel, the ‘Bad Guy’ opened up. He said,
“I’ve had this really great thing that happened to me which is that I buried the hatchet with Anderson Silva which I did not know was possible. I thought I was going to go for the rest of my life.”
Now for the unversed, Sonnen vs Silva back in the day was the modern-day equivalent of Khabib vs Conor. While the scenarios and abilities of the fighters may differ, the genuine animosity between the two was a massive USP.
Credits: Imago
A brash cocky yet skilled fighter at one end against a masterful champion striker- the storyline was unparalleled and couple this along with Sonnen’s infamous smack talk and the fandom got at their first seriously heated rivalry since Randy Couture vs Chuck Liddell.
In fact, the emotions ran high to such an extent that Sonnen since his feud with Silva never thought he could let bygones be bygones. However as it turns out, the duo’s exhibition boxing bout buried the hatchet and the once bitter rivals are now tight buddies.
As of now, Sonnen is an astute analyst of the sport with the veteran giving us his expert opinion on the current happenings. And he has been really taken with the UFC light heavyweight champion.
Reacting to Pereira’s rise to the top, Sonnen told fans that he believes the Brazilian will soon join the likes of Mike Tyson and Anderson Silva in terms of greatness as he lauded his work.
Sonnen predicts Alex Pereira’s mythical status
In fact, Sonnen detailed exactly why he believes Pereira is on the path to becoming one of the most feared fighters in UFC history. He said,
“In my lifetime, two guys—Anderson Silva and Mike Tyson—went into a category where they had such fear they would shut people down in the locker room. People would stop calling them out… Pereira is going to enter the category of Anderson Silva and Mike Tyson, becoming almost a stoic enigma.”
The stone-faced champion indeed is a force to be reckoned with his typical talk-less-do-more attitude. In fact, within a short span of two years, he has racked up titles – tearing through the competition to defeat Israel Adesanya for the MW title and snag the LHW belt from Jiri Prochazka.
Furthermore, his intimidating aura even made ‘The Czech Samurai’ believe that the Brazilian was winning because of black magic, questioned his ability, and eventually slumped in front of him at UFC 303.
The veteran then argued that Pereira would be addressed as “the great” if he went to heavyweight and claimed the throne, making him the company’s first three division champion.
