MANILA, Philippines - An ESPN mixed martial arts (MMA) analyst believes Filipino fighter Mark Muñoz can potentially prevent the much awaited rematch between Chael Sonnen and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight king Anderson Silva from happening.

Muñoz will face Sonnen at UFC on FOX 2, with the winner getting a shot at Silva's championship.

Sonnen has already challenged Silva once, at UFC 117, and was able to give the dominant champion his toughest challenge yet. Silva pulled out the win, however, submitting Sonnen with a triangle choke late in the fifth round.

Fight fans have long been waiting for a rematch between Silva and Sonnen, but ESPN analyst Chuck Mindenhall says Muñoz is at the unique position of preventing that fight from happening. [http://espn.go.com/blog/mma/post/_/id/6788/munoz-in-colossal-spoiler-role]

"Muñoz is in the very unique spot to thwart perhaps the biggest rematch in the history of the UFC," Mindenhall said.

Mindenhall says Muñoz can give Sonnen a very strong challenge inside the Octagon. Although both are wrestlers, Muñoz has a one-punch knockout power in his right hand that can end a fight quickly.

"This is not a stay-busy fight so much as a trap fight, with so much more than a title shot hanging in the balance," Mindenhall said.

Muñoz, nicknamed "The Filipino Wrecking Machine," has won his last four fights, including a technical knockout win over Chris Leben at UFC 138. Meanwhile Sonnen was impressive in his ring return at UFC 136, submitting Brian Stann is the second round.

Muñoz responded to Mindenhall's article in his Twitter account, saying that he "would love the chance to rewrite history."