UFC On Fox 2 Results Recap: Chael Sonnen Vs. Michael Bisping

In the co-main event of UFC on Fox 2, Chael Sonnen booked a date in a Brazilian soccer stadium by narrowly defeating a very game Michael Bisping.The scores weren't very indicative of how close the fight was, but Sonnen took all three cards with a 30-27 and two 29-28's. Both the first and second rounds were very close, with Bisping doing an excellent job of avoiding Sonnen's takedowns, and popping right back up if he did get taken down. The first round looked to be Chael's, the second Bisping's. The third round was a different story though, with Sonnen getting a takedown into side control and eventually advancing to the mount position for an extended period of time. Bisping eventually escaped and briefly got on top, but it was too late.

The winner of this bout was guaranteed a shot at Anderson Silva's UFC middleweight title, and Sonnen will now likely meet Silva in the summer (even though he insists Silva won't take the fight). It will be a rematch of their classic UFC 117 bout.

What was the high spot of this fight?

Sonnen's advance to mount and attempts to set up an arm triangle were pretty interesting. Neither of the fighters managed to catch each other with anything devastating on the feet, so that'd probably be it in my opinion.

Where do these guys go from here?

Sonnen's path looks pretty clear. He keeps saying Anderson Silva won't fight him, but Dana White has made it clear that Sonnen will be rematching Silva in a soccer stadium, likely in Sao Paulo, Brazil in the summer.I'm sure Sonnen will have plenty to say in the leadup to that proposed bout.

Bisping might have lost, but it was one of the best performances of his career and he proved that he's a legitimate top-tier middleweight. The loss was another setback on his path to a title shot, but he will definitely be staying on the top of cards and competing against top guys. He was scheduled to face Demian Maia before the big shakeup, but that bout seems like it wouldn't even be competitive now. Mark Munoz vs. Michael Bisping looks like logical booking if Munoz will be back from his injury fairly soon.

Watch it now, later or never?

Now. The bout wasn't 15 minutes of insane action or anything, but there was a lot going on and it was amazing to see Bisping do what Yushin Okami and Nate Marquardt couldn't, for two rounds at least. Plus, Chael's post-fight speech was humorous (if rehearsed).

More Bloody Elbow coverage of UFC on Fox 2 in the full entry.