Report: Chael Sonnen Sucker-Punched While Fighting With Wanderlei Silva on ‘TUF Brazil 3? Set


(Yep. True professionals limit their smashing to reality-show sets. )

The UFC held a media lunch yesterday to promote UFC 169, and although the proceedings were nearly derailed by a rogue reporter named T.J. Simers who called “bullshit” on pretty much everything Dana White said, the UFC president was able to get in one bit of interesting info: TUF Brazil 3 coaches Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva got into an actual fight on the set yesterday.

According to second-hand accounts, the fight started when Silva — perhaps enraged by a recent tweet — took a swing at Sonnen, who then shot in and took Wandy down. As they scuffled on the floor, a member of Team Wanderlei clocked Sonnen in the head. That last detail was confirmed by Dana himself:

“While they were fighting, one of Wanderlei’s guys sucker punched Chael. It went on for a while.”

Of course, this might be the best publicity possible for TUF Brazil 3, which you probably won’t watch because it’ll air on Fight Pass. As White put it:

“It’s on a reality show; it’s good and it’s bad,” said White. “A fight didn’t need to break out between these two for people to be excited about this fight (after the show), because these two have been at each other’s throats.”

Though Sonnen or Silva haven’t released any public statements about the incident yet, Sonnen recently shot a promo for TUF Brazil 3 where he described the unique experience of shooting a reality show with the Axe Murderer:


(Yep. True professionals limit their smashing to reality-show sets. )

The UFC held a media lunch yesterday to promote UFC 169, and although the proceedings were nearly derailed by a rogue reporter named T.J. Simers who called “bullshit” on pretty much everything Dana White said, the UFC president was able to get in one bit of interesting info: TUF Brazil 3 coaches Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva got into an actual fight on the set yesterday.

According to second-hand accounts, the fight started when Silva — perhaps enraged by a recent tweet — took a swing at Sonnen, who then shot in and took Wandy down. As they scuffled on the floor, a member of Team Wanderlei clocked Sonnen in the head. That last detail was confirmed by Dana himself:

“While they were fighting, one of Wanderlei’s guys sucker punched Chael. It went on for a while.”

Of course, this might be the best publicity possible for TUF Brazil 3, which you probably won’t watch because it’ll air on Fight Pass. As White put it:

“It’s on a reality show; it’s good and it’s bad,” said White. “A fight didn’t need to break out between these two for people to be excited about this fight (after the show), because these two have been at each other’s throats.”

Though Sonnen or Silva haven’t released any public statements about the incident yet, Sonnen recently shot a promo for TUF Brazil 3 where he described the unique experience of shooting a reality show with the Axe Murderer:

“Wanderlei has been an experience, to say the least. I compare him to an onion – you peel him back, and there [are] layers. You know the cartoon where the guy gets super angry and runs out of ideas and then smoke starts coming out of his ears? That’s happened with Wanderlei a couple of times out of nowhere.

“I feel like if all the teams get together, and all the coaches get together, we can get him through this. He reminds me of that feisty grandpa you see at the holidays. Even though he’s old and a little bit broken down, he’s still got some spirit. He’s still got that spunk in him that you would miss. And I think that’s what Wanderlei brings to this whole thing. If we can all just help him and get him through this and to our fight, I’ll be like the bridge that gets him from that point to retirement — which is where he’s headed.”

I’m starting to think that Sonnen probably shouldn’t have taken this gig. “Feisty grandpa” or not, you never want to mess with a dude who wants to smell your blood.