Chael Sonnen went on TSN‘s Off The Record and completely flustered the confused host, Michael Landsberg by belittling his questions. When asked why Anderson Silva has him so riled up, Sonnen nods off for a.
Chael Sonnen went on TSN‘s Off The Record and completely flustered the confused host, Michael Landsberg by belittling his questions. When asked why Anderson Silva has him so riled up, Sonnen nods off for a quick nap. After several minutes of combative verbal sparring, Sonnen takes off his mic and walks off set. There aren’t many videos on the internet worth 10 minutes of your attention…nope not even the adult kind, but this one is. Watch below.
The often controversial UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen has made waves in the media once more. Earlier today he was a guest on TSN’s Off the Record with Michael Landsberg, and let’s just say his time on the show, or lack there of, made for inte…
The often controversial UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen has made waves in the media once more.
Earlier today he was a guest on TSN’s Off the Record with Michael Landsberg, and let’s just say his time on the show, or lack there of, made for interesting television.
Landsberg is a Canadian sports journalist who has been the host of Off the Record for a few thousand shows now. As an interviewer, he doesn’t usually pull any punches, and won’t back down when trying to get the answers to his questions.
Let’s just say that Sonnen wasn’t overly appreciative of Landsberg’s style.
Sonnen wasn’t cooperative in answering any questions and chose to walk off the set before the interview was over. Watch all the action yourself and pass your own judgement. Was Sonnen serious, or was this a case of Sonnen simply being Sonnen?
“… and he [Sonnen] left never said another word, that’s never happened before” Landsberg said at the end of the clip. “I kind of figured he was going to leave about halfway through it and to be honest it was probably an appropriate ending. So here’s the offer Chael, let’s try it again unless you refuse to talk about Anderson Silva, then we’ll take a pass.”
Refusing to talk about Anderson Silva—the current UFC middleweight champion who defeated Sonnen in August, 2010, via triangle choke—was definitely an underlying theme throughout the interview.
Landsberg came off a little chippy at the beginning of the clip, and it seemed to have set the tone for the rest of the interview.
The main point Landsberg wanted to clarify had to do with the challenge Sonnen issued Silva after his win over Brian Stann at UFC 136.
“Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck” Sonnen told Joe Rogan after his fight with Stann. “I’m calling you out [Anderson] Silva, but we’re upping the stakes. I beat you, you leave the division. You beat me, I will leave the UFC forever.”
Landsberg pointed out to Sonnen that shortly after issuing the challenge, he told Jim Rome that the offer expired and that he backed down from the challenge. Sonnen didn’t appreciate that.
“You might want to take the bass out of your tone, I’m not sure you know who your talking to here, but I’ve never backed down from anything. You better check your facts” Sonnen told Landsberg.
Despite taking shots and refusing to cooperate with Landsberg, Sonnen had it in his mind to rile up more than a journalist in this interview.
“Is that how you guys do business in Canada? Cause in my country, that created business. Offers expire” Sonnen said. “I made him [Silva] an offer. Apparently it didn’t work. He didn’t accept it. It’s not that I backed down, but apparently I need to present him with a new offer. You guys probably don’t do that in socialism, but in America, in a capitalistic society, that is how things works.”
This is nothing new from Sonnen. He likes to upset the biggest fans of the sport. He did it with the Brazilians, and now he is doing it with Canadians.
From there, the interview took a bunch of interesting turns involving the Nogueira brothers, Sonnen not caring if he loses to Silva in a second fight, Sonnen on fighting St-Pierre, until finally, he decided just to walk away.
Add this to the chapter of Sonnen’s book of insane ways to act with the media.
It will be interesting to see how the Canadian fans will react to this, and what will be more interesting is to see if this recent outburst will do anything toward setting up a rematch between him and Silva.
Maybe the UFC can set up the rematch in Montreal or Toronto and we’ll hear more boos than when Josh Koscheck fought Georges St-Pierre in Montreal.
Leon Horne is a writer for Bleacher Report and is part of the B/R MMA interview team,Follow @Leon_Horne
Things got heated from the very beginning when Lansberg asked the number one UFC middleweight contender why he “backed down” from the loser leaves town challenge he issued UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva.
“You might want to take the bass out of your tone, I’m not sure you know who you’re talking to here, but I’ve never backed down from anything, so check your facts,” Sonnen said. “If I tell you I’ll sell you my car for $10,000, do you think I can just call you back a year from now and say, ‘I’ll take the $10,000 for the car’? That’s not how offers work. Is that how you do business in Canada? Cause in my country, that created business, offers expire.I made him an offer, apparently it didn’t work, he didn’t accept it. It’s not that I backed down, but apparently I need to present him with a new offer. You guys probably don’t do that in socialism, but in America, in a capitalistic society, that’s how things work.”
Things got heated from the very beginning when Lansberg asked the number one UFC middleweight contender why he “backed down” from the loser leaves town challenge he issued UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva.
“You might want to take the bass out of your tone, I’m not sure you know who you’re talking to here, but I’ve never backed down from anything, so check your facts,” Sonnen said. “If I tell you I’ll sell you my car for $10,000, do you think I can just call you back a year from now and say, ‘I’ll take the $10,000 for the car’? That’s not how offers work. Is that how you do business in Canada? Cause in my country, that created business, offers expire.I made him an offer, apparently it didn’t work, he didn’t accept it. It’s not that I backed down, but apparently I need to present him with a new offer. You guys probably don’t do that in socialism, but in America, in a capitalistic society, that’s how things work.”
When Lansberg attempted to further explain his original statement, Chael seemed perplexed by the point he was trying to make.
“What are you talking about? What is this, your first day on the job? You’re mixing five different stories here,” he snapped. “This is like doing amateur hour or something. What show am I on here? Is this for public radio?”
“The Gangster from America” genuinely seemed pissed off at the tedious line of questioning by Lansberg and he let the longtime host of “Off the Record” know that he wasn’t impressed with the interview, by continually berating him and eventually walked off the set in apparent disgust.
Besides firing continuous salvos at Lansberg, Chael also took potshots at Silva and UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre during the 10-minute interview.
The Most Interesting Man in the World: 1
Cocky Canadian reporter: 0
Let your fists do the talking. The adage seems to have gone by the wayside, as more and more, fighters are finding success by effectively ranting against their opponents. Opponents are not the only targets, though. It could be their countrymen, their c…
Let your fists do the talking.
The adage seems to have gone by the wayside, as more and more, fighters are finding success by effectively ranting against their opponents.
Opponents are not the only targets, though. It could be their countrymen, their camp, their previous opponents, wives or sponsors.
At the sport’s inception and until the last two years, mixed martial artists were closer to their Roman counterparts, the gladiators, than their boxing brethren. They gave somewhat canned interviews and then got into the cage and fought.
Chael Sonnen wasn’t a star; he was just a wrestler who couldn’t defend a triangle.
He’s still that, but now his mouth is a star. And not in a Jenna Jameson sense.
Chael has revitalized his career by being loud. Not just loud, but purposely offensive. Over the top at every opportunity and more a character than an actual fighter. People who had never really watched the sport before were drawn in by his insults to Lance Armstrong and his subsequent denial.
This is still the same man who lost to Demian Maia without being hit by a single damaging strike.
And yet, despite being finished by an injured Silva and being suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, he’s back in title contention after defeating a man with zero discernible grappling ability in Brian Stann.
Nick Diaz was let go from the UFC after three consecutive defeats against wrestlers. One was above average, Diego Sanchez. One was average at best, Joe Riggs, and one was good, but undersized, Sean Sherk. Three straight times, Diaz was taken down, controlled and pounded on for three rounds.
The Stockton Slapfighter has yet to face a wrestler his size and win, to show a change in these glaring deficiencies.
He has made up for this by throwing middle fingers, complaining about his pay scale (despite being paid huge amounts for a non-UFC title holder), and generally spreading vitriol at anyone unfortunate enough to interview him.
He’s now challenging for the UFC Welterweight title.
Simply mentioning the names Josh Koscheck or Brock Lesnarimmediately conjure up the images and sounds of spreading discontent.
These real-life Internet trolls have made a career not out of being the best fighter, but being the best talker. And while I previously would not have cared whether they pulled these shenanigans, it has begun to affect better, harder working fighters who are soft-spoken.
Carlos Condit, who found a bit of fortune after picking up Diaz’s ill-deserved title shot, found himself a victim of bad luck when the champ was injured, and in a worse place after Nick Diaz’s schoolyard antics earned him a crack at Gentleman Georges.
Mark Munoz, after putting on a top-notch performance against Chris Leben, which was hot off the heels of a well deserved victory over former title contender Demian Maia… can’t even smell the gold-and-leather strap as long as the breath from Chael’s rants lingers in the room.
The bottom line: It’s fine when it’s entertainment, but when it starts turning to a necessity to earn a title shot, we need to remind our fighters of their job description:
With the recent allegations aimed at former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, the sports world has been thrown into a bit of chaos in the past few weeks. The story, which has undoubtedly tarnished the legacy of not only the college itself but also its legendary football coach Joe Paterno, is one of the most shocking and disturbing events to surface in the history of competitive sports.
Whether or not we’ll actually try to do anything but mock them is yet to be determined.
Check out ten of the dirty little not-so-secrets of MMA’s past after the jump.
With the recent allegations aimed at former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, the sports world has been thrown into a bit of chaos in the past few weeks. The story, which has undoubtedly tarnished the legacy of not only the college itself but also its legendary football coach Joe Paterno, is one of the most shocking and disturbing events to surface in the history of competitive sports.
Whether or not we’ll actually try to do anything but mock them is yet to be determined.
Here we go.
#10 – Brock Lesnar’s UFC 100 Tirade
(Video courtesy of YouTube/krispyism. Apologies for the shitty video quality.) What happened: After dealing with months of Frank Mir‘s off-color brand of mental warfare, Brock Lesnar let his fists do the talking at UFC 100, which is where the talking should have ended. After smashing Frank Mir in the second round of their heavyweight title fight, Lesnar proceeded to not only berate a battered Mir, but flip off the crowd, openly insult one of the UFC’s biggest sponsors in Bud Light, and then hint at fornicating with his smokin hot wife. Ok, so maybe the last part wasn’t so bad (if you put yourself in Lesnar’s position), but the rest of Brock’s outburst came off to critics and fans alike as an act of incredible stupidity and childishness. At a time when many UFC fans were reluctant to allow someone from the world of professional wrestling into their realm, Lesnar’s dramatic antics were the warning flare that many were looking for to discredit the UFC as a professional organization.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/leer5858.) What happened: On the heels of an interim title loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria and a 36 second annihilation at the hands of Fedor Emelianenko, it seemed to many that former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia had hit rock bottom. But nay, we had only witnessed the beginning. When it was announced that Sylvia would challenge former WBO champion Ray Mercer to a MMA match, most figured it was part of some charity event, or maybe just a case of a good old fashioned freak show fight. It turns out the latter was correct, as Tim Sylvia showed up to the event dressed as Giant Silva, and proceeded to be flattened 9 seconds into the bout compliments of the very first punch that Mercer threw.
The fallout: The fight was basically MMA’s version of Billy Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs, except that neither of the competitors were even close to being in their prime. And as that match attempted to ignite women with the belief that they could compete with men in a sports setting (lolz!), this match opened the floodgates for the likes of James “Mushmouth” Toney to badger his way into an undeserved fight in MMA’s highest promotion. And though MMA reigned supreme at UFC 118, there was truly no winner to be had in what was one of the most pathetic, one sided matches in the sport’s history.
As for the fighters involved, Mercer’s punch was apparently so powerful that it permanently disabled Sylvia’s ability to fight at under 300 lbs thereafter. Despite that fact, Sylvia would go 6-1 following the loss, picking up wins over Paul Buentello, Marius Zaromskis, and most recently Andreas Kraniotakes at the abysmal Pro Elite 2: Big Guns event. Mercer has yet to compete in MMA again.
#8 – Paul Daley’s Cheap Shot at UFC 113
(Video courtesy of YouTube/codymckinley.) What happened: Let’s be honest, Paul Daley is kind of a scumbag. After coming up short in his #1 contender match against Josh “Fraggle Rock” Koscheck, Daley decided that the best chance to land his most significant strike of the fight would be after the fight was over. So he approached Koscheck in what seemed to be a congratulatory hug, and then took a swing at him. Referee Dan Miragliotta best summed up the moment when, after rag-dolling Daley into the cage, simply said, “Are you kidding me?”
The fallout: Turns out, Dana White was not kidding either, and immediately fired Daley following the fight, stating, “I don’t give a shit if he’s the best 170 pounder in the world, he will never come back here again.” But, true to DW’s form, never doesn’t exactly mean…never. In the midst of the Strikeforce purchase, White was asked about the possibility of Daley returning to the UFC, and had this to say, “We’ll see what happens with that first. I just have a hard time with what Daley did.” Consistency, folks, it’s truly what keeps a thriving business thriving. And speaking of British folks with less than stellar reputations…
Chael Sonnen was just two minutes away from publishing arguably the greatest performance in mixed martial arts history when he squared off with Anderson Silva at UFC 117.It was the first time in the history of the “Silva Era” that he had been dominated…
Chael Sonnen was just two minutes away from publishing arguably the greatest performance in mixed martial arts history when he squared off with Anderson Silva at UFC 117.
It was the first time in the history of the “Silva Era” that he had been dominated for four and a half rounds as Sonnen controlled nearly every aspect of the bout.
But, when the clock displayed just two minutes remaining in the fifth and final round, Silva connected on what many consider the greatest submission of all-time as he tapped out Sonnen to remain the UFC middleweight champion.
Following their electrifying bout, Sonnen made it known to the entire world that he wanted and deserved a rematch immediately.
However, Sonnen didn’t stop there as he began to call out Silva on a daily basis by way of Twitter, the Jim Rome Show, and even on national pay-per-view television following his victory over Brian Stann at UFC 136.
Fortunately for Sonnen, he will now receive his much desired rematch as UFC President Dana White recently announced that Sonnen would be Silva’s next fight.
But, in a recent interview, Sonnen didn’t seemed as excited as he once was when he addressed facing Silva in the upcoming future.
“The fight’s going to happen for sure. I’ll be Anderson’s next fight. I don’t know that he’ll be mine.”
Sonnen continued,
“I’m not going to sit around and wait for him. I don’t just need the title, I need to be the best fighter in the world. If there’s someone who can knock me off and beat me then I don’t deserve to be there. So god bless them and let that guy have his shot.”
Now, that doesn’t found sound like the Sonnen we’ve previously knew as he had already declared himself the UFC middleweight champion.
However, Sonnen is now stating that he doesn’t need the title.
Sonnen also stated that if there is someone out there that deserves a title shot more and can defeat him, then let them have it.
Sonnen’s comments come as shocking to many and it leaves UFC fans across the globe with one serious question…
Is Chael Sonnen officially ducking Anderson Silva?
The often controversial UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen has made waves in the media once more.
Let your fists do the talking.
