The UFC’s first program to be televised on the FUEL network will be UFC Tonight, set to air at 10 p.m. ET on Tuesday. The program aims to keep fans up to date on the latest UFC news, at least one exception being outspoken middleweight Chael Sonne…
The UFC’s first program to be televised on the FUEL network will be UFC Tonight, set to air at 10 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
The program aims to keep fans up to date on the latest UFC news, at least one exception being outspoken middleweight Chael Sonnen hosting a segment called “Chael’s Corner.”
In the preview, Uncle Chael talks about what he hoped former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, Pride legend Wanderlei Silva and hated rival and UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva received for Christmas.
Interestingly, Sonnen again goes on the record stating that he has no interest in facing Silva for a second time and that UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones should be “swallowing real hard right now.”
If Sonnen should win his title eliminator bout with Mark Munoz at UFC on FOX 2 on January 28th, is it a real possibility that the Team Quest standout moves either up or down a weight class?
Regardless of the answer, “Chael’s Corner” definitely looks like it will provide its viewers with some quality laughs.
In another attempt to provoke UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen has reached out to an unlikely source.After repeatedly criticizing and mocking the Brazilian’s homeland, Sonnen has asked fans of Palmeiras, a Sao Paulo-based soccer t…
In another attempt to provoke UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen has reached out to an unlikely source.
After repeatedly criticizing and mocking the Brazilian’s homeland, Sonnen has asked fans of Palmeiras, a Sao Paulo-based soccer team, to support the middleweight in his quest to capture the UFC middleweight title. Palmeiras is a rival club of Corinthians, and Silva is one of the latter club’s supporters.
“It will be champion versus champion. It will be Palmeiras versus Corinthians. It will be the end of Anderson Silva,” Sonnen said in an exclusive promo for his upcoming bout with Mark Munoz at UFC on FOX 2 on January 14th.
Silva is expected to make a return to the Octagon sometime in mid-2012, where he is slated to make his next title defense against the winner of Sonnen and Munoz.
Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre and Junior Dos Santos––Uncle Chael is coming for you.A few weeks out from his No. 1 contender’s bout with Mark Munoz, former UFC title contender Chael Sonnen sat down with Michael Landsberg on OTR to talk about …
Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre and Junior Dos Santos––Uncle Chael is coming for you.
A few weeks out from his No. 1 contender’s bout with Mark Munoz, former UFC title contender Chael Sonnen sat down with Michael Landsberg on OTR to talk about the middleweight title picture and possibly going up in weight.
Since losing to Anderson Silva at UFC 117, Sonnen has been hell-bent on securing a rematch, but the opportunity has continued to elude him. Despite hordes of verbal jabs from Sonnen, Silva has yet to step up and accept the challenge.
Is the UFC middleweight champ “ducking,” or is he merely refusing to give in to Sonnen’s “disrespectful” demands?
Whatever the reasoning, it no longer matters to Sonnen, who has finally decided to move on from Silva and seek challenges elsewhere.
“The bottom line is, I’m done with the guy. He and I have no business. This guy is cold product man. He’s like Jerry Curls and Pepsi Clear. He’s yesterday’s news,” said Sonnen. “I destroyed this guy back when he was tough, and that was years ago. He’s so far over the hill and past his prime, it’s not worth talking about.
“I’m going to become the No. 1 contender on January 28, but despite what you think, I am not going to use that voucher to fight Anderson Silva. I’ll be looking at Dos Santos, Jones, and possibly St-Pierre. I will take that voucher to Dana White, and I will pick one of those three guys. My time with Anderson is done.”
Sonnen came within two minutes of earning a lopsided unanimous decision in the first bout, but Silva’s perseverance and late fight heroics enabled the proposed pound-for-pound kingpin to secure a triangle choke that sent the challenger packing.
Even though Sonnen tapped, he still doesn’t believe he lost the fight. To this day, he claims to be the true UFC middleweight champion.
“Undefeated and undisputed. You can either believe me or your lying eyes,” said Sonnen.
With Silva no longer in his crosshairs, Sonnen turns his attention towards light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who could be the greatest talent the sport has ever seen.
“I’m going after a championship match,” stated Sonnen. “Anderson Silva is no more of a champion than the man on the moon and trying to pretend he is is a waste of my breath. Jon Jones is a real man that’ll accept challenges.”
If he chooses to move up in weight, Sonnen will be giving up a significant size advantage compared to what he enjoyed at 185-pounds. Jones is already a physical specimen at light heavyweight, but many believe he has the size to overtake the heavyweight division.
“I don’t get caught up in weight. When I became a fan of the sport was in the early 90’s, and we didn’t even have weight classes,” said Sonnen. “Everybody just kind of went out and competed with each other. I’ve never got caught up in weight. That’s something that was put in after I had already agreed, so whatever a guy weighs, I don’t pay attention to it.”
(The question is, whose wife cooked him the steak?)
If you were busy getting hammered off of rum and egg nog and exchanging token gifts with annoying relatives you thankfully only have to see once a year, you may have missed Chael Sonnen’s second appearance on TSN’s “Off the Record” show Friday night.
Don’t worry though, we’ve got you covered after the jump, homies.
(The question is, whose wife cooked him the steak?)
If you were busy getting hammered off of rum and egg nog and exchanging token gifts with annoying relatives you thankfully only have to see once a year, you may have missed Chael Sonnen’s second appearance on TSN’s “Off the Record” show Friday night.
Don’t worry though, we’ve got you covered, homies.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/ m1xedmart1alarts)
As usual, Sonnen took the reins of the Q&A early from “the ghost of David Hasselhoff” and barely gave them back the entire 13-minute interview.
Of note is the self-proclaimed “real UFC middleweight champ’s” revelation that he is done with Anderson Silva and will instead be seeking a superfight with Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones or Junior dos Santos since he feels that “The Spider” is “no more a champion than the man on the Moon.” Whether or not he’s serious is a moot point since it’s up to the UFC when where and against whom he fights, but that doesn’t make the fighter who describes himself as “217 [pounds] of muscle, steel and sex appeal’s” banter any less entertaining.
“I don’t get caught up in that [weight class] stuff. Whan I became a fan of the sport it was in the early 90s and we didn’t even have weight classes. Everyone just kind of went out and competed with each other,” Sonnen explained. “I’ve never got caught up in weight. That’s something that was put in after I had already agreed. So whatever a guy weighs I don’t pay any attention to it.”
Sonnen also explained why he was so pissed off the last time he spoke with Landsberg and what drove him to walk off the set of the closed circuit interview and pointed out that he felt like he was going to be set up again by the Canadian host.
“You know, Landsberg, you’re being very nice to me today. I really don’t trust this. I’m getting a bad feeling here. You’re being a little overly nice to me. I kind of liked the perception of you I had when I showed up, which was disdain and now you’re winning me over to like being a nice guy. For some reason I don’t really like the feel I’m getting here,” he explained. “[The people who told you I was a nice guy] told you wrong. It’s just a disguise. I am candy-coated poison my friend. Trust me. And you’re the one that showed up with mascara running down your face, holding a box of chocolates and a DVD wanting to make up. You shouldn’t feel bad about it because one day, sooner or later, they all come to the champ and they all kiss the ring.”
“I find it inappropriate that we would talk sports while the Turkish government continues to deny Armenian genocide,” Sonnen stated flatly. “Let’s get into some real news here.”
The always controversial UFC middleweight, Chael Sonnen, decided to come up with his own version of the classic holiday tune “The 12 Days of Christmas,” which he posted on his Twitter page yesterday afternoon. Uncle Chael started the tune off by …
The always controversial UFC middleweight, Chael Sonnen, decided to come up with his own version of the classic holiday tune “The 12 Days of Christmas,” which he posted on his Twitter page yesterday afternoon.
Uncle Chael started the tune off by saying:
“On the 12th day of Christmas, Dana gave to me… 12 match fight cards, 11 shamed opponents, 10 pounds to cut, 9 dancing Silvas…..”
Shortly after, the Twitter world was treated with:
“And a title belt belonging to me. Merry Christmas, eagles.”
Just a little background for those not familiar, Blackhouse is the team where Sonnen’s arch-adversary Anderson Silva trains and Sonnen has taken it upon himself to feud with the UFC’s middleweight champion’s friends and teammates.
In the past, Sonnen has provided some harsh words for former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo and both Antonio Rodrigo and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
Additionally, Sonnen is likely speaking of former WEC middleweight title-holder Paul Filho, whom he defeated in November of 2008, and Silva, the reigning UFC middleweight king, when speaking of the “2 defeated champions.”
Sonnen of course is well known for taking the fight to “The Spider” back at UFC 117 for four-and-a-half rounds before getting caught in a triangle choke.
Despite the bout being a loss for Sonnen in the record books, the “Gangster from Oregon” has said on more than one occasion that he is the true UFC champion at 185 pounds.
As an added bonus, for those who missed Sonnen’s appearance of “On the Record” with Michael Landsberg last week, it is absolutely worth checking out.
If you need to be persuaded, here is the most worthwhile quote from the interview, with Sonnen addressing his latest feelings on Silva:
I’m done with the guy. He and I have no business. He’s cold product. He’s like jheri curls and Pepsi Clear. He’s yesterday’s news. I destroyed this guy back when he was tough. That was years ago. He’s so far over the hill and so far past his prime that it’s not worth talking about.
I’m going to become the No. 1 contender on January 28th and despite what you may think, I’m not going to use that voucher to fight Anderson Silva. I’ll be looking at (Jon) Jones, (Junior) dos Santos and possibly (Georges) St. Pierre. I will take that voucher to Dana White and pick one of those three guys. My time with Anderson is done.
Dana White has recently given Chael Sonnen an incredible compliment and placed him in a laudable category. White, the polarizing genius president of the UFC, claims: “I have never seen anyone who can talk like this guy since Muhammad Ali” (1…
Dana White has recently given Chael Sonnen an incredible compliment and placed him in a laudable category. White, the polarizing genius president of the UFC, claims: “I have never seen anyone who can talk like this guy since Muhammad Ali” (1).
In order to be the considered a great talker and spoken of in the same breath as the iconic Ali, there are prerequisites that need to be met. A great talker needs to speak the truth, possess upstanding character, back up their talking and behave ethically. Granted, Chael is amusing, but let us examine this claim further to see if this bold comparison carries any validity.
Accomplishments:
Anyone can talk. Some compete. Very few become champions. However, the internet can now separate truth from fiction. In appreciating one’s accolades it is important to know the facts behind one’s boasting. If they are lies, then the talks value is obviously cheapened.
Chael claims to have won a silver medal at the 2001 World Championships. Chael prior to his fight with Anderson Silva: “I’ve got two national championship plaques on my wall that [say] I can take him down. I’ve got a silver medal from the world championships in 2001 that says he can’t stop me from taking him down. If he’s got an answer to it, God bless him” (2).
Compare this to Ali. Ali won a gold medal in boxing at the Rome Summer Olympics in 1960. He was a three time champion of the world, attempting 19 title defenses. Now while Sonnen’s achievement is impressive, it is also fictitious. The silver medalist at the 2001 World Championships was Chael’s teammate, Matt Lindland (3).
Finishing second at the World University games in a relatively obscure sport seems to not be worthy of comparison to Ali, who in addition to being a Hall of Famer and an all-time pound-for-pound great, was also the undisputed heavyweight king for nearly two decades. Not only are Chael’s claims of achievements inferior to what Ali accomplished, Sonnen’s boasts are lies. The axiom: “I hear what you do and not what you say” appears to be appropriate for comparing the two and examining their accomplishments. The Oregon native did in fact win a silver medal at the 2000 World University Games, which is a much less prestigious award.
Character:
When one speaks, often people respect their words based on their character more than the wisdom being expounded. A fat trainer garners less respect than one with a shredded stomach. When both of these men talk, their pasts follow them. Ali and Sonnen were both convicted of felonies. Ali for draft evasion, Sonnen for money laundering and mortgage fraud (4).
The boxing legend did so on moral principles, because he had no interest in killing random strangers with whom he held no rancour. Ali lost three and a half years of his prime and potential earnings in the multi-millions. Sonnen swindled people of their money in order to profit his mother and himself. Ali, who could have accepted a noncombat position, refused to enter the army on any condition. Sonnen agreed to work with prosecutors to help convict others in order to reduce his own sentence. Ali eventually won his case on appeal and had his conviction overturned, while Chael is serving two years probation.
The Big Stage:
Talking the talk and walking the walk means to deliver on what you promise. Anyone can boast, but being able to accomplish what you predict is the real achievement. Ali’s biggest fights were his two against Liston, his three against Frazier and his epic “Rumble in the Jungle” against Foreman. He won six of the seven and five of the six were via KO. Chael Sonnen has lost both of his two major title fights. He lost to Paulo Filho for the WEC title and to Anderson Silva for the UFC belt.
It makes no sense to compare someone who has never won a major championship to one who is universally recognized as a top-10 great by virtually everybody. Sonnen is 4-2 in the UFC—submitting in both losses—and has only one win from a stoppage. In fact, Chael tapped out to a triangle/arm bar after equating getting a black belt in Jiu Jitsu from the Nogueira brothers to a toy found in a McDonald’s Happy Meal. This further defines Sonnen as one who exudes disrespect as opposed to deserving respect for his deeds.
Competition:
In order to be a true winner, one must legitimately prove themselves as the winner. This is done by following the agreed upon rules. One way of dishonouring oneself is through drug testing. Ali never failed a drug test. Sonnen has. Chael, while knowingly taking testosterone injections, lied on a pre-fight form by stating he had not taken any banned substances (5). His usage and lack of disclosure resulted in a fine and suspension from the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC).
Classiness:
Making humorous comments that display wit and cleverness are to be commended. However, it is a sport and it is another person’s reputation that suffers from these attempts to be comical. Both parties failed here at times. Ali crossed the line with comments made about Frazier. The MMA star recently said: “You tell Anderson Silva I’m coming over and I’m kicking down his backdoor and patting his little lady on the ass, and I’m telling her to make me a steak, medium-rare, just how I like it.” To me that crosses the line of humour and is clearly offensive.
The talented contender potentially sunk to even worse levels of putrid disrespect when he allegedly commented on Lance Armstrong (6). The voice, listed as Chael’s, states that Lance’s cheating gave him cancer and now he is playing victim and profiting from his steroid use. Chael has denied that it is his voice on the recording. The link is available below. On the Jim Rome show Sonnen stated that listeners would agree that it is not his voice. What do you think?
In conclusion, to compliment one for lying, losing and cheating seems nonsensical and unwarranted. Any comparisons to the one who literally “shook the world” and consistently proved they were “the greatest” is absolutely unfounded and should be discredited immediately. Yes, Chael Sonnen is an excellent fighter and a legitimate threat to beat one of the greatest fighters and athletes of all time in Anderson Silva, but it does not excuse him for being a documented swindler, liar and cheat.
The UFC’s first program to be televised on the FUEL network will be UFC Tonight, set to air at 10 p.m. ET on Tuesday. 