CM Punk’s walk out with Chael Sonnen for the co-main event at UFC on Fox 2 was not confirmed by either sportsman—it was never official. Speaking to MMAWeekly.com the former NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division-l standout…
CM Punk’s walk out with Chael Sonnen for the co-main event at UFC on Fox 2 was not confirmed by either sportsman—it was never official.
Speaking to MMAWeekly.com the former NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division-l standout categorically refuted the claims.
“I gotta tell you, I read those headlines,” said Sonnen. “I never confirmed them. CM Punk never confirmed them. I’ll speak for myself… I’m not in the business of stopping a headline, but I never confirmed that anybody would be joining me. I know he didn’t confirm it.”
The initial reaction once the word got out that WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) superstar Punk would be escorting Sonnen to the Octagon was one of excitement and anticipation—the news went viral—creating a buzz which was felt in both realms of MMA and wrestling.
The early furor surrounding the impending collaboration regarding two of the sport’s most polarizing figures was, however, short lived.
Less than a fortnight following the news, reports surfaced that WWE President Vince McMahon had in essence thrown a spanner in the works, thus preventing Punk from accompanying Sonnen to the cage in his Jan. 28, matchup with Mark Munoz (who has since been supplanted by Michael Bisping following an injury).
The UFC’s favorite bad boy, Chael Sonnen, will be fighting in a middleweight title eliminator against Michael Bisping at the co-main event of UFC on FOX 2 next week. While this bout is supposed to declare the number one contender at 185 pounds, So…
The UFC’s favorite bad boy, Chael Sonnen, will be fighting in a middleweight title eliminator against Michael Bisping at the co-main event of UFC on FOX 2 next week.
While this bout is supposed to declare the number one contender at 185 pounds, Sonnen said don’t expect the winner to face off against reigning middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
“I can guarantee you – Anderson Silva and I will never cross paths again,” Sonnen told MMA Junkie today.
“The Spider” has been out of action due to bursitis and back problems since easily defeating Sonnen’s friend and occasional training partner Yushin Okami at UFC 134, which took place in August.
Uncle Chael has taken this inactivity from the octagon as a form of unofficial retirement by his most hated adversary.
“I know Anderson’s not going to fight. The folks at the UFC know he’s not going to fight,” Sonnen proclaimed.”
“I’m all for promoting and marketing and all that good stuff. I don’t want to throw water on a perfectly hot flame, but Anderson Silva’s not going to fight anybody.”
Interestingly, Sonnen claimed that the UFC planned to do an interim middleweight title bout between the respective winners of Michael Bisping vs. Demian Maia and Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz at UFC on FOX 2, prior to Munoz getting injured last minute.
Speaking of injures, Sonnen went on to say he is not questioning whether or not Silva is really hurt…before he goes on to question if the champion is really hurt.
“If a guy says he’s hurt, you’ve got to believe him. Only he knows, and I don’t need an X-ray or anything else,” Sonnen explained.
“I think it’s a little fugazi that he claims that he’s hurt, and then we see footage of him live sparring with Wanderlei Silva,” he continued.
“I think it’s a little fugazi that he claims he’s hurt, and I’ve got my friend (Muhammed) ‘Mo’ Lawal training with Machida alongside Silva. I think these things are peculiar. But if a guy says he’s hurt, it’s enough for me.”
The former two-time All-American wrestler at the University of Oregon, who has never been shy to question Silva’s character in the past, boldly declared that the current middleweight kingpin has turned down a potential Sonnen-Silva rematch on multiple occasions.
“I can tell you that behind the scenes, they (the UFC) tried to put me and Anderson together four times, and four times he said no,” Sonnen claimed. “I called him out publicly. You call out a Brazilian publicly, you’re going to be fighting that Brazilian.”
Sonnen is referencing when he called out Silva following a submission win over Brian Stann at UFC 136, saying “Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck!” before offering the champion a loser-leaves-town bout for the Super Bowl weekend card.
“The Gangster from Oregon” feels that Silva has fought his last fight based on Silva’s reaction that evening.
“That’s in their culture, and he sat there and covered his mouth and hid behind Charles Barkley, which is a smart move. It saved him a trip to the hospital. But Anderson Silva is not going to fight me. I don’t believe he’s going to fight Bisping. I don’t believe he’s going to fight again. That’s my personal opinion.”
Chael wanted to twist the knife a little deeper before calling it an interview.
“He even said no to (UFC executive) Lorenzo Fertitta’s face. Face-to-face, not over the phone – Lorenzo brought him out, sat him down, and said, ‘This is the fight we want.’ And Anderson said no.”
Sonnen and Silva infamously fought at UFC 117, with Silva being down on all three judges’ scorecards heading into the fifth and final round, before he made the challenger tap out to a triangle choke.
Middleweight contenders Michael Bisping and Chael Sonnen don’t have a lot of time to hype up their upcoming Fox bout on January 28, but Bisping isn’t letting the chance slip to get a few words in to his opponent.In a recent interview with ChicagoNow.co…
Middleweight contenders Michael Bisping and Chael Sonnen don’t have a lot of time to hype up their upcoming Fox bout on January 28, but Bisping isn’t letting the chance slip to get a few words in to his opponent.
In a recent interview with ChicagoNow.com, Bisping gives insight as to where he thinks he stands in the division and what he thinks about his opponent. Love him or hate him, he is here to stay and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. With a 12-3 UFC record, he has had steady success throughout his career fighting in the Octagon.
“To be honest Chael Sonnen is a failed partisan and a failed politician,” said Bisping, who is currently riding a four-fight win streak. “He also failed as being a champion because he had many times in the past to achieve that and didn’t succeed. Honestly, I would have expected something a bit better from him than just calling me Pip. He could have done a hell of a lot better and frankly I’m disappointed. He failed as a politician and his first insult was also a failure.”
Sonnen recently came back from over a year-long break to defeat Brian Stann at UFC 136. That victory followed his unsuccessful title fight against reigning champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva in 2010.
Many regard Sonnen as the best trash-talker in the sport, but there hasn’t been too much coming from him in the lead-up to the fight.
“I don’t think the words will be going back and forth like other fights because of the short amount of time we have,” Bisping continued. “We were supposed to do The Ultimate Fighter together and that would have probably caused a nice stir of on-screen drama, but we still have a week. I’m sure we will talk some sh*t, but I’m looking forward to the press conference to see what he brings to the table.”
Originally, Bisping was supposed to fight jiu-jitsu ace Demian Maia while Sonnen was set to battle Mark Munoz on the same card. After Munoz was forced to pull out of his fight due to an injury, Bisping was set as the replacement.
Maia will now take on Chris Weidman. The main event will feature former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, who is going up against Phil Davis.
“The thing is he thinks he’s going to win and I know that I’m going to win, which makes this fight that much more enjoyable,” said Bisping. “Sonnen is a world-class fighter and with a title shot on the line, what else would you want to see? This is a fight that you don’t want to miss and forget all the trash talk, just watch the fight next Saturday.”
In less than nine days, middleweight contenders Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping will go to war to decide who will be the next person to challenge Anderson Silva for the title. At the beginning of the week, both Sonnen and Bisping had different opponen…
In less than nine days, middleweight contenders Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping will go to war to decide who will be the next person to challenge Anderson Silva for the title.
At the beginning of the week, both Sonnen and Bisping had different opponents for the event as Sonnen was set to face Mark Munoz and Bisping was matched up with jiu-jitsu master Demain Maia.
However, an injury to Munoz forced the UFC to rearrange the card, pitting the two trash talkers against each other for the first time.
The change is not doing either fighter any favors as they will have to prepare for a brand new opponent in less than two weeks.
One person who has had plenty of time to study the ways of Michael Bisping was Maia himself and he told ESPN.com that Sonnen should not underestimate the Briton as he is a force to be reckoned with:
“They underestimate Bisping, but who defeated him so far?” Maia asked.
“Rashad, from a different division, Wanderlei [Silva] and Dan Henderson…only Henderson knocked him out. The others won by points. And by points is hard because he’s very strategic. He always finds a way for the win…The guys say he’s easy, that he has no punch, but you don’t need a punch, he only needs to win the fight.”
While in the UFC, “The Count” has never won a fight by way of knockout, but what he offers instead is precise and accurate striking that gives him the necessary points to win the fight.
One example of this was Bisping’s latest victory over Jason “Mayhem” Miller.
For close to two-and-a-half rounds Bisping picked Miller apart to the point where the opposing Ultimate Fighter coach had no energy left to defend himself.
Sonnen will most likely look to take the fight to the ground with his wrestling skills, but he should not underestimate Bisping’s other weapon: his takedown and ground defense.
The Briton has shown throughout his career that he can sprawl with some of the best wrestlers in the division and can be very effective on his back.
Sonnen will have to be cautious of Bisping’s submission game as he has lost two fights by way of arm triangle, one against Maia himself and again when he lost to Anderson Silva with just seconds remaining in the final round.
Sonnen has his work cut out for him as Bisping is no easy test and Sonnen will have to be prepared on all levels come January 28th.
We’re just nine days away from the greatest inter-continental Villain vs. Villain match in UFC history, as Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping square off for a shot at the middleweight title at UFC on FOX 2. The short-notice nature of the bout means that we won’t be getting as much memorable-trash talk as we could have. But Bisping is doing his best to build some heat, telling FightersOnly:
“Chael’s biggest weapon is his mouth – but this ain’t no kissing contest and he isn’t going to talk me to death. Unlucky for him he can’t hurt me with his mouth in the Octagon and I am going to crush him. I’m in my prime and this is my time…
[H]is wrestling skills will be on point, I’m going to get the best Chael Sonnen possible, I know that. But his jiu-jitsu wont be too slick. Chael Sonnen can take me down if he likes, because I know I can submit him off my back. I know I can. That’s his big weakness. I may not have a black belt, but I consider myself a black belt. I’ve been rolling with Jake Shields, Dean Lister and a wash of other world champions. Believe me, if Chael Sonnen takes me down he better be prepared to get submitted.
(“NOW, MIKE! GO FOR THE HEEL-HOOK!”)
We’re just nine days away from the greatest inter-continental Villain vs. Villain match in UFC history, as Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping square off for a shot at the middleweight title at UFC on FOX 2. The short-notice nature of the bout means that we won’t be getting as much memorable-trash talk as we could have. But Bisping is doing his best to build some heat, telling FightersOnly:
“Chael’s biggest weapon is his mouth – but this ain’t no kissing contest and he isn’t going to talk me to death. Unlucky for him he can’t hurt me with his mouth in the Octagon and I am going to crush him. I’m in my prime and this is my time…
[H]is wrestling skills will be on point, I’m going to get the best Chael Sonnen possible, I know that. But his jiu-jitsu wont be too slick. Chael Sonnen can take me down if he likes, because I know I can submit him off my back. I know I can. That’s his big weakness. I may not have a black belt, but I consider myself a black belt. I’ve been rolling with Jake Shields, Dean Lister and a wash of other world champions. Believe me, if Chael Sonnen takes me down he better be prepared to get submitted.
Working with these guys recently, these top level jiu-jitsu guys, has really brought on my game and I am so comfortable on my back right now. In the past I have stood fights up a lot but the way I am training right now, I will be delighted if Chael takes me down. If he does, then it will be a short night for him.”
It sounds like Bisping is already preparing for the likelihood that he’ll be on his back more than a porn star with a mortgage. But he’s right to lay his hopes on jiu-jitsu, considering that eight of Sonnen’s 11 losses have come via submission. Though Chael has earned a reputation for being a triangle-choke/armbar victim against Brazilian opponents (Anderson Silva, Demian Maia, Paulo Filho, Renato Sobral), he’s been submitted just as often by plain-old white dudes (Jeremy Horn [twice], Forrest Griffin, Trevor Prangley). I guess that should be encouraging to Bisping, in a totally stupid, irrelevant way.
As for Sonnen, the Gangster From West Linn has actually been keeping the personal attacks to a minimum so far, outside of a tweet last night comparing Bisping to Pip on South Park. In fact, Sonnen says he’s the furthest thing from a Bisping-hater, telling USA Today (via MMAMania):
“I’m not on the anti-Bisping bandwagon. I never have been. I think he’s good. I hear a lot of negative things said about him, but I think most of it comes from frustration of maybe his personality or something like that. I think if you’re real objective and you look at his skill set and his in-ring ability, you’ll know that he’s a talented guy. He’s definitely cocky and arrogant, which is two qualities that I like in a person. I like a cocky guy and I like an arrogant guy, so he earns points with me in those regards, but I think it turns a lot of people off … I’ve never even seen Bisping in trouble. I’ve never seen him come out of there cut and scraped and bruised. He seems to go in, take care of business and go home.”
As they say, game recognize game — and heel recognize heel. By the way, Bisping is currently a huge underdog against Sonnen. Should he be?
Michael “The Count” Bisping has ignited the fuse ahead of his epic encounter with Chael Sonnen at UFC on Fox 2, by stating that he will submit Sonnen if he takes him down. Bisping was propelled into the co-main event after Mark Munoz pulled…
Michael “The Count” Bisping has ignited the fuse ahead of his epic encounter with Chael Sonnen at UFC on Fox 2, by stating that he will submit Sonnen if he takes him down.
Bisping was propelled into the co-main event after Mark Munoz pulled out due to an injury sustained to his elbow.
“I’m going to get the best Chael Sonnen possible I know that,” Bisping told Fighters Only. “But his jiu-jitsu won’t be too slick.”
“Chael Sonnen can take me down if he likes, because I know I can submit him off my back. I know I can. That’s his big weakness.”
Sonnen’s susceptibility to submissions has been well-documented. To date, eight of Sonnen’s 11 defeats have come as a result of his inability to defend submissions.
The last time Bisping submitted an opponent was almost six years ago and that was against Ross Pointon whilst competing on The Ultimate Fighter Season 3 reality series.
Thus far, “The Count” has a total of four submissions in his career (two via strikes, one arm bar and a choke).
Nonetheless, Bisping said he’s been training with some of the elite practitioners of the art and now believes he stands a great chance against Sonnen if and when the fight hits the mat.
“I may not have a black belt, but I consider myself a black belt. I’ve been rolling with Jake Shields, Dean Lister and a wash of other world champions. Believe me, if Chael Sonnen takes me down he better be prepared to get submitted.
“Working with these guys recently, these top level jiu-jitsu guys, has really brought on my game and I am so comfortable on my back right now. In the past I have stood fights up a lot but the way I am training right now, I will be delighted if Chael takes me down. If he does, then it will be a short night for him.”
On the other hand, Sonnen is a former NCAA Division I wrestler, a base wherein most of his strengths lie.
However, it’s also safe to say that the Oregon native is by no means a novice when it comes to submissions, having four to his name as well, including an armbar he locked in to submit Brian Stann in his most recent outing at UFC 136.
With the fight scheduled to take place in less than a fortnight, and having little time to prepare for what could be the penultimate crowning glory in his career, Bisping is exuding confidence in abundance.
Enough conviction to suggest he’s as determined as ever to book his flight to Brazil and vie for the 185 lb crown.
“Without a shadow of a doubt this is the biggest fight of my career,” Bisping said. “It’s going to be the most watched fight of all time, with it going live on Fox TV, and I am fighting the number one contender. This is my title fight.
“I beat this guy and I am fighting for the title. I’m going to Brazil and it’s me that will be getting the big pay day. There is no doubt that I will beat this guy too. I am the better fighter. No doubt, he is a tough motherf**ker, but it’s my big opportunity and I will be ready.”
UFC on Fox 2 is set for Jan. 28, 2012, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
For additional information, follow Nedu Obi on Twitter.
CM Punk’s walk out with Chael Sonnen for the co-main event at UFC on Fox 2 was not confirmed by either sportsman—it was never official.