You can thank Silva's weak wrestling for this "rivalry".
Let's be honest here, Cheal Sonnen is not a great fighter, not even close. The guy has 14 losses for a reason. It wouldn't even be a stretch to call him a low tier fighter considering he has a losing record at LHW. The thing is that his biggest strength was Silva's biggest weakness, thus he was able to almost beat Anderson, and then build up his persona around almost beating Silva, being the "champ", holding a fake belt, etc.
Anderson Silva made Chael Sonnen what he is today. No elite fighter should ever struggle with a Sonnen caliber fighter. It just happens that MW used to have a non well rounded champion. Sure it was great for business and all. I'm sure lot's of kids were very excited about the rematch. Fight wise though, it was mediocre at best. It wasn't elite vs. elite. No Ali vs. Foreman or Fedor vs. Nog. Just a great fighter with a sticking weakness vs. a low tier fighter who matched up well with him, nothing else.
Chael Sonnen was ranked number two in the middleweight divison for years, has 6 top 10 wins, and gave Anderson all he could handle. He's a very, very good fighter.
And Michael Bisping was ranked #4 MW, without ever beating a top fighter :icon_idea
Yes, MW used to be terrible. Sonnen was just another fighter enjoying the benefits of that.
You can thank Silva's weak wrestling for this "rivalry".
Let's be honest here, Cheal Sonnen is not a great fighter, not even close. The guy has 14 losses for a reason. It wouldn't even be a stretch to call him a low tier fighter considering he has a losing record at LHW. The thing is that his biggest strength was Silva's biggest weakness, thus he was able to almost beat Anderson, and then build up his persona around almost beating Silva, being the "champ", holding a fake belt, etc.
Anderson Silva made Chael Sonnen what he is today. No elite fighter should ever struggle with a Sonnen caliber fighter. It just happens that MW used to have a non well rounded champion. Sure it was great for business and all. I'm sure lot's of kids were very excited about the rematch. Fight wise though, it was mediocre at best. It wasn't elite vs. elite. No Ali vs. Foreman or Fedor vs. Nog. Just a great fighter with a sticking weakness vs. a low tier fighter who matched up well with him, nothing else.
Your bitterness is showing.
Fun Fact: Silva/Sonnen 2 was the first million buy ppv MMA card that didn't feature Brock Lesnar.
Except Chael beat multiple top 10 guys, unlike Bisping.
Sounds like you're looking for any illogical justification to hate on Chael
Your point?
And Michael Bisping was ranked #4 MW, without ever beating a top fighter :icon_idea
Yes, MW used to be terrible. Sonnen was just another fighter enjoying the benefits of that.