Chael Sonnen has often been outspoken on his place in the sport of mixed-martial-arts, and in a recent interview with Fighthype.com’s Percy Crawford, he gives his thoughts on his drawing power and if his rematch with UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is bigger than Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz.
“I’m the biggest draw in the industry today,” said Sonnen, who is coming off his second-round submission victory over Brian Stann at UFC 136. “I sell more tickets, more pay-per-views, and more merchandise than any fighter in history. Comparing GSP to me is like comparing Kimbo to Ali.”
A recent megafight between St-Pierre and Diaz was announced for next year after Diaz defeated B.J. Penn in the main event of UFC 137. It is scheduled to take place at UFC 143, which is close to when Sonnen could be rematching Silva.
Sonnen called out Silva in the post-fight interview after his fight with Stann and offered him a loser-leaves-town match during Super Bowl weekend. Silva declined the offer.
“Shocked,” replied Sonnen. “He comes from a fighting culture. I was blown away that he would insult his entire heritage like that. Behind the scenes, I knew he was a coward, but in a million years, I never thought he would show it publicly.”
Recent news of Silva possibly splitting up with long-time manager and translator Ed Soares also has Sonnen wondering about just how much he has affected the pound-for-pound star outside of the cage.
“I like Ed [Soares] and he is very good at his job,” Sonnen said. “He has protected a phony, got him paid and pushed more than anybody, and created a false legacy for a bum. Ed should be praised and copied, not fired. I have great management and I’m lucky to be with them, but if I wasn’t, I would hire Ed….and I’m not kidding.”
Sonnen’s fight with Silva could go down in Brazil, which will feature another possible opponent for the 34-year-old in Vitor Belfort, who has called out Sonnen in the past.
“Vitor mentioned my name because he knew I was busy and knew he wouldn’t have to get locked in there with me. Well guess what, Vitor? I am busy, but I still got time to kick your ass. Challenge accepted.”
Full interview available here.
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