Anderson Silva believes he owed it to his people to defeat Chael Sonnen in Brazil

The frenzied discussion of the title fight originally set for UFC 147 continued yesterday as Dana White revealed that he had to spend 75 minutes persuading his champion Anderson Silva to defend the belt outside of Brazil. The fight has now been rescheduled to take place in Las Vegas as the headlining bout at the ultra-stacked UFC 148 card July 7. The longtime champ Silva, however, wanted the chance to have revenge on Chael Sonnen in his home country, whose people feel so disrespected and insulted by Sonnen’s constant trash talk.

White’s talk with Silva caused a delay to the press conference where Chael Sonnen again had many a choice word to say about Silva and Brazil. Certainly White was aiming to have Silva’s request fulfilled, as the proposed location of Stadium Engenhao in Rio de Janeiro could have held up to 80,000 fans for the company’s largest event ever. However, as previously reported, a UN conference that same week ultimately put an end those plans. White was concerned about the lack of hotel rooms, something that Las Vegas will have no shortage of come fight week. According to fightersonlymag.com, Silva responded with a quick, forceful comment about Sonnen’s disrespectful nature:

“He deserves to taught a lesson here, I owe this to my people”

To which Dana White told him bluntly,

“If there is no way how to make the event in a stadium, it has to be in Las Vegas. I want you go to Las Vegas and perform well, make it a great fight.”

Silva decided to step to the task, putting an end to the conference with the following:

“If it has to be like this, I will beat this guy wherever. He deserves a lesson.”

In the end, White was able to talk down his marquee fighter with promises of huge payday by guaranteeing Silva a portion of the pay-per-view proceeds. Expect the hype and buildup to rival this past weekend’s Jon Jones–Rashad Evans grudge match, if not exceed it. What are your thoughts on a fight that may be the most anticipated rematch of all time? Can you think of a bigger one at a previous UFC? Will Sonnen’s wrestling come through in the clutch for him again, or will Silva destroy his arch-nemesis?

Further Reading: Chael Sonnen: Not one day of Anderson Silva’s life has he been the best fighter on the planet