Sonnen thinks he and Maia can beat Silva

Speaking in an interview with USA Today, Sonnen said:

“Oh, sure. There's a few guys that are in the hunt and that'll be looked at for main-event style matches. Thales Leites has been given his opportunity, so I imagine you'd have to look at him. Of course, the champion is Anderson.”

“In my opinion, these are the two best guys fighting right now, me and Maia. I think whoever wins this fight is the best middleweight in the UFC. I think I'm better than Anderson and I think Demian's better than Anderson; I think we would both beat him. For my money, this is the fight to figure out who's the best. But who's the best and who's the champion are two different deals.”

“How do you get a title shot? There's not a specific architecture in place, so to put yourself in position for those opportunities, beating a guy like Demian would certainly do it. And I think you have to give Thales Leites a lot of accommodations as well; he's won the appropriate matches to find himself in the finals. So there you go.”

No way he beats Silva. Bisbing maybe. Maia I could see if the fight went his way.

[Llamafighter]

I think it's unwise to talk smack about beating Silva like Chael is doing here. I think he's building hype which is smart. but saying you can beat the champ and beating the champ are two different things.

Originally Posted by Josh

No way he beats Silva. Bisbing maybe. Maia I could see if the fight went his way.

Exactly.

If Maia can not get KOed, he will tool Anderson on the ground.
Of course, that is a big if, seeing how the fight starts standing and all.

But I've said since Maia came to the UFC that he has a huge shot at beating Anderson.
His "the art of BJJ" dvd set is incredible, and he has the titles to prove it

GSP vs Maia at 185, then whoever wins gets Silva

Originally Posted by Hughes_GOAT

GSP vs Maia at 185, then whoever wins gets Silva

Sounds good to me. Call Joe Silva.

i always get his secretary

1. Isn't this in the wrong section? Lol jk goat it happens.

2. Im not sure leites deserves a shot after he "won" due to 2 fouls and 1 of which was questionable. I don't see this fight going well for lietes.

Maia is great on the ground but anderson has a blackbelt in bjj so he should be able to hold his own if it goes there. But anderson is so dangerous though its hard to bet against him.

Originally Posted by Hughes_GOAT

i always get his secretary

He was on the other line with me. We were finalizing the UFC 100 card. He needed a little clarification on a couple of the fights.

Originally Posted by lc87

1. Isn't this in the wrong section? Lol jk goat it happens.

2. Im not sure leites deserves a shot after he "won" due to 2 fouls and 1 of which was questionable. I don't see this fight going well for lietes.

Maia is great on the ground but anderson has a blackbelt in bjj so he should be able to hold his own if it goes there. But anderson is so dangerous though its hard to bet against him.

i actually put it here because i thought Sonnen wasn't back in the UFC.

185 is a weak division...Silva needs to move up or someone needs to move down. GSP moving up would work too.