SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
October - 2016
21
so permanent after all. Yet a
lot has changed since Son-
nen was caught with his hand
in the PED cookie jar: a new
sheriff is in town, carrying a
badge that says USADA and
bringing with it stricter drug
testing than anything before.
And Sonnen’s greatest adver-
sary, the Nate Diaz to his Mc-
Gregor, if you will, also tested
positive for multiple banned
substances.
Which is why a third fight
against Anderson Silva makes
so much sense. Look, the Mc-
Gregor comparison isn’t per-
fect — he and Diaz each hold
a win over the other. Yet until
Chris Weidman, no one had
defeated Silva in years. He
was considered by many, if
not most, as the greatest of all
time. Then came the Weidman
fight, and its sequel, with the
horrific broken leg. The come-
back, against Nick Diaz, and
the drug test failure. A weird
fight against Michael Bisping,
which Silva thought he had
won, to the point of jumping
on the cage wall and celebrat-
ing, only to have to come back
and finish the bout, dropping
a decision.
In all that, Anderson Silva
hasn’t won in four years. Even
Sonnen has a more recent win
than that.
Yet Sonnen remains the first
man to have really pushed
him. Their fights — both in-
side and outside of the octa-
gon — entertained. There’s a
good chance they can push
each other to one last, great
performance. And it’s a fight
that would cost the UFC noth-
ing in terms of clogging a di-
vision, or sacrificing an active
contender.
Now, MMA is in the era of
nostalgia and spectacle over
sport. Bellator MMA knows
it. The UFC, and new owners
WME-IMG know it. It’s why
McGregor got to fight Diaz
again. It’s why Brock Lesnar
was the biggest draw at UFC
200. Seeing Sonnen and Silva,
on a level playing field, going
at it one last time, as equals?
That would be quite the spec-
tacle to behold. For Sonnen,
as smart a business man as
McGregor no doubt, the fight
makes sense. For Silva — well,
it’s still a fight he should win,
though at 41 and with few
bouts left in him, even that
is questionable. Yet it is still
a fight that could anchor an
event, or at least serve as a co-
main fight, and it’s a fight that
evokes the powerful pull of
nostalgia, even for a time not
that long ago.
Of course, Sonnen may never
return to the action. He’s been
through his share of personal
tragedy, and lost his new-
born daughter this past Sum-
mer. That’s a heartbreak no
one should ever have to go
through. Yet if he chooses to
return, and navigates the tu-
multuous waters of the USA-
DA testing program, then this
— Silva vs. Sonnen 3 — is the
only fight that makes sense.
