UFC 148 Fight Card: Anderson Silva Faces Chael Sonnen In Rematch For UFC Title

Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen battle this Saturday night in Las Vegas in one of the most anticipated rematches in UFC history.

By Ryan Bafaloukos Jul 2, 2012, 6:02am MST

The UFC returns to pay-per-view this Saturday night when UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva (29-4) battles No. 1 contender Chael Sonnen (28-11-1) for the middleweight title. The co-main event features the third fight between light heavyweight legends Tito Ortiz (17-10-1) and Forrest Griffin (18-7).

The main card of UFC 148 takes place on pay-per-view from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, additional fights can be seen on Facebook and FX.

Anderson Silva has been the most dominant champion in UFC history and is universally known as the best fighter on the planet. Silva holds the UFC record for most consecutive title defenses with nine and he currently holds a 14-fight winning streak dating back to 2006, another UFC record.

Silva is undefeated in the UFC and has finished his last three opponents, including Chael Sonnen back in their first fight in 2010.

Sonnen is currently riding a two-fight winning streak, and has one five of his last six fights. The only loss coming in 2010 when he was submitted by Silva in the fifth-round of their middleweight title bout. Sonnen was dominating Silva over the first four rounds and was two minutes away from defeating Silva, however Silva locked in a triangle-choke and forced Sonnen to tap in the final round.

Here is the full video of UFC Primetime: Silva vs. Sonnen

Video courtesy of the UFC and can be seen on Youtube or UFC.com

Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin will complete their trilogy in the co-main event of UFC 148. Ortiz and Griffin are both former UFC Light Heavyweight Champions, and Ortiz will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame prior to the fight.

Ortiz and Griffin first battled at UFC 59 in April of 2006, with Ortiz picking up the split decision victory in a fight that was named "Fight of the Year."

Griffin got his revenge in November of 2009 when he won a split decision over Ortiz at UFC 106.

Both men are coming off losses in their previous fight. Griffin was knockout by Shogun Rua at UFC 134, and Ortiz was defeated by Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 140.

Full UFC 148 Fight Card:

Main Card (PPV):

UFC Middleweight Title: Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen

Light Heavyweight: Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin

Middleweight: Cung Le vs.Patrick Cote

Welterweight: Dong Hyum Kim vs. Demian Maia

Featherweight: Chad Mendes vs. Cody McKenzie

Bantamweight: Ivan Menjivar vs. Mike Easton

Preliminary Card (FX):

Lightweight: Gleison Tibau vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Lightweight: Melvin Guillard vs. Fabricio Camoes

Middleweight: Constantinos Philippou vs. Riki Fukuda