• UFC 117

'Why should Sonnen get a rematch?' asks Soares

Chael Sonnen's last five defeats have come via submission © UFC

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Anderson Silva's manager, Ed Soares, has poured scorn on the idea of an immediate rematch between the UFC middleweight champion and Chael Sonnen.

Silva held on to his title by the narrowest of margins at UFC 117, losing the first four rounds before locking on a triangle choke with less than two minutes of the fight remaining. The champion had no answer to Sonnen's wrestling all night until the late submission, leaving observers to suggest the American would be champion right now had he played things cautious in the dying embers of the bout.

A rematch would certainly be difficult to call, with Sonnen the dominant fighter in Oakland, but Silva the man with the unblemished 12-0 UFC record. Soares believes his charge should now be allowed to move on, probably to a clash with Vitor Belfort, insisting Sonnen wasted his best chance.

"I don't necessarily think an immediate rematch is legitimate," he told Fight Hype. "It's not like [Anderson] won by decision.

"You got submitted, man. You were on top of him for 23 minutes of the fight and you couldn't finish him. Anderson got a few bumps and bruises, but let's be realistic, you're on a guy 23 minutes and you couldn't finish him? Why should he get a rematch?"

Soares also shed light on Silva's rib injury, revealing The Spider could not train for five days before his seventh successful title defence.

"It was really close because the doctors didn't want him to fight. He hurt his rib last Friday in sparring. I had about 13 missed calls in a matter of 25 minutes. They were all from Anderson and he was calling me to tell me he was in pain.

"He couldn't breathe. I took him to the hospital and they X-Rayed each rib and they noticed that it was a bit swollen, but there was no fracture. They said it was bruised ribs, but the way he reacted when they touched it and how tender they were, they said it was in the muscle as well as the bruise.

"The doctors said, 'I really don't recommend that he fights'. [Anderson] was supposed to corner Mark Munoz on Sunday for his fight against [Yushin] Okami, but I made him stay at home in bed. He was just lying around and letting his ribs heal up on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday because we travelled. He didn't train again until we got to Oakland. He gave his ribs about a five-day rest."

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