UFC 147: Silva vs. Franklin II

[Troy]

Hopefully they get it done, would be a great atmosphere with 50k people cheering Silva and booing Sonnen. UFC should change things up and allow both fighters to do pre fight promos in the Octagon just before the square off.

 

[No More Sorrow]

: Chael cutting a promo in front of a crowd of Brazilians probably wouldn't be a smart move on his behalf but it would be funny as hell to see it.

 

[Troy]

Would be even better if they give him a translator that has to translate everything he says bit by bit. Would get the crowd nicely worked up before the mainevent.

 

[No More Sorrow]

Imagine what he's going to say in front of them if he does actually win the title from Anderson.

 

[No More Sorrow]

Here are the early wagering lines for Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen (Courtesy of BetUS):

Favorite (-) Underdog (+)

Anderson Silva -300

Chael Sonnen +220

Gambling 101:

Bet $300 on Silva and he wins, you win $100

Bet $100 on Sonnen and he wins, you win $220

Just for the hell of it, and because I feel like taking a gamble I'm going to put money on Chael.

 

[Ryan]

You never know, the fight could change on the drop of a dime, and you win big. That's partly why I love MMA so much.

 

[No More Sorrow]

I'm still kind of hoping Chael will win, but just have the feeling Anderson is going to do some weird shit and win the fight similar to how he won their first fight.

 

[No More Sorrow]

Here's some recent footage of Anderson training for this fight in Brazil.

[video=youtube;j2rof5sCtz8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=j2rof5sCtz8[/video]

 

[Edgeomatic]

I would prefer Sonnen win this. So tired of the Anderson Silva show.

 

[Ryan]

I would like to see the belt on a new fighter, but Silva is the best of the best, so he deserves it. What's for sure is that whoever beats him is definitely deserving because he's basically run through every opponent to date except for Sonnen. I still think Sonnen is just too cocky though. It makes for a good show, but I wouldn't want such a cocky champion.

In that video of Silva training his striking is just so different in terms of form. It's almost laughable that I'm even commenting on the striking of the best fighter in the world right now, but his style is just so different from someone like Jon Jones who really goes for that full extension. Silva's reach is good too, but at least in that trainer video he gets in close for every hit. I've never even noticed that until watching that video. Obviously it works for him though.

 

[Troy]

Not too fussed with the result. Silva has been an awesome champion and is one of the best fighters of all time so I would be happy to see him successfully defend his title again. On the other hand Sonnen winning in Brazil in front of tens of thousands of Brazilian fans is something that I want to see to see what the crowd does and how Sonnen reacts.

 

[Ryan]

I would LOVE to see how the crowd reacts to Sonnen winning, but I'd hate to see him win especially after he was busted for using PEDs last time. Someone like that shouldn't even get another shot at the title.

 

[No More Sorrow]

Alright, it's been confirmed this show is going to take place in a 80K Seat Soccer stadium in Brazil.

“This thing’s going to have over 80,000 people are going to be at this event down there.”

While White didn’t go into specifics regarding the venue, the most likely landing spot appears to be the Estadio Olimpico Joao Havelange also known as Engenhao.

The Engenhao will be a host stadium for the 2016 Summer Olympics, which will also land in Brazil, and for soccer matches generally holds around 45,000 people. The stadium is home to the Botafogo football club in Rio as well.

For the upcoming Olympic games, the stadium is expected to fit closer to 60,000 fans.

Some have speculated that the Maracana could be the stadium White was speaking about due to its immense size and ability to pack in over 80,000 fans, but the only problem is it’s currently closed for renovations until 2013.

While the numbers don’t match up with White’s estimations, even with nearly 60,000 fans that will still break all previous records for the biggest event in UFC history. The current record stands with UFC 129 held in Toronto in 2011 with more than 55,000 fans packing into the Rogers Centre.

 

[Ryan]

That event is going to be absolutely insane. The Brazilians get so passionate about sports that 60k of them is like having 100k Americans there.

 

[Ben]

Has the fight actually been made official yet. Last I heard Anderson was still saying he was injured. Need a official announcement with June right around the corner. I'm sure Sonnen will camp for Silva regardless, but this is prob the biggest match the UFC can do right now, time to get the hype train going.