Unbeaten Silva angered after Sonnen outburst
Chael Sonnen is the 15/8 outsider with Sky Bet
to avenge his defeat to Anderson Silva when he takes on the Brazilian
Middleweight champion at UFC 148.
Silva (2/5) sealed a hard-fought submission victory in the last
round of their first fight after Sonnen dominated the champion for four
rounds at UFC 117, which was the first time the Brazilian had displayed
any weakness inside the Octagon.Silva is unbeaten since joining the organisation and has successfully defended his crown nine times since winning the belt in 2006, a record for the division, but in their first encounter Sonnen was able to use his excellent grappling skills to nullify the Brazilian's rangey striking talents and pin the champion to floor for the majority of the bout.
It was only Silva excellent Jiu-Jitsu skills which enabled him to snare Sonnen with an armbar triangle submission to seal a dramatic late victory with just under two minutes left in the bout.
A repeat of the Silva submission win is 100/30 and looks good value considering all of Sonnen's last five defeats have come by this method.
Sonnen has tried to antagonise the usually placid Brazilian in the lead-up to the fight and seemingly succeeded in getting under Silva skin last week.
After Sonnen insulted Silva's country, family and culture in a number of interviews leading up to the fight, the champion finally letting rip last week, promising to inflict a number of injuries on the challenger.
"I'm going to make sure that every one of his teeth are broken, his arms are broken, his legs are broken," Silva said. "He's not going to be able to walk out of the Octagon by himself."
Outburst
This outburst has caused observers to question whether Silva has been rattled by Sonnen's continued barrage of abuse towards everything he holds dear, and whether this will affect his judgement in the Octagon.Since his defeat to Silva in August 2010, Sonnen has ground out notable wins over Brian Stann and Michael Bisping and is 3/1 to take a decision.
Against Stann he displayed he can employ his own submission game, but Sonnen's camp will be concerned that a motivated Silva could be very dangerous.
The Brazilian knocked out compatriot challenger Vitor Belfort with a front kick in the opening round last year and he is 100/30 to secure a first-round stoppage and silence Sonnen's tirade once and for all.
Elsewhere on the card, Tito Ortiz is 12/5 to end his UFC career with a victory over Forrest Griffin (1/3) and Demian Maia is 11/10 to defeat Dong Hyun Kim (4/6).
Source : SkySports.com
