Anderson Silva Will Face Chael Sonnen Next

Anderson Silva has his next opponent.

On Wednesday, UFC President Dana White confirmed that the UFC’s reigning middleweight champion will indeed face heated rival Chael Sonnen in a rematch of their 2010 fight at UFC 117.

During an appearance on Jim Rome’s nationally syndicated radio show, White was asked point blank if Sonnen would indeed get the rematch he’s been seeking for months.

“It’s the fight that everybody wants to see, people want to see Chael vs. Anderson. Anderson is in this position where he feels like this guy is so disrespectful he doesn’t want to give him a shot, but Anderson will end up fighting Chael Sonnen,” White confirmed.

“The answer is yes.”

That puts any debate to rest about who will get the next crack at Anderson Silva, once he’s healthy enough to return to action.

Silva’s former training partner Mark Munoz was also calling for a shot at the champion after his win in the main event of UFC 138 against Chris Leben, but it appears he’ll have to wait a little bit longer if he’s going to get a crack at the title.

Silva and Sonnen has to be one of the most heated rivalries in UFC history at this point, with the challenger continuously calling out the champion every chance he gets.

Sonnen was soundly beating Silva through four rounds in their title fight last August, but a mental lapse and bad positioning found the Oregon native stuck in a triangle choke late in the final round that ended the fight.

Silva locked up the submission and Sonnen tapped, ending his dream of becoming the UFC middleweight champion. Finally returning at UFC 136 last month, Sonnen finished Brian Stann with an arm triangle choke in the second round to reestablish himself atop the contender’s list at 185lbs.

While no date has been set for the rematch, sources have indicated to MMAWeekly.com that Silva vs. Sonnen 2 will not take place on the Super Bowl 2012 card tentatively titled UFC 143. When the fight is finally scheduled, it will be in 2012, but not in the early part of February.

Silva has been recovering from a shoulder injury suffered in his last fight against Yushin Okami, and is still not ready to return to action.

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