There have undoubtedly been some famous and infamous rivalries in mixed martial arts history, but none may top the main event at UFC 148.
Anderson Silva is arguably the greatest mixed martial artist the sport has ever seen, but much like Muhammad Ali had Joe Frazier in boxing, he's found his most heated rival in Chael Sonnen.
The two middleweights have become synonymous with one another ever since Sonnen first called the champion out when appearing on MMAWeekly Radio in January 2010 and the following two years have been nothing short of epic in terms of rivalries in MMA.
For most of the last two years, Sonnen went unopposed as he routinely bashed, poked and prodded at the UFC's top middleweight. Even when Sonnen was defeated by Silva in their original fight at UFC 117, the fire wasn't extinguished.
If anything the flames only burned hotter.
That was until Monday when Anderson Silva joined the UFC 148 media conference call and unloaded two years worth of frustration and vented with the brunt of his attacks landing squarely on the shoulders of one Chael P. Sonnen.
The heated confrontation over the phone led to the obvious question for UFC president Dana White: is this the greatest rivalry the UFC or MMA has ever seen?
“Yep,” White responded. “There's been some bad ones. You had Rampage and Rashad, and things like that, but I think what makes this one so crazy is I've promoted every Anderson Silva fight in the UFC, and I've never heard him talk even remotely close like this.
