Chael Sonnen gives new opponent Michael “The Count” Bisping full support and personal seal of approval.
The two trash talking kings of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) are slated to lock horns at UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) on Fox 2 in less than a fortnight.
The winner of that matchup will be guaranteed a shot at Anderson Silva and his middleweight crown. Sonnen told USA Today:
I’m a Bisping supporter… I think he’s fought a lot of important matches.
I don’t know how tough the guys he fought were, how many ranked guys he had—I’m not terribly familiar with his record. But at the end of the day, you can say what you want about his opponents, he doesn’t pick his opponents. They pick his opponents and he goes in and he wins over and over again.
I think it’s really relevant, especially for the Bisping naysayers, to realize he’s fighting main-event fights. He’s carrying cards. He’s selling out arenas. In this industry, that’s huge. He’s done his part.
So I’m not on the anti-Bisping bandwagon. I never have been,”.
Mark “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Munoz was originally scheduled to face Sonnen in the co-main event in Chicago, Illinois. He was, however, pulled from the show following an elbow injury sustained during training.
As a consequence, Bisping (22-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) was subsequently installed as Munoz’s replacement to contend with Sonnen.
During the interview, Sonnen (26-11-1 MMA, 5-4 UFC) constantly reiterated the fact that he was a staunch advocate of Bisping, but every now and again he’d take a little swipe at the Brit brawler.
One instance was a question concerning Bisping’s title shot credentials.
I don’t like the way Bisping talks. I don’t like the way a lot of these guys talk when it comes to Anderson. They all want to talk about their shot, their shot, their shot.
I don’t want a shot. I’ve never asked Dana White for a shot at the title. I want the title, there’s a tremendous difference between my mindset and everybody else’s.
[…] But again — I’m a supporter of Bisping. I’m a supporter of him getting his shot.
Sonnen also intimated that he only ever goes after the upper-echelon fighters—those assumed to be at the top of their game. However, once they’ve been knocked off their perch (this was mostly in reference to the Nogueira brothers and Wanderlei Silva) he more or less leaves them be.
Still, the Oregon native couldn’t refrain from taking a parting pot-shot at the middleweight champion Silva.
[…] That’s really where it started with Anderson, too. Anderson became this untouchable guy. I’ve got to walk around in the back at the UFC and watch fellow fighters ask him for his autograph, and it makes my stomach sick.
At this moment in time, Sonnen, a former NCAA Division-I (National Collegiate Athletic Association) standout, has kept things as civil as can be. That said, with less than two-weeks before his showdown with Bisping, things could change for the worse.
Or maybe, it could be another Brian Stann scenario—no trash talking whatsoever from either combatant, just a mutual respect—they’ll let their fighting do the talking.
UFC on Fox 2 is set for Jan. 28, 2012, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
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