In light of the blockbuster news that longtime rivals Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen will be coaching opposite one another on season three of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, “The Axe Murderer” is interested in taking the bitter rivalry to the next level.
Earlier this afternoon, the Brazilian brawler posted a statement on his Facebook page about the new coaching gig in Portuguese, which MMA Fighting has since posted an English translation of.
“It’s official, I’ll be the responsible for representing our country and yes, I’ll make him pay for everything he said about us,” Silva wrote on Facebook. “I asked Dana to do a USA vs. Brazil season. He picks his fighters, the ones he believes are the best of the United States, and I’ll pick Brazil’s bests,” he suggested. “There’s no reason why he should coach our (Brazilian) fighters, but I want to pick our fighters. Let’s ask the boss (UFC President Dana White), send him a message on Twitter asking for that.”
The first two seasons of TUF: Brazil featured only Brazilian fighters, with the exception of contestant Santiago Ponzinibbio, so it would seem likely the UFC wasn’t going to rewrite the script this time around.
Few details about the upcoming show are currently available, though MMA Fighting also reports that tryouts will take place in Rio de Janeiro on November 11, with the opportunity open to middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight competitors.
About a month ago, Silva confronted Sonnen at the Mr. Olympia Expo in Las Vegas, though many, including “The American Gangster” himself, laughed the incident off as a poorly staged publicity stunt.
Nevertheless, this grudge match has been brewing for at least a couple years now and most fight fans are excited to finally see the matchup come to fruition in 2014, barring any injuries or other unforeseen circumstances.
Before he finally settles the score with the former Pride champion, Sonnen must get through ex-UFC light heavyweight titleholder Rashad Evans at UFC 167 next month.
Despite losing to current 205-pound champ Jon Jones convincingly at UFC 159 in April, back-to-back wins over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Evans would put “Uncle Chael” right back into the title picture.
Would TUF: Brazil vs. USA be the best approach to reel as many fans in as possible for season three of TUF: Brazil?
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.
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