Maybe Chael Sonnen (27-11-1 MMA, 6-4 UFC) really hasn't signed that contract after all.
As it turns out, the planned UFC 147 rematch between Sonnen and UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva (31-4 MMA, 14-0 UFC) may not take place on June 23, as was originally announced.
UFC president Dana White on Saturday revealed, a United Nations meeting, "Rio +20" schedule for June 20-22 in Rio de Janeiro is causing a few complications that may force the company to move UFC 147 to a different date.
"A week forward, a week back – somewhere around there," White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) following Saturday's post-UFC on FUEL TV 2 press conference in Stockholm. "That's what we're trying to do."
The United Nations conference is causing two issues, White revealed. First, there is some political pressure on Rio de Janeiro's mayor is receiving some political pressure to reschedule the event while a peace-focused meeting of world leaders is in town. Second, even if the UFC elected to move forward with the show, there might not be enough hotel rooms available to house incoming visitors.
"This thing all depends on what happens with the mayor down there," White said. "The mayor is getting pressure to not hold the event at that time. Even if we can pull it off at the same time, there's a big problem with hotel rooms."
Despite the difficulties, White said Rio de Janeiro's Joao Havelange Stadium (also known as Engenhao Stadium) will host the event, regardless of when it's ultimately scheduled. With Sao Paulo bowing out of a bid to play host, White said the company simply isn't ready to try a different city at this time.
"It has to be in Rio," White said. "We tried to do Sao Paulo. That didn't work out. I don't think we're equipped to move to any other city because we haven't planned or prepared for it.
"We want to go all over that country, too – Manaus and all these other places – but we're not ready for that yet."
White called the Silva-Sonnen rematch "one of the biggest sporting events this year in the world," so he's understandably anxious to finalize a date that was presumed already concrete. However, his hands are a little bit tied, and he's hoping to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.
"I expected to have it already," White said. "Hopefully we'll get this thing done within the next few days, one way or the other."
Source: With mounting pressure on Rio de Janeiro mayor, UFC 147 date still undecided