Tag: UFC 148

Tito Ortiz Says Anderson Silva ‘Wants to Kill Chael Sonnen’

Following Anderson Silva’s physical confrontation with Chael Sonnen at a recent UFC 148 press junket, Tito Ortiz now believes “The Spider” wants to kill the self-proclaimed “American Gangster.” “It shows Chael Sonnen…

Following Anderson Silva’s physical confrontation with Chael Sonnen at a recent UFC 148 press junket, Tito Ortiz now believes “The Spider” wants to kill the self-proclaimed “American Gangster.”

“It shows Chael Sonnen is getting under Anderson Silva’s skin,” Ortiz told ESPN. “Is it a good thing or a bad thing? We’re about to find out.”

“Anderson’s feathers are ruffled, and he’s fighting out of anger now. I’ve never seen Anderson fight out of anger. To see him angry, out of character, he wants to kill Chael Sonnen.”

Before the UFC presser altercation, the Brazilian vented his fury at a UFC 148 media conference call—letting Sonnen and the MMA world know what fate awaited the trash-talking Oregonian.

“This is going to be violent and I am sorry. I’m going to make sure that every one of his teeth are broken, that his arms are broken and his legs are broken. He’s not going to be able to walk out of the Octagon by himself. I can guarantee that. He will need a plastic surgeon afterwards,” Silva said.

Those were the words of a man hellbent on total destruction and absolute mayhem. Whether Sonnen has ruffled Silva’s feathers as Ortiz alluded to is up in the air. What remains factual is that the verbal assault was indicative of a man with a serious axe to grind.

Prior to and ever since Sonnen failed in his attempt to unseat Silva at UFC 117, he has been a constant thorn in his side—berating him from pillar to post at every given opportunity.

Yet, more times than not, the UFC 185-pound titlist has kept schtum and allowed his arch rival to vocally vituperate to his heart’s content.

But now, Silva has methodically turned the tables on Sonnen, and the most anticipated fight in UFC history just got juicier.

Tito Ortiz is a former UFC light heavyweight champion and made a record five successful title defenses.

That said, “The Peoples’ Champ” formerly known as “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” will be inducted into the UFC’s Hall of Fame before his swan song rubber match with Forrest Griffin in the co-main event of 148.

UFC 148 is scheduled for July 7, 2012, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.

 

For additional information, follow Nedu Obi on Twitter.

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UFC 148 Preview: 3 Questions Heading into Silva vs. Sonnen 2

It’s the biggest UFC event of the year, and it’s only a little more than 48 hours away.On Saturday night in Las Vegas, Chael Sonnen will finally get his long-awaited rematch with Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title. Anticipation here in Las V…

It’s the biggest UFC event of the year, and it’s only a little more than 48 hours away.

On Saturday night in Las Vegas, Chael Sonnen will finally get his long-awaited rematch with Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title. Anticipation here in Las Vegas is high, and UFC fans around the world are ready for action.

Let’s take a closer look at three questions I have leading into one of the biggest fights in UFC history.

 

Is Anderson Silva actually angry, or is he just selling a fight?

For the longest time, Anderson Silva refused to respond to the barbs Chael Sonnen flung his way.

This was highlighted in Like Water, the excellent documentary that covered Silva’s preparation for his first bout with Sonnen. During the UFC 117 media conference call, Silva was curt with his answers, refusing to offer much in the way of rebuttals or even in-depth answers to legitimate questions.

Silva’s manager, Ed Soares, shook his head and said he didn’t know whether Silva didn’t understand the fight promotion business or if he just didn’t care.

That all changed two weeks ago during the media call for UFC 148.

A very different Silva emerged, angrily calling Sonnen a cheater and describing in great detail the amount of personal pain he planned on causing his opponent on Saturday night. Silva continued his verbal attack during Tuesday’s press conference and then did his best to invade Sonnen’s personal space during the faceoff.

The question is: Is Silva actually angry, or did he finally come to the realization that he needed to do his part in promoting the fight?

I think he’s angry.

Silva has never been concerned with selling fights. It’s just not in his nature. He cares about the martial arts aspect of the sport, and that’s about it. Even when his paycheck is dependent upon the success of the pay-per-view—like many others, Silva receives a portion of the profits from the broadcast—he has shown little desire to hype his fights.

This is an angry Silva. It took a long time to build up, but it finally bubbled over. It’s legitimate, and it’s a little scary.

 

Will that anger cost Silva the fight?

We’ve seen slightly angry versions of Silva in the past. We saw it during his bouts with Demian Maia and Vitor Belfort, both of whom Silva felt disrespected by, and for very different reasons.

And the resulting fights were very different. His bout with Maia was one of the worst in UFC history, while the Belfort fight produced one of the greatest knockouts in UFC history.

This is a different type of anger, but how will it affect Silva during the actual fight? 

It’s hard to say.

If Silva loses his mind in the cage and tries to destroy Sonnen early, it could leave him prone to making big mistakes. Bloodlust can be a very bad thing in a cage fight, and Sonnen will no doubt capitalize on those mistakes. 

I think Silva is a brilliant fighter. And I think he’s smart enough to realize that he can’t abandon his discipline and his game plan in an effort to, as he so eloquently said, “break all of his bones.”

 

Who wins the fight?

I’ve done an informal poll of various friends in the media on this fight, and I’m shocked at how many are picking Sonnen to win. This is hardly scientific, but I’d say that roughly 80 percent are picking the challenger to take the belt back to Oregon.

I can’t side with them. And I can’t pick against Silva.

Sonnen has a very real chance to win this fight. I think the early portions of the fight are going to be eerily similar to the first fight, with Sonnen putting Silva on his back and keeping him there. And I do believe Sonnen will take at least two rounds, perhaps three. 

But in the end, Silva is the best fighter in the history of the sport for a reason, and I think he’ll recover from an early Sonnen assault and finish the fight via strikes in the third round.

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Silva vs. Sonnen II: Chael Sonnen’s Greatest YouTube Interviews

This Saturday at UFC 148, Anderson Silva puts his belt on the line against Chael Sonnen. Sonnen is a showman. Maybe you’ve heard something about that. Here are some of the funniest, most interesting, most compelling clips from YouTube and elsewhere tha…

This Saturday at UFC 148, Anderson Silva puts his belt on the line against Chael Sonnen.

Sonnen is a showman. Maybe you’ve heard something about that. Here are some of the funniest, most interesting, most compelling clips from YouTube and elsewhere that not only feature the showman at work, but in some cases reveal the man behind the showman.

By the way, the UFC doesn’t like people using fight video clips. So, sorry, but no “ANDERSON SILVA, YOU ABSOLUTELY SUCK!” in this particular slideshow. Even though it’s out there—oh, it’s out there.

But these five cuts are still prime Chael Sonnen. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the sound waves.

Begin Slideshow

Tito Ortiz: Why We Want the ‘Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ to Come Back for UFC 148

At UFC 148, we the fans want…no, we insist that for one night only, Tito Ortiz, he of “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” fame, assume said moniker when he steps into the Octagon and brings the curtain down on a storied career. The last sighti…

At UFC 148, we the fans want…no, we insist that for one night only, Tito Ortiz, he of “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” fame, assume said moniker when he steps into the Octagon and brings the curtain down on a storied career.

The last sighting of “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” was at UFC 132 when he further derailed the title aspirations of Ryan “Darth” Bader courtesy of vicious guillotine choke.

With said victory, he elected to assume the sobriquet of “The People’s Champ”—a moniker which equates to bad boy gone good.

However, following that impressive showing, he suffered an ignominious defeat to Rashad Evans, and next came a first-round drumming at the hands of Antonio “Lil Nog” Nogueira.

Forget Chael Sonnen’s rhetoric, cast aside the surly antics of Nick Diaz and stifle the “Rampage” that is Quinton Jackson, because this trio of soi-disant bad boys ain’t got nothing on MMA’s original villainous villain.

A trilogy battle beckons against old foe Forrest Griffin—with one apiece, it’s a prerequisite that “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” comes back for UFC 148.

Here are the whys.

Begin Slideshow

UFC 148 Fight Card: The Day UFC Fighters Tried to Kill Me

When Alan Belcher started warming up, alone on a mat big enough for 100 people, I was still naive enough to believe I was going to be OK. He was gently stretching and limbering up. No big deal.Then, the stretches got ridiculous. The UFC middleweight co…

When Alan Belcher started warming up, alone on a mat big enough for 100 people, I was still naive enough to believe I was going to be OK. He was gently stretching and limbering up. No big deal.

Then, the stretches got ridiculous. The UFC middleweight contender was contorting his body into unnatural positions, and it dawned on me—this guy might be halfway serious about this.

Gulp.

It was quite a welcome to International Fight Week—a UFC initiative that includes a pub crawl and plenty of opportunities to get some one-on-one time with the legends of the cage. I was among almost 100 media members packed into the UFC’s Ultimate Fighter gym, ready to put myself into the hands of four trained professionals.

Pictures filled the building—bigger than life images of the greats like Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin. But they weren’t the only UFC fighters in the gym that day, as many of us would learn to our chagrin. Their flesh-and-blood counterparts would be putting us through our paces.

Flyweight contender Joe Benavidez joined Belcher at a grappling station. Xtreme Couture fighter Mike Pyle, and his wicked awesome mullet, put us through our paces in the boxing ring.

And waiting in the cage—the ominous and iconic UFC Octagon?

Just Daniel Cormier, United States Olympian and the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner.

It was a daunting experience. It started out well enough. After a brisk warmup, Belcher ran us through some techniques on the mat. Partnered with my colleague Jeremy Botter, I had the chance to strangle him—just like I always wanted to. And then Benavidez showed me how to cinch the choke in even tighter, essentially by crushing one of Jeremy’s arms.

He had to take his glasses off. It was getting serious. This was good.

Botter, of course, was giving as good as he got. His hand snaked around my neck as he lived out all of his Snowden-smashing fantasies. In what seemed like an instant, it was over, off to the next station.

Unfortunately, just two minutes separated the two 20-minute workouts, and I was still out of breath as Pyle pushed us through some basic boxing work in a ring. I was wearing down as the session hit its midway point. What were supposed to be full-speed flurries were ponderously slow. By the end, I was feeling every one of my 37 years.

And then, we met Daniel Cormier. The wrestling machine had us take a squat, and we all tried our best to approximate a wrestling stance. He physically had to put Botter and I in our place. But after 45 minutes, my body was screaming at me. My hamstrings and lower back were quavering. If I wanted to walk the miles and miles of the Vegas strip the next couple of days I was going to have to make a decision.

“You tapping out already?” Cormier asked. Whether out of genuine or sarcastic concern, I’ll never know. That pushed me on further, but the truth was, my body just wasn’t going to get in a wrestling stance. I was through.

There was a sense of failure, but more than that, a real admiration for these athletes. For them, this was more like a workout. For the media? Let’s just say that our group was suspiciously smaller by the time we reached Cormier’s cage.

I know I’m going to feel this workout tomorrow. I feel it right now. But, seriously, what an experience. To stand in the Octagon with someone I respect as much as Cormier and to have the real professionals take the time to explain just a little bit about what they do meant a whole lot.

The precision of the techniques, the little things, the hard work it takes to succeed—you can hear about these things until the world stops turning, but there’s something to be said for first-hand experience—even if it’s only for an hour.

I know my colleagues from around the world felt the same way. UFC staff was thrilled with the turnout, almost 100 strong. And even though they tried to wreck my body and give me a coronary, it was all worth it. Sign me up for Round 2. Next time, I’ll be ready.

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UFC 148 Fight Card: Which Fight Will Steal the Show?

This Saturday, one of the most anticipated fights of all time will take place, as Chael Sonnen will once again fight Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title.Many are expecting this fight to be just as fantastic as the first one, no matter who end…

This Saturday, one of the most anticipated fights of all time will take place, as Chael Sonnen will once again fight Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title.

Many are expecting this fight to be just as fantastic as the first one, no matter who ends up the victor in the end. However, the main event can’t be a show stealer if everyone expects it to be awesome.

The entire card is stacked from top to bottom. On the FX prelims, expect Melvin Guillard and Fabricio Camoes to be a great back-and-forth fight, and expect Gleison Tibau against Khabib Nurmagomedov to contend for Fight of the Night.

However, the fight that will steal the show will be Cung Le against Patrick Cote. Le is coming off a second round TKO loss to Wanderlei Silva, and Cote is making his return to the Octagon after winning four straight outside of the UFC.

Le is 7-2 in his career, and both of his losses have come by (T)KO—once to Wandy and once to Scott Smith while in Strikeforce.

Cote has several more fights, and he is 17-7 in his career. In addition to that, his only loss by any form of (T)KO was the knee injury he suffered in the Anderson Silva fight.

Both of these fighters are strikers first, with solid chins to back up their striking. Expect this one to go into the third round. It will either be finished in the third, or it will go all 15 minutes.

Then after that, we’ll get to see Forrest Griffin face Tito Ortiz, and the fight we’re all waiting for: Anderson Silva against Chael Sonnen.

UFC 148 is going to be one of the best cards in UFC history, and Cote and Le will have a hand in that.

 

Tim McTiernan is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. For the latest news on everything MMA, follow him on Twitter @TimMcTiernan.

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