Renzo Gracie believes Chael Sonnen has lost all respect with his comments about Anderson Silva
Former UFC fighter and BJJ trainer Renzo Gracie spoke out recently against the words of one Chael P. Sonnen, becoming the latest in a long line of Brazilians to lambaste the outspoken number one contender. Gracie’s words stem from Sonnen’s statements that centered around slapping champion Anderson Silva‘s wife “on the ass.” Gracie spoke the following, via Sherdog.com:
“If someone say this from my wife, where we meet in this life, I’ll bite the unfortunate who spoke this.
So I am against this kind of provocation. I hope no one ever do this to me, because the thing will go in a completely wrong direction”.
Obviously Gracie see’s Sonnen brand of fight promotion as offensive to Silva and Brazilians everywhere. Regardless if Sonnen’s words are jokes meant to hype up the fight for promotional purposes, Gracie views them as cause for a street fight. He continued on:
“I don’t like this kind of provocation because you end up losing respect. Where I come from, it smells blood. If a person offends you, so he must raise his fists whenever he see you. Because a fight will start wherever we are. So I think we have to treat opponents with respect.”
Renzo Gracie believes that the direction Sonnen has taken in trying to get into Silva’s head prior to their historic clash at UFC 148 this July 7th has ultimately cost him much respect. That is, what little he had amongst Brazilians before he made his statements, if any. Sonnen’s many statements about the Brazilian people, more specifically Silva, his family, Wanderlei Silva, and also the Nogueira brothers, could be viewed as disrespectful. They could also be viewed as a strong attempt at off-color humor, something Sonnen is no stranger to. Gracie acknowledged this with these words:
“Humor is a higher form of intelligence. Unfortunately not everyone can do it. You may want to be Ali, but there was only one Ali. Chael lost the class when he said he will slap on the ass of Anderson’s wife.”
The highly skilled BJJ master may have a point here, or he may be taking Sonnen’s words too seriously. As this historic rematch draws near, are Sonnen’s words an all-out attack on the culture of Brazil, or are they just another publicity stunt to get inside Brazilian fighters’ heads? If they are the latter, it would appear that Sonnen has accomplished his goal. We will see if Sonnen’s mouth will be shut in the Octagon on Saturday night.
Further Reading: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on UFC 148: I want to grab one of Sonnen’s teeth
