Potential Silva-Sonnen Rematch Will 'Probably' Be Held in Brazil Soccer Stadium

[No More Sorrow]

A Chael Sonnen win over Mark Munoz at UFC on FOX later this month might just be a gift and a curse for "the gangster from West Linn, OR."

That's because UFC president Dana White confirmed to FUEL TV that he is looking to book the much-anticipated Silva vs. Sonnen rematch in Brazil, the target of many of Sonnen's recent verbal attacks.

"If we can get Chael Sonnen versus Anderson Silva," White said at a taping of UFC Tonight, "that will probably be held in Brazil in a stadium. Everyone in the world will want to watch that."

Rumors of a stadium show in Sao Paulo have been swirling for months, with the open-air Morumbi Stadium being a leading candidate to host the event. Depending on how it's configured, that particular soccer stadium could hold close to 80,000 people for a UFC card. The organization's current attendance record is 55,724 fans for UFC 129 in April 2011.

Sonnen was supposed to attend UFC 134 in Brazil to corner Yushin Okami, until he was asked by one of Okami's sponsors to stay at home after receiving several death threats due to his anti-Brazil comments.

"It got a little bit out of hand," Sonnen said on The MMA Hour. "The level of death threats got a little bit high. I reached 10 death threats, and I think No. 7 was actually serious. By the looks of his eyes, it looked like he'd stabbed somebody before."

Considering their heated rivalry, a Silva-Sonnen rematch would obviously be a of great interest to the Brazilian fans, plus the show could also feature the finals of TUF: Brazil, which would include a battle between coaches Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort.

Sonnen vs. Munoz, which is being billed as No. 1 middleweight contender's fight, takes place Jan. 28, live on FOX. The UFC will return to Brazil two weeks earlier for UFC 142 on Jan. 14 from the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

By this it seems like Sonnen will be fighting Silva if he does defeat Munoz in a few weeks rather than what he was saying before about a fight with GSP or Jones. If indeed it's going to be held in Brazil, fully expect police escorts for Sonnen.

 

[Slim]

If they are expecting it to be in something that huge... they are going to need some real marquee fights for it. Wandy vs. Vitor would be good to help but they need something else. Something bigger. Probably Little Nog fighting some high caliber opponent but not sure who. But to sell that thing out... I dunno... I mean yeah the Sonnen/Silva II rematch would be huge due to all the stuff Sonnen has been talking and everything but to sell a stadium like that out... not sure how.

 

[No More Sorrow]

Yeah i was also reading that they want to do Football stadiums in the US as well. Kind of crazy, but i think they could get it done with the right fights like you said.

 

[Slim]

Yeah but with the absence of Brock that is a big gap cause he did always bring in a crowd.

 

[No More Sorrow]

True, he was like their top draw. Regardless though, it seems like they're going to try out doing shows in bigger arenas in 2012 and what not so we'll see what happens from it.

 

[Slim]

Gotta hope for a healthy GSP to sell out in Canada. GSP is guaranteed to help in Canada. Bisping in England. They have plenty of top Brazilians for Brazil. So who do they have for the US?

 

[No More Sorrow]

I have no idea, i was gonna say Dos Santos but he's from Brazil as well.

 

[Slim]

heh we're screw... wait we have Jon Jones. WOOHOO!

 

[No More Sorrow]

Forgot about him, haha.

Rampage is a pretty good draw as well.

 

[Slim]

Oh yeah he is... specially since he did do A-team that only helped enhance his presence.

 

[No More Sorrow]

Basically.

Kind of forgot he fights Bader next month until i just mentioned his name.

 

[The Cork]

Real bad feeling about this.

They better get tons of security, Brazilan fans are wild as hell and we already know Sonnen can cause riots with his comments.

I hope the fight happens though.

 

[Troy]

Smart move to book a soccer stadium if this fight actually happens. They should easily be able to break the previous UFC attendance record with this rematch since all the Brazilian fans will want to see Silva defeat Sonnen again. Hopefully security will be sufficient enough especially if Sonnen manages to win, I don't like his chances of getting out of the stadium let alone the country.

 

[No More Sorrow]

Yeah you can bet Sonnen will have police escort to this, every where he goes. Like Cork said Brazilian fans are crazy, they don't give a fuck.