• UFC 134

It's unthinkable for Silva to beat Okami - Sonnen

Chael Sonnen insists he "cannot imagine" how Anderson Silva can possibly defeat Yushin Okami when the pair square off at UFC 134 this weekend.

Sonnen can speak from experience after he came within a couple of minutes of defeating the middleweight champion at UFC 117. It was undoubtedly the closest Silva has ever come to losing in 13 UFC fights.

Ahead of UFC 134 in Rio, Sonnen has been training Okami - who has a very similar style to his own. The template has been laid down by Sonnen for a wrestler to get his hands on Silva - easier said than done - and Sonnen believes Silva won't have any answers.

"Yushin is way better than Anderson. He's way stronger, he's way better on the ground, he's in much better shape, and he's hungrier," Sonnen told the ESPN UFC Podcast.

"Okami is poor, whereas Anderson just bought a $2,000,000 mansion in Los Angeles. There's no question that Yushin's a better fighter.

"But there is a lot of stuff that Anderson's good at too. Anderson's got a lot of tools and a lot of tricks, and if he can score with some of those tricks, he can wear you down pretty fast.

"It's a serious match, but I just couldn't imagine that Anderson could beat him or how he could do it."

Sonnen also ridiculed the suggestion that Silva would benefit from the home crowd in Rio, insisting the champion will be under extra pressure to put on a show.

"Home advantage is a disadvantage. There's all sorts of added pressure, nobody wants to fight at home. You get the perks of having your family and friends there, which is nice for your ego, but there's no such thing as home advantage."

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