Is Sonnen in Silva's Head?
Apparently Anderson Silva is fed up with Chael Sonnen's pre-fight posturing and he wants his Team Quest opponent to lay off.In the above interview with Pro MMA Radio, Sonnen recalls a tense situation that occurred at this weekend's UFC Fan Expo in which Silva approached him to tell him to "relax."
Sonnen said that he told the UFC middleweight champ, who seemed frustrated by the amount of autographs he had to sign for fans at the event, that "in two months, he wouldn't have to sign any more because nobody will care about him again." Apparently Sonnen's remark was lost in translation at the time, but when one of Anderson's entourage later informed the Brazilian fighter what was actually said, he decided to seek Chael out and tell him to lay off.
It's starting to seem like Chael is getting inside Anderson's head, possibly exposing a chink in his seemingly impenetrable armor, which is likely his plan since "The Spider" has never shown any mental weakness in the past.
He's never faced a master of verbal warfare like Sonnen, either, so it should be interesting to see what happens on August 7 at UFC 117 when the pair finally lock horns.Let's look back on some of the missiles he has launched in Silva's direction thus far:
"A.S. Your run is T- 70 days. I'm not a math teacher from Ohio, I'm a gangster from Oregon. Talk is cheap, it takes money to buy whiskey."
"Anderson, you are going to be on your back more than a pornstar with a mortgage."
"I would imagine, who knows what Anderson's doing. At the end of the day, who cares. If he wants to leave the division, leave the sport, who cares. Beat it, nobody tunes in to watch him anyways, and his little fake 'I don't speak English. You want me to let you in on a secret, Anderson Silva speaks perfect English. He just has such a low amount of respect for you and all the rest of the media that he pretends he doesn't."
"He’s a grown man with earrings. He’s a grown man with saggy pants, pink t-shirts and crooked hats. Go join a gang, don’t get in the UFC. People don’t care about him. He came out and said he’s gonna go heavyweight, no one cared. So he comes out and says well ‘I’m gonna go light heavyweight,’ no one cared. ‘Well I’m gonna retire.’ Good! Beat it, this is back page news, no one cares about you anyway. ‘Well I’m not gonna retire I’m gonna stick around.’ Or do that. Again, it doesn’t really matter, you’re a nuisance. So who cares, they go make the little action figures and the two little kids that bought em, are probably pretty upset, their parents probably thought it was Quinton Jackson when they bought it for them and the kids had a disappointing Christmas I would imagine. That's a big difference. I became the number one contender on February and February 7 he sent out a press release as to why he shouldn't have to fight me. On August 7 he will fight me. I stand here of my own free will. He stands here because Uncle Dana is making him."
“I signed my contract and sent it in six minutes after it hit my fax machine. He’s been hanging on to (his contract) for 10 days and hasn’t signed it yet,” said Sonnen. “I’ll be fighting August 7 against somebody. I’m presuming it’s him, but again, he’s had it for 10 days. I don’t know if fax machines aren’t working in Brazil or what the holdup is.”
Hopefully the fight lives up to the hype Chael is creating for it.
So frequently I find myself and other MMA writers or followers say, "Man, I really wish this were a five-round fight" when speaking of a highly-touted main event which is not a title fight.There are only five divisions in the UFC, and some of the champions in these divisions fight on the same card, as B.J. Penn and Anderson Silva did at UFC 112. It is impossible to have a title fight on every card, and sometimes grudge matches or No. 1 contender fights deserve more rounds than the general bout.
Last night, Rashad Evans won a unanimous decision over Rampage Jackson, and the decision went rightfully in favor of "Sugar." However, in the third round Evans was rocked and the fight could have been stopped had Jackson landed a few more punches from the top position. If the fight went two more rounds, Evans easily could have controlled and outworked Jackson as he had the entire fight, but Jackson may have been able to stop Evans with one of his powerful strikes. Unfortunately, we were not able to see two more rounds between these past champions, who have fought in five-round fights in the past.
It is understood that the UFC wants to avoid long fights with little action as Strikeforce had in their Henderson-Shields card. The card featured three five-round fights that all went the distance, and the card was deemed lackluster by most fans because of it.
The UFC, however, seldom has problems like this due to the fact that they have a plethora of talented fighters compared to other promotions, and they don't need three title fights on one card to sell. Just as last night proved, a non-title fight can sometimes be an even more hyped matchup than one that has the belt on the line.
When a card would be announced with a headliner being a non-title fight, the fighter would be given ample time to train for a five-round fight. This means they will be able to prepare just as a title holder or No. 1 contender does before his five-round fight.
Chances are, if they are fighting in a five-round fight, they either have in the past or look like they may challenge for a title in the future. Changing the way non-title main events are run seems like a wise choice, in my opinion.
One drawback would be that some fighters may not want to take a headliner card due to having to fight a five-round fight. But does the UFC want to cater to those types of fighters rather than to the fans who deserve more than they are getting? I am sure there are plenty of fighters who would take the opportunity and run with it, and those are the types of fighters the UFC should be looking to promote.
I don't speak for all MMA writers or followers on this matter. I know some feel that this would lead to more drawn out fights with less action, but I believe you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who would not have liked to see Rampage and Rashad go at it for two more rounds.
