If you have not yet seen Chael Sonnan’s most recent interview you need to turn your life around and watch it. The interview runs about 20 minutes long and even though I will abridge the interview below it is worth every second our time. Pop it on, make a sandwich, eat your sandwich, and by the time your done you will know why Chael Sonnan is one of the most interesting men in all of MMA.
The Highlights
- Chael discussed his failed drug tests and compared it to Nate Marquardt’s recent infraction.
- Discussed Wanderlei Silva(dubbed a Brazilian immigrant as compared to himself as an American Gangster), wherein he alluded to the belief that Silva’s Pride FC victories were all fixed, threatened to break into his house and described the plan in vivid detail to prove a point about trash talking, simply claimed that Silva sucked, and claimed that he (Sonnan) had done more for the country of Brazil than Silva ever had.
- Alluded to the fact that Cro Cop and Fedor were also the product of fight fixing in Japan as well.
- Insinuated Anderson Silva was more (insert loaded silence) than a winner for lying on his back for 25 minutes in their fight.
- Accused Big Nog and Little Nog of trying to feed and pet a bus as if it were a cow when they first came to the U.S. from Brazil.
- Mocked Machida’s style, the light-heavyweight division’s strength, and Jose Aldo’s status.
- In short, Sonnan took issue with almost every major Brazilian fighter in the UFC.
This was classic trash-talking Chael Sonnan back from obscurity. Sonnan was silent directly following his loss to Anderson Silva, positive drug test, and accusations of money laundering/fraud – go figure. Now he has a fight on deck and apparently some pep back in his step again. The thing is Sonnan is about the best there is at hyping and bringing drama to a fight. The question that people seem to consistently bring up is just how much of this is sincere and how much is gamesmanship – a question that keeps us constantly and needlessly cycling back on ourselves. Sonnan may mean every word (sans the overtly ridiculous) and then again he probably doesn’t, but the result is the same. Sonnan divides 90% of MMA fans and attracts nearly 100% to his fights. You see Sonnan doesn’t just talk; he backs it up. He is the fighter you want to match fighters you don’t like against; I was crushed that he didn’t get to coach against and fight Michael Bisping. It is not so much a question of what is “real” but what “matters.” Not in that it actually makes a difference in the cage or in some grander transcendent way but in that people care, even if it is just simply engrossing wordiness. Chael Sonnan is a mauler and he is a talker and what he says, be it gospel or complete perjury, matters to MMA fans. Love him or hate him, it’s awful hard to turn away from him.
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