In the lead up to his fight with Michael Bisping at UFC on Fox 2, the usual smack-talk that emanates from the oral orifice of Chael Sonnen has thus far been near non-existent, however, one person who can turn his verbal taps on, is none other than his arch nemesis UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) middleweight champion Anderson Silva, whom he suggested was akin to Mike Tyson—fake.
[…] “Anderson Silva is as fake as Mike Tyson was. They called him the hardest, ‘the baddest man in the world’ but he wasn’t even the toughest guy in America and we had to sit through and listen to that over and over again as he fought lots of tomato cans. Anderson Silva has no interested in the fight with me and I don’t know what his deal is …” Sonnen said in a recent interview with Telegraph Sport.
The Oregon native has been spoiling for a rematch with the 185-pound kingpin ever since his near miss at capturing the title back at UFC 117. Sonnen has goaded, berated and thrown everything at Silva save for the kitchen sink to get another tilt at the belt, but still no joy.
As consequence, he’s given up hope of ever contesting with the Brazilian denizen and instead has turned his attentions to two other UFC titlists—welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre and 205-pound kingpin Jon Jones.
[…] “If I win this contest on Saturday I will become the number one contender and I intend to fight either GSP or Jon Jones.”
“Don’t ask me whether the GSP fights will be at welterweight – just ask me on Sunday after the Bisping fight and I will answer that question for you then.”
“If Mike [Bisping] wins, he might get his shot at Anderson Silva, but I’m out of the picture. I’ve given him four opportunities and he’s turned them all down. I’m not giving him a fifth chance. Anderson Silva and I will not cross paths again in a fighting arena – ever.”
“You will have to talk to Anderson Silva to ask him why he has turned down the rematch with me. For me, it’s plain and simple. I will fight with anyone at the weight class – Anderson Silva is just a closet champion.”
Still, Sonnen is quite aware of the fact that if he defeats Bisping in several days time, he automatically attains the position of No. 1 contender to “The Spiders” crown. And if that transpires a rematch is more or less in the offing as UFC President Dana White said recently.
“I 100 percent guarantee you, if Chael Sonnen wins this fight, Anderson Silva will fight Sonnen this summer,” White told ESPN.
With that said, the upcoming Chicago event was abruptly interrupted following news that his original opponent, Mark Munoz, had to pull out due to an elbow injury sustained whilst training, thus thrusting Bisping into the title eliminator bout with less than a fortnight to go.
According to Sonnen, however, the prospect of locking horns with Bisping on short notice holds no real significance—to him it’s just another fight.
Both combatants are renowned for their abrasive trash-talking and that per se, would likely be enough to generate the public’s interest in their co-main event matchup. However, Sonnen sees it differently.
“You are asking me why there is so much interest in my fighting Michael Bisping, all I can say is this – they always come out in their droves to watch me fight. It doesn’t make any difference to me that Bisping is a new opponent for me at 11 days notice.”
“I’m from a wrestling background and you never know who you are going to be up against. Since I was nine years old every weekend I would jump in the truck with my dad and we would go to wrestling tournaments all over the place.”
“Whoever shows up, you fight. I’ve fought nine guys in a day before now and not known anything about any of them even though I’ve been fighting one after the other 20 minutes apart.”
“So who cares whether I was facing Mark Munoz and now I’m facing Michael Bisping in Chicago.”
“Who cares? I really don’t care who the opponent is,” Sonnen said.
UFC on Fox 2 is scheduled for Jan. 28, 2012, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
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