The UFC today officially announced “UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen,” which will take place on Aug. 7 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland. Headlining the event will be the much-anticipated middleweight title bout between champion Anderson Silva and number one contender Chael Sonnen.
Sonnen, who became the number one contender by defeating Dan Miller, Yushin Okami and Nate Marquardt, says he’s been calling out Silva for years.
“He’s been ducking me for four years,” Sonnen said of the UFC middleweight champion. “This fight is a large part about the title and a large part about him. We’re not going to be friends. He’s not my kind of guy. But this fight is also to prove a point to the rest of the guys in the division. One guy has challenged him in four years and it’s been me.”
Silva says he’s not worried about the trash talk. “Chael is a very good fighter,” Silva said. “I am training very hard with my team, and Minotauro Nogueira and Lyoto Machida, and I will be ready. This is a title fight and I expect him to be ready because I know I will be. If the guy wants to talk that’s fine. It’s a lot different inside the Octagon.”
In addition to the much-anticipated main event, the UFC also confirmed the co-main event for the event, which will feature Ricardo Almeida seeking revenge against Matt Hughes for his defeat of Renzo Gracie at UFC 112. Almeida is a Renzo Gracie black belt in jiu-jitsu. Hughes was recently inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
A lightweight bout between Clay Guida and Rafael dos Anjos was also announced. Guida has been victorious in four of his last six fights, while dos Anjos has won three consecutive bouts.
Unconfirmed bouts include Roy Nelson vs. Junior dos Santos, Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves and Thiago Silva vs. Tim Boetsch.
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UFC 117 Official, Silva vs. Sonnen Title Bout Announced