Anderson Silva to Box Chael Sonnen in Farewell Fight on June 15

After taking part in a multi-million dollar ad campaign for Brazilian TV that featured Jean Claude Van Damme and five other Brazilian martial arts legends, Anderson Silva’s retirement fight will come against an old rival.

Silva will square off against former Ultimate Fighting Championship foil Chael Sonnen in a bout that will be contested under boxing rules. Sherdog confirmed the pairing on Wednesday following an initial report from TATAME magazine. While specifics regarding the bout are unknown, the event will be entitled Spaten Fight Night.

Word of the fight, which is part of the Spaten Beer Marketing Campaign, began to spread when Silva posted “Spider Grande Finale June 15” on his Instagram stories. According to a source close to the situation, the fight will take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It will be a closed event with only 600 VIP guests allowed to attend. Other fights on the card are expected to be announced in the coming days.

Silva and Sonnen initially squared off at UFC 117, when Sonnen was minutes away from pulling a massive upset before “The Spider” won via submission at the 3:10 mark of Round 5. That bout will be enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame “Fight Wing” this summer. Silva was more decisive in the rematch, winning via second-round TKO at UFC 148.

Spaten is one of the 30 beers produced in Brazil by Anheuser Busch InBev, the largest brewer in the world. It´s the first time that a large beer company in Brazil has associated its name with MMA and other martial arts. The name of the campaign is "Not all strength is brute." The advertisement was filmed in Czech Republic and in addition to Van Damme, included Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, world Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion Kyra Gracie, Olympic judoka Rafaela Silva, boxing champion Bia Ferreira and Olympic judo bronze medalist Flavio Canto.



Editor's note: This item was updated at approximately 8:28 p.m. ET to include additional information regarding Silva's opponent.