Anderson Silva-Chael Sonnen rematch moved to UFC 148

The long-awaited rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen will have to wait another 14 days.

Ultimate Fighting Championship announced Tuesday that the middleweight title fight will move from UFC 147 on June 23 in Brazil to UFC 148 on July 7 in Las Vegas.

"It took a lot of talking, but I finally convinced Anderson to take this fight in Las Vegas," UFC president Dana White said.

Silva was supposed to defend his title against Sonnen at Joao Havelange Stadium in Brazil, a soccer stadium that UFC officials expected could draw 100,000 fans.

"My plan was to come here, take your money and my belt back to America," Sonnen said about fighting in Brazil.

Sonnen, who plays the villain role well, has campaigned as the champion since losing to Silva at UFC 117. He has routinely called Silva a fake champion and has appeared at press events with his own version of the UFC middleweight title.

The UFC 147 card for Brazil is still in play, although no venue has been determined yet. Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort will fight that night, and UFC president Dana White said there's a possibility Jose Aldo will defend his featherweight title that night as well. White said the UFC looked at venues in Sao Paolo and Rio de Janiero.

"It's going to happen, obviously," White said. "The details just aren't worked out and we don't have a venue yet. If we're going to do it here in Brazil, it needs to be done in a huge soccer stadium."

Silva, from Curitiba, Brazil, last fought on Aug. 27, 2011, in his home country and knocked out Yushin Okami in the second round. It was the ninth consecutive title defense for Silva (29-4), who is a perfect 14-0 in his UFC career.

Silva and Sonnen put together an epic fight in August 2010 that saw Sonnen dominate the champion for four-plus rounds only for Silva to pull out a submission win in the final minutes. Since that fight, Sonnen has had his share of adversity. He tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone after the fight with Silva in Oakland, Calif., and was suspended for one year by the California State Athletic Commission. It later became an indefinite suspension for inconsistent answers during a December appeal hearing with the CSAC but was lifted on June 29, 2011. Sonnen also pleaded guilty to a money laundering charge, paid a $10,000 fine and was placed on two years' probation.

Sonnen (28-11-1) has fought twice since his suspension was lifted. He submitted Brian Stann at UFC 136 in October and then won a close decision against Michael Bisping at UFC on Fox 2 on Jan. 28.

At all points in between, Sonnen has made sure to launch verbal jabs and insults at Silva and Brazil that at times made the Oregon native come off more like a pro wrestler than a professional mixed martial artist. Sonnen now has an extra two weeks to develop new material.

"I think there's been a misunderstanding," Sonnen said Tuesday. "I don't have anything against the Brazilian people, I have something against a Brazilian sitting a few feet over there."

While Silva spoke about the disrespect Sonnen showed toward him and his family, Sonnen could be heard fake-snoring on the microphone.

"In my opinion, the best fight and fight of the century would be myself against my clone," Silva said.

UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will also defend his title at UFC 148, completing his trilogy with Urijah Faber. Cruz and Faber are coaching against each other on the current season of "The Ultimate Fighter." Also on the UFC 148 card, Rich Franklin fights Cung Le, Melvin Guillard fights Fabricio Camões, Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin, Michael Bisping vs. Tim Boetsch, plus Long Island's Costa Philippou fights Riki Fukuda.