Upcoming UFC light heavyweight title challenger Chael Sonnen celebrated his 36th birthday on Tuesday and had a special birthday address in store for Jon Jones on the latest edition of UFC Tonight.
“The American Gangster” didn’t have to say much to properly hype the UFC 159 main event, which takes place on April 27 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Transcription via BJPenn.com:
I will come on stage, I will sell the tickets. I’m the highest paid fighter in the history of the UFC and I’m the biggest draw this industry has ever seen. So Jon, when I get done, grab your broom and sweep up afterwards.
Clearly, Sonnen has no doubt that interest for this 205-pound title fight is at an all-time high and he expects to pull the massive upset over “Bones.”
As far as his career salary goes, a fun fact is that Sonnen is No. 60 on the UFC’s all-time earner list, raking in roughly $582,000 in 11 Octagon appearances (via MMA Manifesto).
His claim to being the top draw of all time is a little more realistic. His rematch with Anderson Silva at UFC 148 did roughly one million pay-per-view buys, making it the sixth top selling UFC PPV ever (also via MMA Manifesto).
Of course, “Uncle Chael” has never been the one to let the facts get in the way of a good WWE-style promo, so check out the choice words he had for Jones as he concluded.
On 4/27 at 7:00 PM, 10:00 in the East, not that the East coast matters, and only on PPV, by Chael Sonnen promotions in conjunction with Zuffa, LLC will bring to you the biggest fight of the year, the biggest light heavyweight fight of all time. The young Jon Jones at last will have what every young fight dreams, a chance to go one on one, to actually share the people’s Octagon with Chael Sonnen … Jon Jones, beat me, if you can.
The matchup comes after Sonnen and Jones coached opposite one another on season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter.
Sonnen enters the bout winning five of his past seven fights, with both losses coming at the hands of Silva, the UFC’s middleweight champ.
Meanwhile, Jones currently boasts an eight-fight win streak and looks to tie Tito Ortiz’s UFC light heavyweight record of five consecutive title defense.
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