A Note to Future Interviewers of Chael Sonnen: DO NOT Bring up the “Mortgage Fraud” Thing


(Who just called me a thief?! Was it you?! I am an undisclosed investment opportunist you son of a bitch, so get your shit straight!) 

If there’s one thing we know about Chael Sonnen, it’s that he can hurl insults at other fighters, reporters, and entire countries with the lyrical ostentation of an 18th century poet (we also hear he’s an OK fighter as well). His ability to string together an eight or nine word sentence without having “uh” or “you know” constitute at least three of those words puts him head and shoulders above a lot of his peers (Junior Dos Santos is trying, you guys, leave him alone), so much so that he can almost convince us that Big Nog once tried to feed a carrot to a bus without sounding like a sundowning centenarian in the midst of an LSD flashback while doing so. Almost.

That being the case, you’d imagine that Sonnen would be able to take a joke, or at least an awkward question in stride, because those who cast stones at other people should expect stones to be cast at them, or whatever it is that they say. I’m not looking it up. But more often than not, this is not the case for the shit-spewing, trash-talkers of the world. Such is the case with Mr. Sonnen, who has shown us in such memorable moments as “Amateur Hour with Michael Lansberg” that he can’t exactly take it as well as he can dish it out.

Sonnen recently appeared on the John Canzano-hosted “Portland’s 750 -The Game” to promote his upcoming rematch with Anderson Silva at UFC 148, and when the subject of his past legal troubles came up, let’s just say that Chael went from about 0-100 faster than a McLaren F1 with Memphis Raines behind the wheel. And don’t think for a second that we don’t see the irony in poking fun at Chael Sonnen while at the same time lambasting him for excessively poking fun at other fighters. The Internet gives us a Diplomatic Immunity to do so and not even Roger Murtaugh can revoke it.

A full audio recording of the exchange and transcription are after the jump. 


(Who just called me a thief?! Was it you?! I am an undisclosed investment opportunist you son of a bitch, so get your shit straight!) 

If there’s one thing we know about Chael Sonnen, it’s that he can hurl insults at other fighters, reporters, and entire countries with the lyrical ostentation of an 18th century poet (we also hear he’s an OK fighter as well). His ability to string together an eight or nine word sentence without having “uh” or “you know” constitute at least three of those words puts him head and shoulders above a lot of his peers (Junior Dos Santos is trying, you guys, leave him alone), so much so that he can almost convince us that Big Nog once tried to feed a carrot to a bus without sounding like a sundowning centenarian in the midst of an LSD flashback while doing so. Almost.

That being the case, you’d imagine that Sonnen would be able to take a joke, or at least an awkward question in stride, because those who cast stones at other people should expect stones to be cast at them, or whatever it is that they say. I’m not looking it up. But more often than not, this is not the case for the shit-spewing, trash-talkers of the world. Such is the case with Mr. Sonnen, who has shown us in such memorable moments as “Amateur Hour with Michael Lansberg” that he can’t exactly take it as well as he can dish it out.

Sonnen recently appeared on the John Canzano-hosted “Portland’s 750 -The Game” to promote his upcoming rematch with Anderson Silva at UFC 148, and when the subject of his past legal troubles came up, let’s just say that Chael went from about 0-100 faster than a McLaren F1 with Memphis Raines behind the wheel. And don’t think for a second that we don’t see the irony in poking fun at Chael Sonnen while at the same time lambasting him for excessively poking fun at other fighters. The Internet gives us a Diplomatic Immunity to do so and not even Roger Murtaugh can revoke it.

A full transcription of the exchange is below, compliments of our buddies at Fightlinker:

Canzano: You came on the show a couple years ago, since that time you’ve had the Anderson Silva fight, you got the suspension for the testosterone levels, you got the guilty plea in the mortgage fraud thing in 2011…how much of that stuff is behind you? How much of that stuff are you still dealing with?

Sonnen: Uh…It’s all behind me. I’ve never been in any sort of mortgage fraud, I’m not sure where you guys get that term up. But every time I come on your show you make new things up…so. I guess it’s good. I hope you’re not still beating your wife, John.

Canzano: Oh c’mon. You didn’t plead guilty to any kind of crime?

Sonnen: Well sure, but is that what you just said? Or did you state a crime, as you do every time I come on the show and say things that aren’t true. And I said I hope that you still don’t beat your wife.

Canzano: I said that you pled guilty to mortgage fraud…

Sonnen: Right, and I said that I hope you don’t beat your wife and I was never even accused of mortgage fraud.

Canzano: What was it? Money laundering?

Sonnen: There you go!

Canzano: Okay, so it was money laundering. …In connection to a mortgage.

Sonnen: But you can see the problem when I come onto your show and you make things up. Don’t you see the problem when a hometown guy comes on and you make things up? This is why I don’t like to do your show. You’re unprepared, you’re unprofessional.

Canzano: Look, I’m looking right here at the research. I’m looking at the case…

Sonnen: You’re looking at the research?! I guarantee I know what you’re looking at, you did Google. ANd I’m glad that you admitted it on the air that that’s your level of research, John. You’re about the most unprofessional guy there is. And, boy, I hope you’re done beating your wife. Let’s just call the interview over.

Canzano: Chael! Come on, man! Seriously?

*Sonnen hangs up*

As you can see, this reporter was clearly out to get Sonnen, having nothing but his own personal gains in mind, hence the true middleweight champion’s appropriate retaliation. Money laundering is one thing, but MORTGAGE FRAUD?! He’s not a monster, for Christ’s sake! That’s like calling someone who has a few speeding tickets a rapist!! How this so called “disc jockey” had the intestinal fortitude to imply that Sonnen would use his position in the real estate business to swindle people out of their hard-earned money is just insane. Sonnen simply took their money under the false pretense that his people would make “repairs” to their homes, repairs that he secretly knew would never actually be carried out. The gall of this guy!

Help us vent our frustrations at this DJ’s narrow-minded insolence in the comment section.

J. Jones

Reminder: Join Us Today at 3:00 pm ET for a Live and Interactive Year-End Episode of “The Bum Rush Radio Show’


(He took a shot every time Xenophon mentioned a conspiracy theory.)

Just a friendly reminder that we’ll be heading over to the Cage Potato Radio Network Studios to tape our last episode of our widely popular “The Bum Rush Radio Show” podcast of 2011 and we’d love you to join us.

Ok, we lied. There is no studio and we probably should have replaced the word “widely” with “moderately,” but we have fun taping the show and that’s all that matters, right? It’s not about winning or losing, unless you’re the winner.

Anyway, we’ll be breaking down this Friday night’s UFC 141 card, going through some of the year’s biggest stories and taking calls from some of you hooligans.

Grab a bottle of bourbon and a shot glass and get in here. It should be fun, or at least more fun than work.


(He took a shot every time Xenophon mentioned a conspiracy theory.)

Just a friendly reminder that we’ll be heading over to the Cage Potato Radio Network Studios to tape our last episode of our widely popular “The Bum Rush Radio Show” podcast of 2011 and we’d love you to join us.

Ok, we lied. There is no studio and we probably should have replaced the word “widely” with “moderately,” but we have fun taping the show and that’s all that matters, right? It’s not about winning or losing, unless you’re the winner.

Anyway, we’ll be breaking down this Friday night’s UFC 141 card, going through some of the year’s biggest stories and taking calls from some of you hooligans.

Grab a bottle of bourbon and a shot glass and get in here. It should be fun, or at least more fun than work.

If you want to listen in live, bookmark THIS PAGE so you can navigate back to it at 3:00 tomorrow.

If you want to call in, follow these instructions starting at around 2:55 pm on tomorrow:

  1. Dial: (724) 444-7444
  2. Enter: 89629 # (Call ID)
  3. Enter: 1 # or your PIN if you are a TalkShoe member

Join from your computer:

  1. Click here to join the call or just listen along
  2. (Optional) Become a TalkShoe member

Facebook user? You can join this Call directly through the TalkShoe Community Calling Facebook application.

Remember to subscribe to the show on iTunes and to let us know what guests you’d like to hear on future episodes.

Join Us Thursday at 3:00 pm ET for a Special Year-End Call-In Episode of CagePotato’s Bum Rush Radio Show


(Who’s going to design a ‘Bum Rush’ drinking game for tomorrow?)

It’s been a while since we’ve opened up the phone lines to the Potato Nation, so we figured we were about due for another call-in edition of The Bum Rush Radio Show before we close out the year.

Mark your day planners (or write a reminder on your fridge) that the show will go live tomorrow at 3:00 pm ET and we will be taking calls from our faithful readers and seasoned trolls to get their thoughts on the year in MMA and our performance in 2011.


(Who’s going to design a ‘Bum Rush’ drinking game for tomorrow?)

It’s been a while since we’ve opened up the phone lines to the Potato Nation, so we figured we were about due for another call-in edition of The Bum Rush Radio Show before we close out the year.

Mark your day planners (or write a reminder on your fridge) that the show will go live tomorrow at 3:00 pm ET and we will be taking calls from our faithful readers and seasoned trolls to get their thoughts on the year in MMA and our performance in 2011.

If you want to listen in live, bookmark THIS PAGE so you can navigate back to it at 3:00 tomorrow.

If you want to call in, follow these instructions starting at around 2:55 pm on tomorrow:

  1. Dial: (724) 444-7444
  2. Enter: 89629 # (Call ID)
  3. Enter: 1 # or your PIN if you are a TalkShoe member

Join from your computer:

  1. Click here to join the call or just listen along
  2. (Optional) Become a TalkShoe member

Facebook user? You can join this Call directly through the TalkShoe Community Calling Facebook application.

Remember to subscribe to the show on iTunes and to let us know what guests you’d like to hear on future episodes.

Make an Hour of Your Day a Bit More Entertaining and Check Out The Bum Rush Radio Show Episode 29

If you’re looking for something to do this afternoon while you pretend to be busy at work, get out those TPS reports, lock your office door and turn on the latest episode of The Bum Rush Radio Show so you can fool your bosses into thinking you’re hard at work.

On this episode Ben, Mike and Jared break down the main card of Saturday’s UFC 140 event in Toronto and give their thoughts on some of the hot button topics of the week.


If you’re looking for something to do this afternoon while you pretend to be busy at work, get out those TPS reports, lock your office door and turn on the latest episode of The Bum Rush Radio Show so you can fool your bosses into thinking you’re hard at work.

On this episode Ben, Mike and Jared break down the main card of Saturday’s UFC 140 event in Toronto and give their thoughts on some of the hot button topics of the week.

If you enjoy the show or have suggestions about segments you’d like to hear added to the show or topics you’d like to see covered, leave us your thoughts in the comment section below. We’re planning a revamp of the show in 2012 and appreciate your feedback so we can give you what you want to hear.

As always, you can subscribe to the show on iTunes, or you can right-click, save it by clicking HERE.

Check Out The Bum Rush Radio Show Episode 28 and Make Your Friday Go by a Little Faster

The Bum Rush is back this week with a short and sweet version of the show. In this episode Ben and Mike run through last weekend’s UFC 137 card and the week’s top stories lightning-round-style.

The Bum Rush is back this week with a short and sweet version of the show to help get you through your Friday a bit faster. In this episode Ben and Mike run through last weekend’s UFC 137 event and the week’s top stories lightning-round-style.

We apologize for the sound quality this time around. The technical issues will be ironed out for the next show, promise. In addition to Skype being its usual unreliable self, for some reason GarageBand by default recorded both the internal and external microphones on Mike’s computer so you may notice some ambient fan and keyboard noise from his laptop periodically throughout the show when he’s tweaking settings, instant messaging Ben and looking up stats.

As always, we’d love to hear your non-sound quality-related suggestions for future guests and topics you want to hear covered.

If you dig the show, you can subscribe to it on iTunes HERE. Alternatively, you can download the episode by right-clicking HERE and saving the show to your computer.

The Bum Rush Radio Show Episode 23: Short and Sweet Patriotic Long Weekend Edition


(Your country likes to party; our country likes to party. Why not make it a long weekend for both of us?)

If you’re like us, you’re sitting watching the clock waiting for today to be over so you can rip into the long weekend…unless of course you’re one of our Canadian readers, in which case you bastards are probably already sitting on a patio somewhere in a drunken haze trying to explain to oblivious onlookers the inside joke about Chocolate Al.

Do you buy gifts for each other on Canada day, or just drink in its honor?

Anyway, hope everyone has a safe and relaxing Canada Day/4th of July weekend. Give this abridged version of The Bum Rush a listen and waste an hour of your Friday. We were supposed to have our favorite MMA interviewer Karyn Bryant on this episode, but a last-minute scheduling conflict pushed her appearance back until the next show in two weeks. Chris Coleman also tried his damndest to be on the show, but technology foiled his efforts.


(Your country likes to party; our country likes to party. Why not make it a long weekend for both of us?)

If you’re like us, you’re sitting watching the clock waiting for today to be over so you can rip into the long weekend…unless of course you’re one of our Canadian readers, in which case you bastards are probably already sitting on a patio somewhere in a drunken haze trying to explain to oblivious onlookers the inside joke about Chocolate Al.

Do you buy gifts for each other on Canada day, or just drink in its honor?

Anyway, hope everyone has a safe and relaxing Canada Day/4th of July weekend. Give this abridged version of The Bum Rush a listen and waste an hour of your Friday. We were supposed to have our favorite MMA interviewer Karyn Bryant on this episode, but a last-minute scheduling conflict pushed her appearance back until the next show in two weeks. Chris Colemon also tried his damndest to be on the show, but technology foiled his efforts.

We did manage to break down UFC 132 and go through last weekend’s UFC Live on Versus 4 event as well as give our thoughts on the week’s news stories, including Marquardt’s TRT debacle and some tidbits about Cyborg’s contract negotiations.

If the player above doesn’t work for you or if you (for some strange reason) want to download the show, you can do that HERE or you can subscribe to The Bum Rush on iTunes HERE.