Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva ‘TUF: Brazil 3' coaches fight will be at light heavyweight

When Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva meet following their coaching stint on “TUF: Brazil 3,” it will be at light heavyweight.

Sonnen made the announcement Friday as part of the pre-fight show for UFC Fight Night 33 on FOX Sports 1. An exact date for the fight between Sonnen (29-13-1 MMA, 7-6 UFC) and Silva (35-12-1 MMA, 5-7 UFC) has not yet been announced, but taping for the show in Brazil has not yet started, making the traditional coaches fight not likely to take place until next summer.

Both Sonnen and Silva have fought at middleweight, and when their fight was announced, a weight class wasn’t declared with it.

Sonnen has had three straight fights at light heavyweight following his second middleweight title loss to Anderson Silva in July 2012. After that, he got a light heavyweight title shot against Jon Jones in April and lost. He rebounded with a “Submission of the Night” win over Mauricio Rua in August, but in November was stopped in the first round by Rashad Evans.

The 37-year-old Silva has not fought since a March “Fight of the Night” and “Knockout of the Night” win over Brian Stann in Japan. Injuries have kept him sidelined since then. Sonnen instead fought Evans. Silva will be looking for his first winning streak since 2006 when he was in PRIDE. As his career has started to wind down, he has been less active with just one fight in 2009, one in 2010, two in 2011, and one each in 2012 and 2013.

Sonnen and Silva have become bitter rivals in a hurry. The two engaged in a brief – and filmed – confrontation at September’s Mr. Olympia event in Las Vegas, and the fighters were quickly separated. But Silva worked in a final warning and released a video of his message.

“You are fearful,” Silva said. “You are afraid of me. And I will beat you up. I wanted to beat you up today. But I’m a professional, and I don’t fight in the street. Real men talk face to face. With me the talk is straight up. I will punch your face. It will happen soon. … The beating I will give you will be my gift to the people.”

Although the UFC briefly planned to match up the two fighters at UFC 167, the bout fell apart when Silva reportedly held out for a cut of pay-per-view revenue.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Chael Sonnen)