Once upon a time Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen put on a Hall of Fame-worthy UFC fight. The rematch was one of the most highly anticipated fights in UFC history. Now they'll meet in the boxing ring.

The pair of UFC icons are set to complete a trilogy in a bout that Silva is touting as his final fight in his home country of Brazil.

Neither fighter is close to their prime. Silva is now 49 years old and will be making his fifth appearance in a boxing ring since 2021. Sonnen, 47, will be making his boxing debut in the five-round exhibition bout.

It's a nostalgic matchup between former bitter rivals who seem to have developed a healthy respect for one another over the years. For fans of either fighter, it's one last chance to see them compete in a combat sport.

Here's a look at all the info you need to catch the fight.

When: Saturday, June 15 at 8 p.m. ET

Where: Sao Paulo, Brazil

Tickets: Vivid Seats

Preview

There's a bit of a surreal feeling to this fight. Sonnen and Silva have an extensive history against one another and there's certainly some money to be made from a third fight, but the fact that it will be held under boxing rules feels like it heavily favors Silva.

The Spider is one of the greatest strikers in the history of the UFC. Sonnen is known for his grappling chops and an impressive amateur wrestling career.

To hear Sonnen tell it, he wasn't really concerned with what sport the two would challenge each other in.

"My phone wasn't ringing for those kinds of reasons, but all of a sudden I get a call from Mams [Taylor] over at Misfits [Boxing], wants to do [a fight with] Masvidal. [He asked] 'Hey, what rule set? I got [Masvidal] on the other line.' I texted him back, 'Let him choose.' That scared him. I said, 'Let him choose.' Team Masvidal backed down," he said in an appearance on Ben Fowlkes of Yahoo Sports. "I never heard a word again. There was something about that. They backed down. Tried the same thing on Anderson. He didn't back down. He said, 'Great, boxing rules.' So here we are."

Boxing might not be Silva's first language, but it'ps something that he already has a good amount of work in. He had a pair of boxing bouts early in his career but is 2-1 in official bouts since 2021 with another exhibition bout against Bruno Machado.

Silva scored a first-round knockout win over Tito Ortiz and dropped an eight-round unanimous decision to Jake Paul back in October 2022.

Some of Silva's pinpoint counterstriking has certainly translated to the sweet science. Sonnen's boxing was not a strength during his UFC career. The southpaw only had eight wins by knockout in his MMA career and those were mostly the result of ground-and-pound.

Prediction

As is the case with any of these novelty matchups, conditioning and level of investment will be key factors. Both fighters are approaching 50 and fighting outside of their comfort zone.

Silva is two years older but has been more active in recent years. He's far from what he once was, but still has some of his timing and skills from when he was the most feared fighter in the world.

Sonnen, meanwhile, is fighting completely outside of his comfort zone after a long layoff. It's a recipe for Silva to cruise to a win even if there aren't official scorecards.

Fight Goes the Distance, Silva Wins