What to do with Chael Sonnen

Ever since Chael Sonnen challenged Anderson Silva in his post-fight interview in UFC 136 Chael has been all over the news. Before I propose my plan on what to do with him let’s look at the facts;

Chael Sonnen is without a doubt the clear cut #2 middleweight in the world, and he has been Anderson Silva’s toughest challenge to date, but he has only won one fight since losing to Anderson. At the same time Anderson is lacking a challenge right now having just taken Yushin Okami out in under 8 minutes. There are two schools of thought when it comes to Chael, one side thinks that he deserves a shot at Anderson because he “beat” Anderson for 4 rounds, and is the #2 MW, the other group thinks he should get in the back of the line, and get more wins and “earn” his shot at the belt.

Anderson Silva’s camp thinks Chael doesn’t deserve another shot just yet and should have to do more in order to earn another shot at Anderson, which is to be fair a very good point. How many fighters have gotten title shots in the UFC after just one win (excluding former champions)? Off the top of my head I can’t think of any. I understand that a Silva vs. Sonnen fight would do big numbers, but has Chael really earned a second title shot? Does the UFC want to create a precedent where only exciting fighters or fighters that can sell fights get title shots over more deserving fighters?

In my mind there is a simple solution to all of this. Have Chael Sonnen fight Vitor Belfort in the New Year’s card in a number one contender fight.

Think about it, Chael and Vitor clearly don’t like each other, and have directed more than a few hostile tweets and verbal jabs at each other, they have both lost to Anderson in recent history and they both want a rematch. Right now Anderson is still dealing with a shoulder injury and probably won’t be ready until February of 2012. Vitor has been looking to fight on the New Years card, and Chael Sonnen suffered no damage in the Stann fight and would be able to fight in a little over 2 months.

This way both Chael and Vitor get another very legitimate win on their resume and get a more credible title shot. Yes a Sonnen vs. Silva fight is very appealing, and the UFC might not want to risk that by having Chael lose, but don’t forget that the first Silva vs. Belfort fight sold even more PPV’s than the Sonnen fight. Vitor and Silva also don’t like each other, and to be fair that fight was too short to really see what Vitor could do against Anderson. To be honest I was more excited and nervous about the Silva vs. Belfort fight than I was about the Sonnen vs. Silva fight, especially after their faceoff at the weigh-ins. It’s a win-win situation; the UFC gets a great co-main event for Brock vs. Overeem in Sonnen vs. Belfort. If Sonnen wins then we can say that he does deserve the shot at Anderson, and if Belfort knocks out Sonnen, then who is going to deny his place as the second best middleweight in the world?

The chances of this happening might be unlikely, but Anderson does hold allot of power in the UFC, and if he declines to fight Chael until he gets more wins then this would be the perfect scenario.

So, thoughts? Does this seem like a good idea, or am I crazy in not wanting to see a Silva vs. Sonnen fight right away?

As always I appreciate all feedback and comments whether positive or negative