The UFC’s favorite bad boy, Chael Sonnen, will be fighting in a middleweight title eliminator against Michael Bisping at the co-main event of UFC on FOX 2 next week.
While this bout is supposed to declare the number one contender at 185 pounds, Sonnen said don’t expect the winner to face off against reigning middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
“I can guarantee you – Anderson Silva and I will never cross paths again,” Sonnen told MMA Junkie today.
“The Spider” has been out of action due to bursitis and back problems since easily defeating Sonnen’s friend and occasional training partner Yushin Okami at UFC 134, which took place in August.
Uncle Chael has taken this inactivity from the octagon as a form of unofficial retirement by his most hated adversary.
“I know Anderson’s not going to fight. The folks at the UFC know he’s not going to fight,” Sonnen proclaimed.”
“I’m all for promoting and marketing and all that good stuff. I don’t want to throw water on a perfectly hot flame, but Anderson Silva’s not going to fight anybody.”
Interestingly, Sonnen claimed that the UFC planned to do an interim middleweight title bout between the respective winners of Michael Bisping vs. Demian Maia and Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz at UFC on FOX 2, prior to Munoz getting injured last minute.
Speaking of injures, Sonnen went on to say he is not questioning whether or not Silva is really hurt…before he goes on to question if the champion is really hurt.
“If a guy says he’s hurt, you’ve got to believe him. Only he knows, and I don’t need an X-ray or anything else,” Sonnen explained.
“I think it’s a little fugazi that he claims that he’s hurt, and then we see footage of him live sparring with Wanderlei Silva,” he continued.
“I think it’s a little fugazi that he claims he’s hurt, and I’ve got my friend (Muhammed) ‘Mo’ Lawal training with Machida alongside Silva. I think these things are peculiar. But if a guy says he’s hurt, it’s enough for me.”
The former two-time All-American wrestler at the University of Oregon, who has never been shy to question Silva’s character in the past, boldly declared that the current middleweight kingpin has turned down a potential Sonnen-Silva rematch on multiple occasions.
“I can tell you that behind the scenes, they (the UFC) tried to put me and Anderson together four times, and four times he said no,” Sonnen claimed. “I called him out publicly. You call out a Brazilian publicly, you’re going to be fighting that Brazilian.”
Sonnen is referencing when he called out Silva following a submission win over Brian Stann at UFC 136, saying “Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck!” before offering the champion a loser-leaves-town bout for the Super Bowl weekend card.
“The Gangster from Oregon” feels that Silva has fought his last fight based on Silva’s reaction that evening.
“That’s in their culture, and he sat there and covered his mouth and hid behind Charles Barkley, which is a smart move. It saved him a trip to the hospital. But Anderson Silva is not going to fight me. I don’t believe he’s going to fight Bisping. I don’t believe he’s going to fight again. That’s my personal opinion.”
Chael wanted to twist the knife a little deeper before calling it an interview.
“He even said no to (UFC executive) Lorenzo Fertitta’s face. Face-to-face, not over the phone – Lorenzo brought him out, sat him down, and said, ‘This is the fight we want.’ And Anderson said no.”
Sonnen and Silva infamously fought at UFC 117, with Silva being down on all three judges’ scorecards heading into the fifth and final round, before he made the challenger tap out to a triangle choke.
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