Sonnen seeks strong finishing kick

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So much of the focus entering tonight’s mega-rematch at the MGM Grand Garden has been on how close Chael Sonnen nearly came to wrestling the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title from longtime champ Anderson Silva in 2010.

Sonnen remembers dominating the action, but he hasn’t seen much of his handiwork from that evening.

In fact, Sonnen said he hadn’t seen the fight in its entirety until he watched it with host Jon Anik for a UFC-produced TV show to promote UFC 148.

In the first fight, Sonnen pounded Silva for more than 4½ rounds before losing by a near-miraculous triangle choke with less than two minutes remaining.

Sonnen says he tries not to think about how close he came to becoming champion.

“(I’ve thought about that night) very little,” he said. “I’ve blocked it from my bubble. I think it’s a flaw. I think I’d be better off if I could sit and watch those things and learn from them, but I just can’t.”

The numbers backing up Sonnen’s dominance that night are startling.

He landed more significant strikes in the first round (31) than Silva had taken in any previous UFC fight. Silva had been hit 166 times in his previous 11 UFC fights but was hit with a UFC-record 320 strikes that night while landing 64.

Silva was on his back for 19:50 of the fight, which lasted just more than 23 minutes. That figure was twice as long as all of Silva’s previous UFC opponents had put him in that position combined.

But, as Silva likes to point out, he found a way to win and retain the belt, and that is the only fact from the first fight that matters.

It all adds up to one of the most anticipated rematches in UFC history headlining a card tonight that is expected to bring in a live gate of about $6.5 million, breaking the company’s U.S. record of $5.4 million at UFC 66 in December 2006. UFC president Dana White is confident the event will surpass 1 million pay-per-view buys.

Sonnen isn’t sure if the intense interest is the result of what happened in the cage in the first bout or the public relations work he has done since.

What he does sound convinced of is that he will find a way to walk out of the MGM Grand tonight with the belt.

“All I can tell you is the Chael of today could beat up the Chael of two years ago, and that Chael stomped this bum,” he said.

Sonnen brilliantly has transformed himself from a conservative, mild-mannered suburban Portlander into a caricatured hype machine in a successful effort to become a mixed martial arts superstar.

In a rare moment of candor from Sonnen, he admits how difficult a challenge he faces in duplicating a great performance against a man who has won all 14 fights since entering the UFC, including nine straight title defenses, and looked almost untouchable except for that one night.

“A lot of people ask me, ‘What did you do wrong?’ If we’re being fair here, it’s a two-man sport. It was a lot of what he did right,” Sonnen said. “It was a really hard night, whether I dominated him or not.

“I’m going to dominate him again, but it’s still going to be a hard night.”

The blockbuster main event has garnered all the attention, but it doesn’t stand alone on what has become one of the organization’s biggest weekends each year.

Tito Ortiz will fight for the final time in his storied career, as he completes a trilogy against Las Vegan Forrest Griffin. Each owns a split decision over the other. Ortiz will become the eighth fighter inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame this morning, hours before wrapping up his career.

The pay-per-view card, airing live at 7 p.m., also features a middleweight bout between Cung Le and former title challenger Patrick Cote. Chad Mendes, who suffered his first career loss to featherweight champion Jose Aldo in his last fight, will look to rebound against Cody McKenzie.

Also, Demian Maia will make his welterweight debut against Dong Hyun Kim.

Four fights from the preliminary card will air live on FX (Cable 24) at 5 p.m. One fight will be untelevised but stream live at 4:30 on the UFC’s Facebook page.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.