Well there was much hype about Chael Sonnen going to Rio to corner training partner, Yushin Okami at UFC 134. Especially, since he said he was going here:
But then there was a Brazilian Facebook page created calling for the lynching of Chael Sonnen, which has since been taken down but not before Chael could comment via Twitter:
Now, it was reported yesterday in SPORTV that Chael Sonnen never boarded a plane for Rio nor arrived in the city eagerly awaiting him. Instead Okami’s camp flew out there this Saturday sans Sonnen. Okami’s training camp says Sonnen was never expected in Rio, therefore it is uncertain the impending lynch mob had any impact on Sonnen’s decision not to corner Yushin Okami. So perhaps we may consider the possibility that he is simply too busy training for his upcoming fight against Brian Stann at UFC 136 this October 8th to flee the country (no pun intended on the probationed Sonnen).
*Props to Bloody Elbow for translating the article below:
If the threat of lynching has changed the mind of Chael Sonnen, it is not known. The fact is that the American will no longer be coming to Rio according to the coaches of Japan’s Yushin Okami, who arrived on Saturday. Sonnen will not be in the country for the event.
Disliked by most Brazilian fighters like Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva, Lyoto Machida and the Nogueira brothers, Sonnen said in several interviews that he would come to Brazil for UFC 134. Yushin Okami, his teammate, will face Anderson in the main event of the night and Sonnen was expected in his corner. The American even said during the week he would come to Rio on Friday.
However, the coaches of Team Quest denied that the Sonnen has or will come to Brazil. According to a post by the official UFC Brazil twitter, Sonnen was just “trolling” and will not be in Rio for the fight. Sonnen has a fight scheduled for Oct. 8 at UFC 136 against Brian Stann, and will be focused on training for the occasion.
Sonnen just “trolling” they say… But as always, the last word will go to Chael who teased again by tweeting this famous line uttered by Keyser Söze in The Usual Suspects:
The cool thing about Keyser Söze is he was lurking right in front of our eyes without us even knowing. Where will Sonnen be this Saturday?
