Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen went toe-to-toe for the third time in their careers last night in Sao Paulo, Brazil in a five-round boxing bout that ended in a draw.
This was billed as an exhibition bout and that’s exactly how it played out as both men pulled their punches in a largely uneventful bout.
Years ago the 49-year-old Silva and 47-year-old Sonnen had a heated rivalry that was largely driven by Sonnen’s larger-than-life, motormouth persona that propelled him into two blockbuster middleweight title fights with the long-reigning champ.
However, despite his many attempts to get under Silva’s skin and a surprisingly good performance in their first title clash, Sonnen would ultimately still lose both their fights, and in the years since the two have firmly buried the hatchet and are now like a good-natured odd-couple when they are in each others company.
As such a third fight between them always seemed like an choice and more than likely just a cash-grab and publicity stunt than anything else.
At some point it was believed this might mark Silva’s retirement from combat sports, but that now seems not to be the case as he’s said it only represents his last fight in his native Brazil, as he’s currently working on another bout against an unnamed opponent in Saudi Arabia next.
And meanwhile Sonnen is also targeting another fight as he’s claimed he’ll box Jorge Masvidal later this year.
