5 UFC rematches that didn't live up to the original

Jon Jones' rematch with Alexander Gustafsson couldn't match up to their first clash

At UFC 275 this weekend, strawweight stars Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Weili Zhang are set to face off in a rematch of arguably the greatest women’s MMA fight of all time, and will be hoping to live up to the standards of that clash.

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While Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk will be hoping their rematch is as good as the original, over the years we’ve seen plenty of UFC rematches that failed to do so.

Naturally, this doesn’t tend to be the fault of the fighters or the matchmakers, as usually, it’s simply a case that the magic of the first fight just couldn’t be replicated – but it’s nevertheless disappointing when it happens.

Here are five UFC rematches that failed to live up to the original.

#5. Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen – UFC 148

Anderson Silva's second bout with Chael Sonnen was far less dramatic than their first

When Anderson Silva put his UFC middleweight title on the line against top contender Chael Sonnen in the summer of 2010, few fans were giving Sonnen a shot at dethroning ‘The Spider’. However, they were quickly proven wrong.

‘The American Gangster’ lived up to every bit of the trash he’d talked, and essentially beat Silva down, both on the feet and on the ground, only to fall victim to a last-gasp fifth-round triangle choke in one of the most dramatic finishes in MMA history.

It was an absolute no-brainer that the promotion would look to book a rematch between the two rivals, particularly as it was clear that there was still bad blood between them. So once Sonnen had returned from a suspension for a positive drug test and won a couple of fights, he was quickly given another shot at ‘The Spider’.

The hype for the rematch was understandably off the charts, with Dana White even claiming that he expected the promotion’s pay-per-view buyrate to be shattered.

Unfortunately, not only did that prediction turn out to be incorrect, but the fight could not live up to the standard of the original, too.

Sonnen tried his best to take the fight to Silva again and did win the first round, but in the second, he made a fatal error in attempting a spinning backfist. Silva dodged the shot, causing Sonnen to stumble, and that was all the opening that ‘The Spider’ needed.

Anderson Silva's defense was as good as his offense. He had extraordinary head movement.

This was the beginning of the end for Chael Sonnen in the rematch. Silva ducked a spinning back fist attempt and finished a compromised Sonnen. https://t.co/XDpvUx78Md

He smashed the challenger with a knee to the chest, and then quickly unloaded on him with a series of strikes to stop the bout, defending his title again. Sure, Silva’s performance was genuinely excellent, but the fight didn’t come close to the wild drama of their first meeting.