(Let’s just say that their Chat Roulette session with fans quickly took a turn for the worse.)
When it was first announced that Jon Jones would be coaching the next season of The Ultimate Fighter opposite Chael Sonnen, then beating him into dust defending his light heavyweight strap against him at the season’s end, the general public reaction seemed to be that of bewilderment. Even those who were quick to defend the pairing didn’t have the cojones to claim that Sonnen had earned a title shot (because how could you), but rather that he stepped up when no one else would and it would make for great television so we should just all STFU. We have officially entered the Rollerball phase of the UFC, people. And although Sonnen made sure to break out the WWE trash-talk in the days following the announcement, if you are expecting all-out verbal warfare on next season’s TUF, you might want to start preparing yourself for disappointment.
Last night, Dana White, Jones, and Sonnen sat down for a 40 minute video chat with fans to answer questions about ranging from the upcoming season of the reality show to what Dana White thinks of Fedor, which was apparently asked by a fan who had been living underground for the past 3 years. After Dana was done berating anyone who had the gall to ask him anything other than how he would describe his perfect Sunday, he called in an uncharacteristically laid back and terrorist beard-free Jones, who was immediately asked how he viewed Sonnen now that the show had begun shooting. His response was surprising to say the least.
Full story and video after the jump.
From the mouth of the champ:
[Chael’s] actually, he’s not too bad. I thought it was going to be all trash-talk, but he’s actually being pretty decent and pretty classy. So, I think it’s going to make for a great show.
I actually don’t hate Chael anymore. He’s actually turning out to be OK. I’m not sure if he’s setting me up to really hate him (Dana nods “yes”) but right now, he’s being a pretty decent human.
So you mean to tell me that not only are Bones and DW back to chummy-old-pal status, but so are Bones and Sonnen for the time being?
*Removing episodes 1 and 2 of TUF 17 from my DVR….NOW*
And indeed, once Sonnen enters the room around the 29 minute mark, the two start horsing around and shooting the shit like old high school buddies who bumped into each other at the airport bar. Chael even admits that he thinks Jon is a “pretty nice guy” and jokes with the champ about how delicious the “Jon Jones Special” pizza is at his pizzeria.
We can already hear the peeeewww noise of the TUF 17 ratings making their descent back to earth. You better have some tricks up your massive sleeves, Chael.