Wanderlei Silva Asks Dana White For A TUF: USA vs. Brazil Show
The announcement was just made earlier this week, and already the hype is building around the next season of TUF: Brazil featuring longtime enemies Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva as coaches. The show was set to take place with a cast of Brazilian MMA prospects, but today Wand came out and said he wants to make it about country vs. country (translated from Portuguese via his Facebook page):
“Now it’s official, I will be responsible for representing our country, and yes I will make him pay for everything he said about us, I really need help and support from you in this, our new battle. Yesterday asked Dana to do a USA vs. BRAZIL show. He (Sonnen) chooses the fighters he thinks are the best of the best in USA, I choose here in Brazil, it makes no sense to be coach of fighters here, and I want to pick the fighters here.”
“The Axe Murderer” raises a very interesting point here. The concept has been tried before when Great Britain took on Australia on TUF: The Smashes, but obviously a USA vs. Brazil contest would be a much bigger production.
If Sonnen were to pick his favorite team of American fighters and take them down to Brazil for the season, the resulting episodes have the potential to be epic. Sonnen already proved that he is a great coach on TUF 17.
But the real story of this fight is Silva and Sonnen’s long-standing back-and-forth war of words that almost erupted into a physical confrontation at September’s Mr. Olympia Expo in Las Vegas. Silva is sick and tired of Sonnen’s constant disrespect of his proud Brazilian people. Indeed Sonnen’s insults have reached an almost legendary level, as he’s called out nearly every winning Brazilian UFC fighter since it began with his 2010 feud against Anderson Silva.
Sonnen is a marked man in Brazil. The next season of TUF: Brazil will be much more about the rivalry of Silva vs. Sonnen rather than the fighters looking to make a name for themselves. Putting the fighters’ homeland pride on the line simply adds fuel to the fire.
America and Brazil are both at the top of the list when it comes to MMA talent. “The Axe Murderer” asked his fans to pressure Dana White and Twitter to make his idea a reality. The pending Silva vs. Sonnen bout already has so much hype and buildup surrounding it that adding the first USA vs. Brazil season of TUF to the mix could make it legendary. Do you think this is the next direction TUF should go?
