UFC
Anderson Silva's manager says Chael Sonnen crossed a line; won't determine Silva's next move
Oct 10, 2011 - 2:05:58 PM Anderson Silva's manager says Chael Sonnen crossed a line; won't determine Silva's next move

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Chael Sonnen's continued provocations of UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva have brought about a terse response from Silva's camp following UFC 136.

Before Sonnen's victorious performance over Brian Stann at the event last weekend, he made some comments in an interview with Mauro Ranallo that drew the Champ's ire; now, Silva's manager Ed Soares has responded in an interview with MMAJunkie.com.

Sonnen made the following comment on Ranallo's show:

"You tell Anderson Silva I'm coming over and I'm kicking down his backdoor and patting his little lady on the ass, and I'm telling her to make me a steak, medium-rare, just how I like it."

Then he made the call out after defeating Stann:

"Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck... I'm calling you out, Silva, but we're upping the stakes. I beat you, you leave the division. You beat me, I'll leave the UFC forever."

UFC President Dana White stated after the event that Sonnen's comments had gotten to Silva, saying "He was pissed and he's really upset about the whole smacking his wife on the butt thing and cook him dinner. He's really upset about it. He's really pissed about it."

Soares had this to add:

"First the guy gets in trouble for fraud, then he tests positive for steroids, and now he wants to kick in someone's door and slap their wife in the ass? This guy should be in jail; he shouldn't be fighting... Chael is not the person that's going to determine when [Silva] is going to take the fight. When he's going to take this fight is when his shoulder is completely healed up, and he's ready to start his training camp for the fight."

"It's not because Chael says he wants to fight in February. Who is Chael to determine that? Chael needs to take a number and wait his turn. He got his opportunity, and he tapped. It's not the first time he's tapped, and I guarantee you it won't be the last... Would it be a big fight? It would be a huge fight, but right know, it's not so much who he's going to fight and when. It's making sure Anderson gets back to 100 percent before he gets in there."

White said he'd be "stupid" not to make the rematch, and it's a fight that will sell for the UFC in a big way after what happened in the first bout and all that's happened since. Add in the increasingly personal nature of the attacks from Sonnen and of course Silva will be more inclined to get into the cage with him again.

Penick's Analysis: I missed Sonnen's comments to Ranallo when they were made, and the response from Silva via Soares is completely reasonable. That's going to be the line from Silva's camp, as it probably should be: 'Sonnen's a cheater and a fraud, he doesn't get to call the shots.' That's going to be their stance while Sonnen continues to do anything he can to get under Silva's skin. It's worked to this point, and likely will get him his rematch with SIlva early next year, but this is another situation where we'll have to see how it plays out, and how long Silva is out with his shoulder injury.