Chael Sonnen and Mark Munoz are slated to throwdown at UFC on Fox 2: Evans vs. Davis for the opportunity to vie for Anderson Silva’s UFC middleweight crown in Brazil once the champ has fully recovered from a shoulder injury sustained prior to his bout with Yushin Okami at UFC 134.
Nevertheless, Sonnen’s disparaging remarks towards the Brazilian populace and the country as a whole has not gone down too well with its denizens.
In fact, it has been to such an extent that he’s been threatened with bodily harm if he were to ever set foot in the country.
Speaking to HeavyMMA’s Fight Day, Munoz (12-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) stepped up to give his take on Sonnen’s apparent Brazilian predicament and why the latter should fret not with regards to any impending danger that might befall him.
“There are bounties for Chael down in Brazil,” Munoz explained. “But he doesn’t have to worry about it, because he’s not going to have to go down there.”
“The Filipino Wrecking Machine” believes he matches up well with Sonnen given his strong wrestling base, the difference being that the former has the ability to finish a fight from the ground whilst Sonnen lacks sufficient striking power to do likewise.
[…] “I feel Chael and I are a great match-up. I feel his strengths are my strengths, and we are going to go out there and find out who is the true number one contender for the title. If he beats me then God bless him, but I can tell you that I have confidence that I’m going to go out there and beat him up.”
“I have power in my hands. Chael gets on top of people but doesn’t finish them. I finish guys. It’s what I do. I go out there and the guns are blazing. On the feet or on the ground it doesn’t matter. I’m going to demonstrate that power every chance I get.”
In some respects this will be a rematch of a collegiate wresting bout in which Sonnen took home the honors, but in an unsportsmanlike fashion according to Munoz.
“We were in a scramble situation and he ended up getting underneath my leg,” Munoz explained. “In jiu-jitsu you could pull off a knee bar and basically tear someone’s hamstring or knee apart. I kicked out and he switched it to a heel hook. This was in wrestling, not jiu-jitsu, and he knew full and well it was illegal. But hey – that is water under the bridge now and we joke about it. Now we are going to be in an MMA fight and he could actually do it but I don’t think he’s going to get it.”
Still, if Munoz who is riding a four-fight win streak (with notable wins over Demian Maia and most recently Chris “The Crippler” Leben) in the Zuffa-based company upends Sonnen at UFC on Fox 2, he then gets the privilege to go toe-to-toe with his friend and former wrestling partner Silva.
A fight no less that he feels confident of winning, apropos the skill set that he has at his disposal—wrestling, ground-and-pound and his somewhat unperceived jiu-jitsu foundation.
“Anderson tends to have trouble with wrestlers. I’m a strong wrestler and I go out there and make it dirty. That’s exactly how Chael is. He goes out there, gets in your face and grinds out matches. I’m the same kind of fighter but I demonstrate more power. When we are on the ground you do not want me on top of you. I’m confident in every position and I’ve never been submitted in a fight.
“Fans haven’t had the opportunity to actually see my jiu-jitsu, but I have great jiu-jitsu defense which actually compliments my wrestling and allows me to do what I do best. The Donkey Kong comes out. I get on top of someone and then boom, boom, boom. It’s just what I do.”
UFC on Fox 2 is scheduled to take place in Chicago, Ill. on Jan. 28, 2012.
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