Tag: UFC

Chael Sonnen hosted a Question and Answer Session in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania this past Friday prior to UFC 133.

MMA Fighting was kind enough to provide the video highlights of the entertaining session.  

The embattled UFC middleweight told the crowd the top three people of all time he’d like to fight are Adolf Hitler, Osama Bin Laden, and “a jerk that cut him off in traffic today.”

Apparently Sonnen was not happy about how the careless driver nearly caused his passenger, Mr. Danger Waffles, to almost “come flying through the front seat.” 

For those wondering, Mr. Waffles is actually Sonnen’s dog. 

This was just the beginning of many outrageous comments from the outspoken West Linn, Oregon native as he took questions from fans for a good hour.

A little surprisingly, Sonnen gave some credit to team Cesar Gracie, repeatedly calling their fighters “tough” and giving them a ton of credit for how hard they work.

He also acknowledged how hard Jake Shields trained for his UFC 129 fight for Georges St-Pierre, giving the reigning welterweight champion a verbal pat on the back for beating someone with the talent and work ethic and Shields. 

 

It did not take long for Sonnen to turn on the theatrics though.

When asked about what happened with his suspension by the California State Athletic Commission, Sonnen was anything but lost for words.

“Listen here’s what happened, I ended up in some hot water, and I had to go before…I had to go to the principal’s office, okay,” Sonnen explained.

“I was then put before 12 good men who got to decide my fate.  They can choose to put me through this door and I’m going to have to go away for a while, or they can send me out the door that I walked in.”

Before the hearing was over, Sonnen, who claimed that he wore a Valor track suit and white tennis shoes and kept his mouth shut prior to this point, said he told the commission:

“Before you decide my fate with this…you can send me that way, or you can send me through that same door I jus walked in, but as a public service, I will get rid of Anderson Silva.” 

In the same breathe, Sonnen added, “I will get ride of Lyoto Machida.  I will take out the Nogueira brothers in the same night…personally burn Black House down…and they said ‘Mr. Sonnen…not guilty!’ brought the gavel down, and I went out and about my way.”

 

 

Sonnen than went off about how much he hates when fighters withdraw from an event, comparing it out to when people call out sick from work. 

 

 

“I’m not one of these guys that when you go out to buy a ticket to see him, ‘maybe I’ll show up, then again maybe I won’t’,” Sonnen reflected.

Uncle Chael explained that some days, you’re just too sick to go work; however, he criticized how someone “could call out of work 30 days in advance.”

“Little Nogueira cancelled his fight on the Fourth of July….on the Fourth of July!  How do you know you’re not going to feel good on August 6?  Could one of you guys do that?”

“Could any of you guys pick up your phone, call your boss and say ‘On September 10 on not coming in,’ your boss goes ‘What are you talking about?’ and you go ‘Well, I’m not gonna feel good…I have a feeling I’m gonna have some bad chicken the night before.”

Quite an interesting analogy from Sonnen, to say the very least, and who can be surprised who took a shot at Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. 

Sonnen took it a step further when he mentioned “Oh, everybody’s saying the UFC’s plagued with injuries…the UFC’s not plagued with injuries! The UFC’s filled with cowardly charlatans!”

 

Brian Stann, and of course Chael Sonnen, were two people the Team Quest standout thought would never pull out of a fight once they had already signed on the dotted line.

Then, Sonnen began to tear into one of his favorite new targets: Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic.  

Sonnen actually said that he doesn’t have a problem with Cro Cop as a person, but the fact that Cro Cop is touted as a legend.

“Mirko, time out, there’s two guys in this company that can date their fight careers back to 1997: Dennis Hallman and me,” Sonnen stated.

“I’ve been fighting more than Mirko, I’ve had more title fights than Mirko, I’ve sold more tickets than Mirko, I’ve sold more t-shirts than Mirko, and I had to carry the heavy water,” Sonnen said, referring to his time fighting in smaller promotions. 

Mirko was essentially called a phony by Sonnen, since the former All-American wrestler feels that Cro Cop really hasn’t contributed anything to the sport. 

Meanwhile, Sonnen took credit for getting MMA legalized in Oregon, and then criticized Cro Cop for being a high ranking government official in Croatia, a country that does not even televise the UFC. 

 

At least as far as Chael Sonnen is concerned.

“So what in the blue hell has he done for anybody besides fall down?” Sonnen asked.

“That guy’s been dropped more times than the ball at times square, that guys hit the ground more times than the 80 second air born, you guys like that? Should I keep going?”

“That guy’s fallen down more times than an epileptic’s dropped his keys! It’s true,” Sonnen said, telling Cro Cop to go back to “fake wrasslin,” of course referring to the heavyweight’s days in Pride.

Chael then referred to his upcoming fight with Brian Stann as “the first defense of his middleweight championship,” and hammed it up from there as a young fan attempted to ask him a question.

“The people’s champion, the linear champion…undefeated and undisputed.  The best there is, the best there ever was, and the best there ever will be.  Thank you Brett Hart…Go ahead young man, what were you saying.”

Interesting, Sonnen acknowledged that Stann can beat him, and that he can beat Stann, as well as the fact that he is open to a rematch with Yushin Okami whether or not Okami beats Anderson Silva at UFC 134.

 

From there, Sonnen couldn’t resist taking some shots at the reigning UFC middle weight champion.

“Anderson Silva…What did he ever do?  He beat up a one legged Canadian and a math teacher…he beat a bunch of guys that aren’t even good enough to be in the company anymore.”

“It’s like the UFC was his dietician and his lycopene levels were low he was fed so many tomato cans,” Sonnen stated. 

For those that are not nutrition experts, lycopene is found in tomatoes, red carrots, watermelons, and papayas, and is thought to be a pigment that can help prevent certain cancers.

Sonnen wasn’t done ripping into “The Spider” just yet, mentioning that while he’s not overlooking Brian Stann, he’d love to have another bout with Silva.

“As far as the triangle, I do give him credit…I mean I’m a little bit embarrassed for him,” Sonnen began. 

“Triangle chokes are the refuge of cowards.  I would never stoop to that level to lock my legs around another mans head and squeeze, ya know, I only gave him that victory out of sympathy that he even tried that.”

 

A very odd rationale to consider, and then Sonnen concluded by saying “oh my rib hurts.  Yea Anderson, I believe that.  Your ribs have the same problem my hands and feet do: they’re attached to a wuss.”

Unexpectedly, Sonnen also took the time to acknowledge the accomplishments Rich Franklin. 

“I also am a fan of Rich Franklin, he’s done an excellent job, he’s headlined a bunch of shows, he’s a world champion… let’s make sure I’m not delusional, Rich is very good.  It’s just a fun thing to say ‘math teacher’. Who couldn’t beat up their math teacher?”

Sonnen then explained why he thinks a fight between him and Franklin is a logical one.

“But yea listen: I’ll fight Rich Franklin, sure.  Matt Linland have got some history, it dates back a little bit. Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin had a fight, their was some controversy around it, and I’m from the same fold.”

“So, ya know, I think it make sense. I’ll go in there and battle Rich. I think his days at 185 are done, he bumped up to 205, he pulled off this card, that’s another guy…that pisses me off guys.  That really upsets me when you won’t go fight on a card.” 

Even with the vast majority of the interview transcribed, this writer strongly suggests watching the interview in its entirety.   

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