Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva will finally take the ring again.
Bellator announced that they would make their return to Pay Per View for the first time since 2014 this summer. Bellator 180 will be the first time since Bellator 120 that the company will return to the Pay Per View format. The fight this time that will headline this big event is a long-awaited matchup that had been in the works in the UFC for years. The main event will be between the returning Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva (35-12-1 1NC) and Chael “American Gangster” Sonnen (28-15-1). This fight was originally slated to happen while both guys were in the UFC. The fight was moved multiple times due to scheduling and then the two coaching opposite of each other on The Ultimate Fighter Brazil’s third season. The hype surrounding this fight was due to the amount of trash talk that was done from Sonnen. Of course, this all got derailed due to PED suspensions for Sonnen followed by his retirement, and then Wanderlei Silva had his own PED testing issues and was at one point banned for life by NSAC for evading a tester.
Sonnen has since returned to fighting suffering a loss in his Bellator debut in January of 2017 to Tito “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Ortiz (19-12-1). Wanderlei hasn’t fought since 2013 and is now 40 years old, the one-time Pride FC champion is absolutely on the back side of his career. However, this has been Bellator’s calling card, by bringing the established names into the organization and then filling the undercard’s with their homegrown prospects. Also, this is the card rumored for the return of Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko (36-4-1) who was supposed to debut in February but due to kidney stones for his opponent Matt “Meathead” Mitrione (11-5), the fight was canceled the day of. If these two fights happen this could be a huge card for the second biggest MMA promotion in the United States. With this fight announcement and the signing of UFC Veteran, Ultimate Fighter Winner, and Top 5 Light Heavyweight Ryan “Darth” Bader (22-5) Bellator has quietly begun to build up a roster with notable names that will bring in viewers and casual MMA fans.
The return to Pay Per View is a calculated risk for the Viacom-owned company, but stacking this card with names and putting a ton of marketing and promotion behind it could lead to major success. The main event most likely will be what we expect from two guys well past their prime, but with the hatred that brewed between these two leading up to their two canceled prior meetings will most certainly make the promotion leading up to this card something to pay attention to. Chael Sonnen is one of the best trash talkers in MMA and Wanderlei will certainly take the bait as he did in the past so expect fireworks before June 24th for sure and that is exactly what Bellator wants.
