On Aug. 7 at UFC 117 in Oakland, Calif., Chael Sonnen will get the opportunity to back up months of trash talk. Few fighters have generated as much heat and controversy as Sonnen has from things they have said and been able to keep their job with the UFC.
Whether you are one who favors the trash talk and feels it helps hype the fight or you are disgusted by it and feel it has no place in professional sports, chances are Sonnen has aroused some type of emotion in you one way or the other.
For better or worse, the trash talk has certainly got the attention of his upcoming opponent, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
Do you remember what happened when Silva’s last opponent, Demian Maia, made a few remarks that got under the champion’s skin and he felt were disrespectful? It resulted in what was probably the most bizarre match in MMA history as the champion literally had a mental breakdown inside the Octagon in front of millions of confused onlookers who certainly must have thought they had been sucked inside a worm hole into the Twilight Zone.
The odd thing about Silva feeling disrespected by Maia, was that Maia made what appeared to be just a few very tame comments. For instance, because Silva’s nickname is “The Spider”, Maia made a comment about taking one of “The Spider’s” legs home with him or something of the sort.
Sonnen sounds like the son of Jeffrey Dahmer and Mae West compared to the lighthearted comments Maia made.
So if Maia was able to get the type of reaction out of Silva displayed at UFC 112, what in the bowels of hell are we in for on Aug. 7? Silva has been so unpredictable with his actions, there is absolutely no way to even guess.
In a new UFC interview, Silva comments on Sonnen’s trash talk:
Chael, as a fighter, is a good politician. As far as all the trash talk that he is talking, when both of us are inside the Octagon, he’s going to have an opportunity to make good on all the things he’s saying. The night of the fight he’ll have the chance to show the world what he thinks he’s capable of. There are idiotic things coming out of his mouth. Chael’s saying I’ve never fought a wrestler. In my opinion Dan Henderson is one of the best wrestlers in MMA. With him being a politician, he should really pay attention to what he’s saying. First Chael says he wants to be a fighter, then he says he wants to be a politician. Which one is it? You can only choose one. I’ve chosen to be a fighter. After the fight Chael will have a different idea of what choice he wants to make, but for now we’ll have to prepare ourselves for the Octagon. I’m going into this fight well-trained technically, mentally, and physically, and I’m going to give it my all. If there’s one thing I can tell my fans and everyone that’s watching, it’s that I’m going to go in there and give the best performance I can.
Following Silva vs. Sonnen’s UFC 117 main event fight the MMA world will know for sure if Sonnen was a genius or a complete lunatic.