Sonnen, Silva and Belfort – A Weird Ménage a Trois
By Christopher Jester
Months ago, Chael Sonnen said that Wanderlei Silva would not make it to their bout. He called it, and once again Sonnen looks like a soothsayer. Beyond craziness has ensued with this proposed bout from the beginning. From Sonnen blasting Brazilians years ago which lead up to this heated rivalry to the brawl on the TUF set to now Silva “running” out the backdoor to escape a drug test. It all led up to Silva being removed from his fight opposite Sonnen. But an even weirder turn was placing Vitor Belfort into the mix against Sonnen. And with a middleweight title shot on the line? Craziness is the nicest word this writer can say about the whole ordeal.
UFC 175 lost Silva this week because he failed to submit an application to fight in Nevada. But to make matters worse is that he failed to agree to a random drug test. On UFC Tonight, Chael Sonnen told his co-host Kenny Florian, “He ran from the test, Kenny, and I don’t mean that figuratively, I mean they came to his gym and he literally ran. He goes out of a side door, they go after him saying his name”.
Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Robert Bennett stated that Silva had enough time to apply for a license but opted not to do so. As bad as this all seems on paper, it looks worse for the future UFC career of Wanderlei Silva. To apparently duck or avoid (whichever word you want to use) a fight against Chael Sonnen can ruin a career; let alone one that was already winding down. This ordeal with NSAC is not going away as most likely the commission will find every opportunity to test Silva from here on out.
With Silva out, Vitor Belfort steps in. With his own myriad of issues with the NSAC, Belfort is not a shoe-in as the official opponent until after a hearing on June 17th. Belfort faces so many issues post-ban of testosterone replacement therapy. Just as Sonnen did a month or so ago as he attempted to elect Rich Franklin as his opponent with the belief that Silva would pull out of the fight. In my opinion the UFC should be calling other contenders like Luke Rockhold and Jacare Souza. The NSAC will likely think long and hard on whether to accept the application of Belfort. While the mystery results of Belfort’s February surprise drug test is still looming and unrevealed, it could potentially deter his and the UFC plans if this comes back to bite him.
When you think of all of the absurdity that precedes this, what makes it even more ludicrous is that the proposed bout is a no. 1 contenders match for the middleweight championship. What?! This is a title eliminator bout? Yeah, it doesn’t get any crazier than that. Well if you think about it, Chael Sonnen getting another opportunity for a contenders match after a loss in the light-heavyweight division is just as crazy (although, Dana White later told Fighters Only “I’m not saying he’ll get a title shot, but it will be big for him”). But it is not like Sonnen hasn’t been there before. After losing to Anderson Silva he received a shot at Jon Jones’ title at 205lbs. As entertaining as Sonnen is, how many title shots can one man receive off losses and across multiple divisions?
There seems to be no end to this soap opera of outlandishness. Silva runs from taking a piss, and Belfort past history may deflate those overstuffed muscles. Chael Sonnen on the other hand is sitting back like a king as he got one man to step out of the fight, and another one who can make him a potential contender. You can’t make this up. And nope, this is not the WWE. It’s the UFC, but you couldn’t tell if you simply read the headlines. That is why this has to be one of the greatest and weirdest storylines in MMA history.
Wanderlei Silva issued the following video statement in regards to being pulled off the UFC 175 card:
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