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Anderson Silva Calls Chael Sonnen ‘A Loser in Every Sense,’ Criticizes Okami for Associating With Him

(“And you made sure my nose looks like a big-ass clove of garlic? Okay, perfect.”)

We weren’t expecting much trash-talk in the lead-up to UFC 134‘s middleweight championship headliner between Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami — but the Spider continues to be the aggressor in the pre-fight war of words. This weekend, Silva gave an interview to Brazil’s O Globo newspaper, and expressed disappointment at Okami’s association with longtime training partner Chael Sonnen:

“You have to find the best person to train you, and I think he chose wrong…I will never line up with a loser, a loser in every sense. [Sonnen] did not win the fight (against me), (he) was caught doping, is being sued for various things, and is suspended from the UFC…Want to be a champion? (Be) allied with good people.”

(“And you made sure my nose looks like a big-ass clove of garlic? Okay, perfect.”)

In Okami’s defense, he started working with Sonnen long before Chael’s life imploded, and Team Quest was just one stop on Okami’s globe-trotting training tour. Plus, “good people” is a subjective phrase, isn’t it? I mean, other people might consider this guy to be a douchebag.

As you may recall, Silva spoke out last month about his first meeting with Okami — the 2006 Rumble on the Rock bout that famously ended with a DQ-via-illegal-upkick — claiming that Okami could have continued fighting, but basically puss’d out in order to pick up an easy victory. It seems like Silva is slowly working himself up into a one-sided rivalry with Okami. Whether that will lead to a better or worse performance from the champ…well, that’s always a mystery.

Anderson Silva: Yushin Okami Trained with a “Loser” in Chael Sonnen

Believe it or not, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva isn’t a fan of one time contender Chael Sonnen. Who would’ve thought those weeks of trash talk last summer would rub the reigning champion the wrong way? Specifically, &ld…

Believe it or not, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva isn’t a fan of one time contender Chael Sonnen.

Who would’ve thought those weeks of trash talk last summer would rub the reigning champion the wrong way?

Specifically, “The Spider” went off on Sonnen when discussing his upcoming title defense against Yushin Okami; who already owns a disqualification win over Silva.

Silva recently stated that he felt that Sonnen did not deserve a rematch with the UFC’s longest reigning champion, and decided to flat out rip into Sonnen this time around when he was informed that Okami trained with the Team Quest standout recently.

Sherdog.com took the time to find the most noteworthy quotes from Silva during an interview with O Globo, Brazil’s second largest newspaper.

“You have to find the best people to train with, and I think [Okami] chose wrong,” Silva stated. “I’d never align myself with a loser, a loser in every sense.”

Apparently, Silva is getting fed up about hearing Sonnen’s name, despite the fact that the former two-time NCAA All-American wrestler has not fought since last August.

Silva submitted Sonnen in the fifth round of the aforementioned UFC 117 encounter, after hands down losing the four rounds prior.

The Spider explained his logic, saying “He didn’t win the fight [between us] and got caught doping. You want to be a champion? Get with good people, with winners.”

Silva even went as far as to say that Sonnen is not a top tier middleweight, indicating for the first time that Sonnen only gave the Brazilian a good fight due to Silva cracking his ribs during their fight.

“Moreover, Sonnen wasn’t a tough opponent for me. I was injured with cracked ribs and fought five rounds. If I hadn’t been injured, the fight would have been different.”

Despite his harsh criticism in Okami’s choice of training partners, he still expects the Japanese superstar to give him a good fight in a rematch of their 2006 showdown in the Rumble on the Rock tournament.

“I’m starting to feel like Brazil vs. Argentina, not the rivalry but the pressure. I’m trained not to feel pressure, to approach it as just one more fight. And I’ll have to train because [Okami] will be well-trained, just like the Argentines when they come to play here [in soccer].”

Okami vs. Silva will be the main event fight at UFC 134 on August 27, taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Stay tuned for when Uncle Chael fires back at Silva in the very near future.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Yushin Okami, Takanori Gomi and the 10 Best Japanese Fighters of All Time

Japanese mixed martial arts has recently fallen on a bit of hard times and as a result, so has the development of the fighters who live and train there. It is a far cry from the glory days of MMA in Japan during the 1990’s and early to mid 20…

Japanese mixed martial arts has recently fallen on a bit of hard times and as a result, so has the development of the fighters who live and train there.

It is a far cry from the glory days of MMA in Japan during the 1990’s and early to mid 2000’s, where the land of the rising sun held epic fight cards regularly under such promotions as “Shooto” Vale Tudo, Pancrase, and of course, Pride FC.

During those glory years, Japanese MMA stood on it’s own with many Japanese fighters becoming local heroes for their blood-and-guts performances against countrymen.

In addition, some became national heroes for waving the Japanese flag in fights against the biggest and baddest fighters from the rest of the world.

It is with great honour that I present to you, The 10 Best Japanese Fighters of All Time.

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UFC 134 Fight Card: Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami, Early Head-to-Toe Breakdown

Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami first squared off at the now-famous January 2006 Rumble on the Rock tournament that featured Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit as well. Their first encounter ended in a controversial disqualification win for …

We will probably never know why it happened. Did Anderson not understand the rules? Did he do it on accident thinking the Pride rule system was being used? We may never know exactly what was going through his head on that day.

Either way, this fight marked the last loss for UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and it is one that he wants back.

Silva has more of a reason than usual to train hard. Fighters yearn to avenge their losses to prove they are the better man indeed. Silva is even more motivated due to the fact that he feels Okami could have continued in their first fight and chose to take the easy way out.

And if there’s one thing I know, an angry Anderson Silva is a scary man.

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Bas Rutten, Frank Shamrock and the 8 Most Underappreciated Fighters of All Time

In the world of mixed martial arts, the hype machine can be an extremely frustrating thing to a fighter.Some fighters are hyped up too quickly for their game to keep up and that can lead to undeserved fights, endorsements, and all around fan popularity…

In the world of mixed martial arts, the hype machine can be an extremely frustrating thing to a fighter.

Some fighters are hyped up too quickly for their game to keep up and that can lead to undeserved fights, endorsements, and all around fan popularity.

On the other side of the hype coin there are many fighters in this business who’s discipline, blood, sweat and tears seems to go unnoticed no matter what they have done or continue to do when the cage door closes.

It is sometimes a tough pill for a professional fighter to swallow, when they get bypassed and overlooked by the powers that be, for the up and coming, fresh, largely unproven newcomer.

As a shout-out to all those fighters who have sat in the emergency room for hours getting stitched up, while the others jet to the nearest post-fight party, here are the eight most underappreciated fighters of all time.

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MMA: 10 Best Left-Handed Fighters Today

Left-handed fighters, better known as southpaws, have caused trouble for many right-handed fighters throughout history. The history of boxing dates back to ancient Sumer, ancient Egypt and ancient Greece, but The southpaw stance began with western boxi…

Left-handed fighters, better known as southpaws, have caused trouble for many right-handed fighters throughout history.

The history of boxing dates back to ancient Sumer, ancient Egypt and ancient Greece, but The southpaw stance began with western boxing well over 200 years ago and has since transitioned over to Mixed Martial Arts.

Standing with the right foot forward and left foot back, the southpaw is the exact opposite of a right-handed orthodox stance and poses many potential dangers to fighters that haven’t trained properly for a southpaw.

Some of the most famous southpaw boxers include, Marvin Hagler, Hector Camacho, Winky Wright, Joe Calzaghe and Manny Pacquiao.

Boxing has now made its way into MMA and is trained as one of the top three disciplines, along with Muay Thai and grappling.

In this slideshow, we will examine the top 10 best left handed fighters in MMA today, starting with the No. 10 ranking and moving down to the best southpaw at No. 1.

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