Silva, Sonnen Hit Marks; Alves Misses Weight

Chael Sonnen has spent more than a year pursuing a match with UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. In less than 24 hours, his chase will end inside the hallowed Octagon.

The embattled Silva checked in at 184.5 pounds for his five-round feature with Sonnen (185) at UFC 117 “Silva vs. Sonnen” on Saturday at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif.

Silva drew heavy criticism following his strange but successful title defense against Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Demian Maia in the UFC 112 headliner on April 10 at the Ferrari World Concert Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The 35-year-old champion resorted to bizarre antics during the bout, taunting Maia throughout the five-round encounter.

Still widely regarded as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, Silva has won 12 consecutive bouts, 11 of them inside the UFC. His list of victims includes two-time Olympian Dan Henderson, ex-UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin, one-time UFC middleweight kingpin Rich Franklin (twice) and former middleweight King of Pancrase Nate Marquardt.

Sonnen will carry a three-fight winning streak into the match. The 33-year-old Team Quest standout last fought in February, when he outpointed Marquardt en route to a unanimous decision at UFC 109. Sonnen, who has been outspoken with his disdain for Silva, owns other notable wins over the world-ranked Yushin Okami, former International Fight League middleweight champion Dan Miller and one-time World Extreme Cagefighting middleweight titleholder Paulo Filho.

Thiago Alves (171.5) missed weight again for his welterweight showdown with Jon Fitch (170.5). Alves was given two hours to make 171, but he could not and will be penalized 20 percent of his purse, according to UFC.com. Previously the Brazilian missed weight against Matt Hughes in June 2008. He was also suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission in 2007 after testing positive for diuretics.

UFC 117 -- which also features a welterweight matchup pairing UFC hall of famer Matt Hughes (170.5) with Ricardo Almeida (170.5), a lightweight duel pitting Clay Guida (156) against Rafael dos Anjos (156) and a pivotal heavyweight matchup between Junior dos Santos (240) and “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 10 winner Roy Nelson (263) -- will air live on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen
Saturday, Aug. 7
Oracle Arena
Oakland, Calif.

UFC Middleweight Championship
Anderson Silva (184.5) vs. Chael Sonnen (185)
Jon Fitch (170.5) vs. Thiago Alves (171.5)
Matt Hughes (170.5) vs. Ricardo Almeida (170.5)
Junior dos Santos (240) vs. Roy Nelson (263)
Clay Guida (156) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (156)
Dustin Hazelett (169.5) vs. Rick Story (169.5)
Phil Davis (205.5) vs. Rodney Wallace (206)
Johny Hendricks (171) vs. Charlie Brenneman (171)
Tim Boetsch (206) vs. Todd Brown (206)
Stefan Struve (247) vs. Christian Morecraft (263)
Ben Saunders (171) vs. Dennis Hallman (171)

This article was updated Friday at 8:15 p.m. ET with information on Alves missing weight.