By any objective measure, Brazillian Muay Thai prodigy Anderson Silva undeniably stands way above most everybody else atop the MMA food chain. Silva has been so good, so long, that the only way they can drum up interest for him is by insinuating that he disrespects his opponents by not finishing them off quick enough. Except for maybe GSP: foes have tried more than once to stand up and strike with him, only to be felled moments later from his flurry of lethal blows - but he is also a BJJ Black Belt, something he demonstrated against Dan Henderson and Travis Lutter.

Unfortunately, as is the case when you have a singular dominant force, we're usually left with foregone conclusions and not much else. The only fighters given more than a halfway decent chance of defeating him are either in different weight classes - GSP, Rua, Machida - or different promotions - Fedor, Henderson, and up until recently, Jake Shields, who just signed with UFC. I'd have loved to see the Belfort matchup though, but neither seems healthy enough at the same time. Some people say Wanderlei Silva would be a good matchup, but I don't think so. Wanderlei is too much of a bull, and that's the kind of opponent Anderson Silva just loves to put to the ground. Still, that's an interesting matchup, but he's out of commission at the moment. Instead, we've been stuck with the likes of Forrest Griffin, who like Wanderlei is tailor made for Silva's counter-punching ways; Damien Maia (Belfort's replacement), who's a pretty good fighter by any other standard but really isn't in Silva's class... and now Chael Sonnen, a trash-talking one-dimensional fighter with incredible cardio but shaky stand-up defense, whom Anderson Silva is set to fight in UFC 117.

As entertaining as Sonnen is - and I'd watch UFC 117 even if he wasn't fighting Anderson Silva - I have grave doubts about his abilities against someone like The Spider. The problem is ,Chael Sonnen pretty much needs the fight to go to the ground to have any chance, because his standup isn't all that great. For him to be effective, he needs to score a takedown and keep Silva down, neither of which are easy feats - or safe, for that matter. Silva has been taken down - repeatedly - but very few have been able to capitalize on it, because he's also very good on his back. Silva's long legs present a serious obstacle for any ground-and-pound guy, because he can use it to extend his guard further (butterfly), or wrap it around his opponent's neck for a triangle quite easily. As it stands, all I can see Sonnen counting on is that his chin can take the initial punishment long enough for him to take the fight to the ground. And when all the pound for pound best fighter in the world needs to do is counter your takedowns... well, let's just say I don't like Sonnen's chances much.

If there's anything we've learned from the Werdum-Fedor fight though, it's that anybody can be beaten, no one's invincible. Nobody gave Werdum much of a chance either, same as Sonnen vs Silva in UFC 117. Yes, Sonnen can beat Anderson Silva - if the stars are aligned. If Silva gets sloppy. If Sonnen's chin holds out. If, if, if... too many "ifs" for comfort, though.