Silva vs. Sonnen II

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From MMAJunkie.com

As expected, Chael Sonnen will be the next fighter to challenge for UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva's title.

UFC president Dana White confirmed the plans on Wednesday's edition of "The Jim Rome Show."

However, no date has been selected for the long-awaited rematch because Silva currently is recovering from a shoulder injury.

"It's the fight everyone wants to see," White said. "People want to see Chael vs. Anderson. Anderson is in this position where he feels this guy is so disrespectful he doesn't want to give him a shot and everything else, but Anderson will end up fighting Chael Sonnen."

Although Silva vs. Sonnen II was always the plan, fellow contender Mark Munoz's recent shellacking of Chris Leben in this past weekend's UFC 138 main event may have cast some doubt on it. Munoz, who's now 6-1 over his past seven fights, immediately campaigned for a title shot after the second-round TKO.

After the event, though, White made it sound unlikely that Munoz would get to cut in line.

Of course, Sonnen did some campaigning of his own recently. After submitting Brian Stann at UFC 136, Sonnen made the champ a boastful proposition (though he later said the offer is off the table).

"Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck," Sonnen said at the Oct. 8 event. "Super Bowl weekend, the biggest rematch in the history of the business. I'm calling you out Silva, but we're upping the stakes.

"I beat you, (and) you leave the division. You beat me, and I will leave the UFC forever."

Sonnen isn't willing to fulfill those terms now, but he clearly got under the skin of Team Silva.

Silva (29-4 MMA, 14-0 UFC) and Sonnen (26-11-1 MMA, 5-4 UFC) first met 14 months ago at UFC 117 and delivered a fight for the ages. Sonnen dominated the action for four rounds before getting caught in a triangle choke midway through the fifth and final round. The pair was scheduled to meet again early this year, but the immediate rematch was nixed when the California State Athletic Commission suspended Sonnen for elevated levels of testosterone.

Currently, Silva is recovering from bursitis in his shoulder. Although the UFC returns to his native Brazil on Jan. 14 for UFC 142, even UFC 143 on Super Bowl weekend (Feb. 4) would be a quick turnaround after the champ's recovery and a full training camp