Wanderlei Silva: Chael Sonnen Is ‘The Biggest Joke In The MMA World’
Things between Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva continue to boil over ahead of their clash at Bellator 180 in New York City later this month (Sat. June 24, 2017).
It all started when Sonnen and Silva coached opposite one another on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil Season Three (TUF: Brazil 3), where the pair got into a physical altercation in the gym. Unfortunately, the pair never had the opportunity to settle their differences inside the cage – until now.
Both men have found their way back to mixed martial arts (MMA) competition under the Bellator MMA banner, and Silva (who hasn’t competed since a 2013 win over Brian Stann in the UFC) recently joined MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour to discuss the upcoming match-up.
“The Axe Murderer” missed a trip to California to promote his fight with Sonnen because he wasn’t feeling well, and also missed a press conference in New York City back in March – but he missed that one on purpose (quotes via MMA Fighting):
“When I (see) this guy, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Silva said. “I’m a professional, but the moment is different. No, I don’t wanna do something before the fight. When I (see) him, I don’t know, everything can happen.”
Years since their altercation in Brazil, Silva is still itching to get his hands on “The Bad Guy” inside the cage:
“If he (does) for me what he (did) for me here in Brazil, man… like my dad says, with a man you can’t play,” Silva said. “And I hope you’ll be better, because, man, against Tito (Ortiz) you were terrible. He’s a good talker, commentator, but, man, to fight… Man, if you don’t train… You have 12 more days. Go run to make you have cardio because I’m gonna beat you so bad.
“He talks so much, he do a lot of bad things for me here in Brazil. He needs to be far from me because when I see him, man, not gonna be good for him. … I felt with a lot of guys, but this guy is different. This is personal. I don’t like him. It’s tough for me to talk about this guy. I saw him, makes me feel sick. I don’t like this guy.”
Silva then poked fun at Sonnen’s first round submission loss to Tito Ortiz at Bellator 170, which the Brazilian got a good laugh out of:
“He looked (like a) kid,” Silva said. “This guy wanna fight with me? [laughs] He’s the biggest joke in MMA world, and this time I’m gonna prove. I have a lot of surprises for you guys. You guys are gonna enjoy this fight. … Tito is good, but, him, man, he’s terrible.
“I think it’s gonna be the most easy money I’m making in all of my life. I think it’s going to be the easiest fight of my life.”
Silva said that after he fights Sonnen in his own country of the United States, he’d like a rematch with the former UFC middleweight title challenger in Brazil next:
“This fight, man, is gonna be totally different for me because this guy crossed all the lines for me,” Silva said. “He has just two weeks to talk. After this two weeks, I’m gonna teach a good lesson for him. I’ll punish him.
“I want to beat him there, in his house, in his garden, and I wanna beat him here in my garden. I’ll beat him there in America, in front of his guys, and I wanna beat him in front of my guys. … Beat him just one time, not going to be enough. I want to beat him two times.”
