Anderson Silva discloses the real reason behind Chael Sonnen's fake arm tattoo

Anderson Silva has disclosed the real reason behind former archrival Chael Sonnen getting his face and torso tattooed on his arm. During his lengthy reign as the UFC middleweight champion, 'The Spider' defended his 185-pound belt against Sonnen twice.

Their first clash transpired at UFC 117 in August 2010. It witnessed Sonnen dominate the majority of their five-round fight before falling victim to Silva's triangle armbar in the end.

The Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen rematch took place at UFC 148 in July 2012. Silva dominantly won the fight via second-round TKO and notched another successful title defense, which was his reign's final successful title defense.

The Silva-Sonnen rivalry was replete with extremely personal jibes exchanged between them. Nevertheless, in recent years, the two MMA greats seem to have buried the hatchet.

Earlier this week, Sonnen put forth an Instagram post featuring a few photographs of himself getting a tattoo of Silva's face and torso on his right arm. Given their storied history and well-known MMA feud, the post went viral.

A couple of days later, i.e. on Thursday (November 16, 2023), a biopic titled 'Anderson Spider Silva' premiered on Paramount+. The mini-series is based on the legendary former UFC champion's life.

The Paramount+ Instagram handle has now posted a video unraveling why Sonnen got a tattoo of Silva on his arm. The video shows 'The American Gangster' arriving at 'The Spider's' house and them watching the biopic together.

They'd agreed beforehand that if Sonnen were to get emotional while watching it, he'd tattoo Silva's face on his shoulder. The retired American MMA fighter did get emotional and got the tattoo to keep his word, thereby also helping promote the biopic.

It's believed that the tattoo isn't a permanent one. Furthermore, Sonnen, who's known for his wit and unparalleled trash-talking prowess, also tattooed an infamous line below the tattoo of Silva's face and torso, which read: "You absolutely s**k!"

It was a line that he'd used against Silva in an iconic post-fight callout back in the day. The duo laughed about it and proceeded to promote the biopic.

Watch them shed light upon the Chael Sonnen arm tattoo in the video below:

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What's next for former UFC stars Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen?

Anderson Silva's most recent MMA bout was a fourth-round TKO defeat against Uriah Hall at a UFC Fight Night card in October 2020. Silva announced his retirement from MMA after the matchup. However, he later hinted that he could compete in another MMA bout, likely in Japan, before hanging up the gloves for good.

Following his UFC departure in late 2020, the 48-year-old Anderson Silva has competed in multiple boxing matches, notably facing YouTuber/boxer Jake Paul in October 2022.

While Anderson Silva continues to test himself in combat sports, former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight title challenger Chael Sonnen retired from MMA in June 2019. In recent years, the 46-year-old Sonnen has etched himself as a well-known combat sports analyst, primarily breaking down MMA content.