Just days removed from his UFC 148 rematch with UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, you would think that Chael Sonnen—considered by many to be the funniest man in MMA today—has no time for jokes.Guess again.In an excellent piece of sa…
Just days removed from his UFC 148 rematch with UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, you would think that Chael Sonnen—considered by many to be the funniest man in MMA today—has no time for jokes.
Guess again.
In an excellent piece of satire, Sonnen starts the interview off giving no sign that he might be making a joke.
“I don’t know that I’m a ‘self-proclaimed’ gangster. I’m from the mean streets of West Linn, Oregon, and I’ve seen things and been through things that somebody like you, in your little pearly loft, couldn’t even relate to,” said Sonnen.
In fact, Sonnen seems emotional at first, as if he is going to share some dark stories from his childhood with the interviewer.
“If you’re asking me to share stories with you, that are frankly none of your business, maybe I’ll give you a couple and maybe you’ll take that little smug look off your face.”
Here’s were Sonnen busts out some hard-hitting details about how tough his upbringing was, right?
Not exactly.
This is where the feel of the interview begins to change and, though he remains staunch in his demeanor, Sonnen begins to let the audience in on the joke.
“I can date back to when I was 11-years-old. I’m minding my own business and I’m in a park. This guy, a stranger to me, takes a piece of gum out of his pocket. He puts it in his mouth and then he just throws the wrapper on the ground. He publicly litters. And I saw that! I had to see these things at a young age. Sure somebody came along, picked it up, and threw it in a trash can, but for the few moments where that sat on the ground and the law was violated in my neighborhood…”
Though many of the commenters on YouTube missed it, Sonnen is kidding around at this point. From there, Sonnen built on the joke, providing more and more ridiculous examples of the “hard knocks” he experienced growing up.
“We have chaos. We have anarchy at times in West Linn. There was years when my father didn’t even make a-hundred-grand—or barely made a-hundred-grand—and sure we had a maid, but she only came twice a week. What do you think happened the other five days? You think those dishes washed themselves? You think those clothes got themselves in the hamper?”
Given that Sonnen has no background in performance arts, his acting in this video is impressive. Though the words he’s saying make the joke clear, he doesn’t once break character.
Tune into UFC 148 this Saturday to see Sonnen and Silva try to live up to their first legendary fight back at UFC 117, in what many consider the biggest rematch in UFC history.
And stay tuned to Bleacher Report for everything UFC 148.
Andrew Barr is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a stand-up comedian.Check him out on Twitter @AndrewBarr8.
At UFC 148, Canadian middleweight Patrick Cote will try to build momentum in his return to relevance against skilled kickboxer Cung Le. Cote is no stranger to the comeback. As a The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback runner-up, Cote knows what it takes…
At UFC 148, Canadian middleweight Patrick Cote will try to build momentum in his return to relevance against skilled kickboxer Cung Le.
Cote is no stranger to the comeback. As a The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback runner-up, Cote knows what it takes to climb up the rankings after a rough patch.
Cote began his career inside the octagon after a 5-0 start on the Canadian regional scene against some light heavyweight in 2004 named Tito Ortiz. Cote would lose his UFC debut by unanimous decision and was promptly cut.
After just one victory outside of the UFC, Cote was brought on once again. This time as a middleweight. However, the results were still the same as back-to-back losses at the hands of Joe Doerkson and Chris Leben led to Cote’s dismissal from the company.
Determined to get back to the UFC, Cote once again hit the Canadian scene to rebuild his resume.
Once again, Cote was able to resurrect his career as back-to-back wins netted him an invite to the UFC’s lone Comeback season of The Ultimate Fighter. The season, which featured a cast of fighters who had previously fought in the UFC, proved to be just what Cote needed to revitalize his UFC dreams, as he beat Jorge Rivera and Edwin DeWees to earn a spot in the series finale.
Cote ultimately lost the finale to Travis Lutter, who subsequently went on to lose to middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
However, Cote used his solid appearance on the show to launch his most successful run in the UFC.
Cote would go on a five fight win streak that included wins over Kendall Grove, Drew McFedries and Ricardo Almeida.
As one of the best contenders in the middleweight division, Cote was granted a title shot against Silva.
Cote’s fight against Silva would be a turning point. After fighting hard for two rounds, and absorbing plenty of punishment from the middleweight champion, a knee injury forced an end to the fight in the third round.
Despite the valiant effort by Cote, the loss would be the beginning of a bad run. Cote would go on to lose back-to-back fights against Alan Belcher and Tom Lawlor before being cut in 2010.
Faced with yet another setback, Cote did what he has done throughout his career: He hit the comeback trail.
Cote strung together three straight victories in 2011 and most recently earned a first-round stoppage victory over Gustavo Muchado in 2012 on his way to earning yet another chance to make a run in the UFC.
Once again, Cote has climbed the mountain to earn himself a spot on the UFC roster. Although his granite chin and aggressive style always make him interesting to watch, he’ll need a victory over Le if he intends to stay with the UFC for a long time.
Only time will tell if Cote has what it takes to make another run and revitalize his career—again.
Forrest Griffin’s attention during fight week is difficult to come by.The former UFC light heavyweight champion is no stranger to the hustle and bustle of the media grind or fans shouting his name in hopes of catching a picture or autograph. But with h…
Forrest Griffin‘s attention during fight week is difficult to come by.
The former UFC light heavyweight champion is no stranger to the hustle and bustle of the media grind or fans shouting his name in hopes of catching a picture or autograph. But with his showdown against Tito Ortiz quickly approaching, the only thing Griffin truly wants to do is fight.
He knows what he needs to do in order to claim victory against Ortiz, because he has done it before. He is also well aware of how the little things can make the difference between a win or loss, because Griffin has stood on that side of the line as well.
Being a veteran of the sport has taught Griffin many lessons. He knows it could all go silent should he fail to complete the task at hand.
That motivates him to push further.
His work ethic is second to none, and Griffin knows the fans are showing up to see him give it all.
If something gets lost in the exchange from catching a photo-op on his downtime to not acknowledging onlookers during open workouts, focus prevents this from bothering him.
It’s not that he doesn’t want your admiration and support, but on this particular fight week, the only thing he cares about right now is Tito Ortiz.
“The unfortunate thing about being a recognizable figure in the sport is that I get the most attention or whatever when I’m in the worst mood,” Griffin told Bleacher Report in an exclusive interview. “I’m actually a nice, approachable person but during fight week, at airports or when I’m with my daughter I’m not.”
“If I met you on the second day of the Boston Fan Expo and I was dismissive to you I really did have food poisoning. That’s how I know I’m famous because I’ve used both exhaustion and food poisoning as excuses for my behavior. Next I’ll use dehydration and hit the trifecta of famous people excuses.
“People are still mean to me about the second day of the Boston Expo. Apparently I was dismissive and short with people when they came to get photos or whatnot. I really do try but during fight week I’m saving my energy man. I’m appreciative of the fans coming out, make no mistake about it, but I look at it as if I lose this fight people are not going to care about me anyways. I feel like if you just win your fights then can kind of do what you want to do.”
Saturday night will mark the third meeting between the two former champions. Both of their previous affairs ended in split-decision with Griffin and Ortiz each claiming a win apiece.
This fight comes under different circumstances, as Ortiz has announced this will be his final showing inside the Octagon. Griffin intends to put a damper on “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’s” send off party and in the process erase any talk that he is on the same path.
“Getting motivated for this fight has been easy,” Griffin said. “The first two fights were close split-decisions. It is a big opportunity to get a win over a good name and a quality opponent. It’s a chance to get back on track to where I want to be. I’m getting the win. Somehow some way I’m going to pull that ‘W’ out.”
“I’ve heard a lot of talk about me retiring. I’m not retiring. I work two times a year for a total of 30 minutes. Every time after I fight I take a month off. I just want to make sure I win a couple fights a year. My whole thing in fighting is to never lose two in a row. Obviously I’ve done that once and don’t recommend it.”
Griffin’s journey through the UFC has been a roller coaster ride filled with successes and setbacks. After winning the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter, he became one of the most recognizable faces in the sport. Few imagined the Georgia native would ascend to the top of the rankings, but Griffin silenced his critics after defeating Quinton “Rampage” Jackson to claim the UFC light heavyweight title.
He would relinquish the belt in his next outing, but the achievement was set in stone. The achievement meant no one could deny he had made a mark on the sport, and when you tack two N.Y. Times Best-Selling books onto his resume, it’s clear Griffin has come a long way over the past seven years.
“I’m going to continue fighting and I’m going to continue writing books but accomplishments don’t mean anything because you don’t stop in the middle to look back,” Griffin said. “I have a great a great analogy I meant to put in the book and I’m not sure if it made it in there. When you are climbing a mountain you don’t look up towards the peak which is your ultimate goal and you don’t look down where you’ve already been. You keep your eyes right in front of you on the next hand hold or the next foot hold.”
“You have to think of life that way. Don’t get too far ahead of yourself and don’t revisit the past too much. Stay in the moment. Actually Bruce Lee told me that before he died. It was amazing. He told me that in a dream with David Bowie but it was a weird thing.”
Due to the 4th of July holiday, Forrest Griffin was kind enough to break down a few things American and a little more MMA for our Bleacher Report readers. Here is a list of quick hits.
How the Interview began:
“Why don’t you ask me about my game plan. That is always a great one.”
How Griffin celebrates Independence Day during fight week:
“I live everyday like it’s the 4th of July. Lots of guns and red meat. I’m actually thinking about hiring a Sarah Palin look-alike who pole dances. That sounds pretty patriotic.”
Griffin’s thoughts on Tito Ortiz’s head size:
“Tito’s head is big and that makes it easier to hit but I’ll tell you what—when it is on top of you and pushing into you that thing is no joke. It sucks.”
Who is more American: Ted Nugent or Willie Nelson?
“Man that is a tough one but I’m going go with Ted Nugent because the last time I saw him Ted had some wounded veterans out at his compound shooting machine guns. In my book veterans shooting machine guns is as American as it gets.”
Nick Diaz believes Chael Sonnen will finish what he started in his rematch with Anderson Silva at UFC 148.The former Strikeforce welterweight champ was one among many UFC superstars who offered up their predictions for the highly anticipated middleweig…
Nick Diaz believes Chael Sonnen will finish what he started in his rematch with Anderson Silva at UFC 148.
The former Strikeforce welterweight champ was one among many UFC superstars who offered up their predictions for the highly anticipated middleweight title bout scheduled for Saturday night.
“Chael Sonnen, win that whole fight last time, and then he got that triangle slapped on him. I say, if he doesn’t get submitted or knocked out in the fight, then he’ll probably win the fight. Chael Sonnen, five-round fight, or who knows? Maybe he can actually work his way into a finish in there.”
Sonnen, a world class wrestler, implemented his game plan to perfection in the first bout, which took place nearly two years ago at UFC 117.
Silva never had an answer for Sonnen’s constant pressure and strong takedowns. After being dominated for four rounds, Silva showed the heart of a champion by rallying late in the fifth and sinking in a triangle choke to net the submission win and retain his UFC title.
Despite Silva’s dramatic comeback, Diaz doesn’t believe Silva was looking too good in that fight. In fact, he wasn’t super impressed by Silva’s performance against Yushin Okami at UFC 134.
Diaz thinks his teammate Jake Shields missed out on a golden opportunity to take out arguably the greatest fighter of all time.
“I don’t think Anderson Silva was looking so hot in that [Sonnen] fight. I don’t think he was looking very good against Okami either a long time ago. I think Jake Shields would’ve won that fight, if he would’ve got to fight Anderson Silva that night, and I think that would’ve put him in a whole different place in life.”
At last, UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen pulls back the curtain to confirm that the “mean streets” of West Linn, Oregon, weren’t really that mean after all. LOL, etc., but can we take a moment to appreciate what a legitimately talented comedic actor Chael is? The pause at 0:27-0:33, the delivery of the “hundred grand” line at 1:27 — the man’s got a future in showbiz after Anderson Silva ends his MMA career this Saturday.
Seriously, TBS is giving away sitcoms to chuckleheads like Danny Masterson and Steve Byrne. Why not Chael Sonnen?
After the jump: A video response from the #1 dumbest broad on the Internet.
At last, UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen pulls back the curtain to confirm that the “mean streets” of West Linn, Oregon, weren’t really that mean after all. LOL, etc., but can we take a moment to appreciate what a legitimately talented comedic actor Chael is? The pause at 0:27-0:33, the delivery of the “hundred grand” line at 1:27 — the man’s got a future in showbiz after Anderson Silva ends his MMA career this Saturday.
Seriously, TBS is giving away sitcoms to chuckleheads like Danny Masterson and Steve Byrne. Why not Chael Sonnen?
After the jump: A video response from the #1 dumbest broad on the Internet.
UFC 148 emanates from Las Vegas this Saturday night with the biggest rematch in MMA history. UFC 117 was the much-publicized first battle that nearly saw the end of Anderson Silva’s long reign atop the UFC’s middleweight division.Chael Sonnen dominated…
UFC 148 emanates from Las Vegas this Saturday night with the biggest rematch in MMA history.
UFC 117 was the much-publicized first battle that nearly saw the end of Anderson Silva‘s long reign atop the UFC’s middleweight division.
Chael Sonnen dominated with wrestling and ground and pound until he was caught in a triangle choke late in the fifth and final round.
When the two meet with bad intentions on Saturday, Silva will need to use what he learned from the first fight to ensure another title defense.
Here are five key takeaways from their first fight at UFC 117.
At UFC 148, Canadian middleweight