UFC 117: Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen - Oh, It's On!

BOOM! That just happened!!!  Anderson Silva showed up in Oakland.  No, not the Anderson Silva that ran a marathon at UFC 112 against Demian Maia. The Anderson Silva that showed up is the same one that spectacularly knocked out Chris Leben, James Irvin and Forrest Griffin.  The same Silva that choked out Dan Henderson and made Rich Franklin look silly...twice!  The same Silva that has been called the best pound for pound fighter on the planet for the pass couple of years.  In the words of John Cena, "The champ is here!"

Take a look at the picture above.  By now I am assuming you have seen it.  For those of you that haven't, let me break is down for you.  At the end of the UFC pre-fight press conference, like usual, all the fighters did their traditional stare down while the MMA media took a photo-op.  Eventually, it was time for Silva and Sonnen to have their stare down and things got serious. 

As you can see, it was epic.  Once it happened, it immediately appeared on all the MMA websites and blogs due to the record high levels of testosterone.  Those of you that saw it will probably agree with me when I say the tension in the room at that moment was uncanny.  You could feel it through your computer screen.  To make it even better, Anderson didn't stop staring at Sonnen when Dana had them turn towards the camera for some more photos 

This is a different Anderson Silva.  Never before have we seen Silva all the sudden get mean.  Sure, we have seen him stare down his opponent before, but not with these kinds of cruel intentions.  One moment, he was laughing, making jokes and answering questions wearing his Sonnen-mocking pink sweater then all the sudden, Mr. I-Am-Seriously-Going-To-Kick-The-Crap-Out-Of-You came out. 

He might not have showed it up until now, but Anderson Silva is angry, very angry.  Silva said Maia disrespected him and Anderson beat the bag out of him for three rounds.  Remember, Maia didn't say much.  Sonnen has.  

This doesn't mean Silva is definitely going to win Saturday night, but we have seen what Anderson does to the opponents he likes. Imagine what he is going to do to the opponents he really doesn't like.  Yikes. 

Photos from MMAweekly.com