Plenty of trash talk has preceded Saturday night’s rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen at UFC 148 in Las Vegas. The two met on Aug.7, 2010 when Silva successfully defended his middleweight title by submission. But until tapping out, Sonnen had fared well against the best pound-for-pound fighter in mixed martial arts.
“To say this guy is superior to me is a joke,” Sonnen said during the buildup to the pay-per-view contest. “Look at the statistics from the first fight. I out-landed him by over 200 punches. I took him down at will. I passed his guard at will and I beat him on the feet too.”
But the only meaningful statistic is who won the fight. Silva did that in the final two minutes of the fifth round when he wrapped his legs around Sonnen’s throat and caught him in a triangle choke, forcing Sonnen (28-11-1) to tap out.
In the other marquee bout, Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz will meet for the third time. Ortiz plans to retire after this fight.
Silva said he wasn’t at his best against Sonnen, blaming part of his troubles on ribs he injured during training before the fight.
“He took me down. He is good at wrestling,” Silva (29-4) said. “But I punch him in the face ‘BAP! BAP! BAP! BOOM!’ and that is it. I win. That’s it. No different from the first fight on Saturday. I win!”
In the other marquee bout, Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz will meet for the third time. Ortiz plans to retire after this fight.
****
Nonito Donaire begins his quest to become the undisputed boxing champion in the tough 122-pound division when he takes on Jeffrey Mathebula of South Africa in a unification bout on HBO from the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.
Donaire (28-1, 18 KOs) is the WBO super bantamweight champion. Mathebula (26-3-2, 14 KOs) is the IBF champion. Guillermo Rigundeaux (10-0, 8 KOs), a two-time Olympic gold medalist from Cuba, is the WBA champion, while Toshiaki Nishioka of Japan (39-4-3, 24 KOs) owns the WBC belt.
“To be a unified champion then challenge anyone out there and make it undisputed is a dream and hopefully I can make it happen,” said Donaire, who agreed to undergo random drug testing in preparation for the bout. He did so to erase any suspicions created by his involvement with BALCO founder Victor Conte.
“I wanted to show that all of the things I have done, I have done through hard work,” Donaire said. “I want to show honesty towards my fans.’’ A lot of guys have been getting caught but I just wanted to prove to my fans that the things I have done I have done by myself. I am a person that started with nothing. I am honest and I think it’s good for the sport. I hope everyone is inspired by it to prove they are legit and that it can help the sport.” Former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (39-2, 34 KOs) of Youngstown, Ohio, also fights on the HBO card, taking on New York favorite Will Rosinsky (16-1, 9 KOs) of Ozone Park.
****
Tony Thompson gets another chance to win the heavyweight championship when he gets his rematch with Wladimir Klitschko for the WBA/WBO/IBF and IBO titles today in Switzerland. EPIX will broadcast the bout and stream it live on EpixHD.com beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET. Klitschko (57-3, 50 KOs) stopped Thompson in the 11th round when they first met in July 2008 in Germany. Thompson (36-2, 24 KOs) has worked his way back to becoming the mandatory challenger again and expects a different result.
“I’m going to be the one throwing a lot of punches,” said Thompson, a Washington D.C. native. “I’m going to be the one landing most of the punches. So my willingness to fight is the biggest reason I will win.”
Klitschko has held a heavyweight title since 2006.
george.willis@nypost.com