UFC
Chael Sonnen rooting for Vitor Belfort over Jon Jones at UFC 152, hints at new fight booking
Aug 27, 2012 - 10:15:01 AM Chael Sonnen rooting for Vitor Belfort over Jon Jones at UFC 152, hints at new fight booking

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

When Dan Henderson finally pulled out of his UFC 151 fight with Jon Jones last week, weeks after suffering a knee injury that he attempted to work through, it set off a chain of events that ultimately led to the event being canceled, and Jones fighting Vitor Belfort at UFC 152.

In between that end result, the UFC attempted to set up fights between Jones and Chael Sonnen to save UFC 151, and then Jones and Lyoto Machida or Shogun Rua at UFC 152. Ultimately, it was Belfort who stepped up for the Sept. 22 event, and the UFC presented that fight to Jones instead of Sonnen at that point.

For his part, Sonnen's very complimentary of the man who took what some people would say was his place at UFC 152, and is pulling for "The Phenom" to defeat the young Champion in Toronto.

"Vitor's an excellent fighter," Sonnen said in an interview with MMAJunkie.com. "It's world champion after world champion that he fights, and this isn't any different. It's a good chance for Vitor, and I hope he seizes the moment."

That doesn't mean the UFC's decision made sense to Sonnen. He had stepped up to fight Jones on eight days' notice for UFC 151, and though the Champ wasn't prepared to take any replacement on that short of notice, he was open to any opponent on Sept. 22, Sonnen included. But Sonnen insists he wasn't disappointed in the crazy series of events that closed out last week.

"No, I definitely wouldn't use a word like that," he said. "If there was any word to describe what happened in that 48-hour period, it would be surprised. Maybe even one step further of disbelief... We're used to being attacked by competition. We welcome it. We're used to being attacked by the states because it's an opportunity to go in and educate them. But what we're not used to is being attacked from within."

"We're not used to having one of our own set off a grenade and walk away laughing and never look back. It was really kind of an unbelievable experience from where I stand."

Before everything happened last week, Sonnen was lined up for a fight against Forrest Griffin at UFC 155 in December. With everything that's been shuffled and moving in the last week, however, Sonnen hinted that he may be getting a different assignment.

"We'll see," Sonnen said. "There's going to be some news coming out on me soon. We'll see how things play out. Stay tuned."

Penick's Analysis: Sonnen's either holding out in the hopes that Belfort goes down and he gets the shot against Jones, or the UFC's going an entirely different route for his next fight than Griffin. That bout still makes a ton of sense, so the only thing I can think of is Sonnen wanting to return to action more quickly than December, which would possibly necessitate a different opponent at that point. As for his take on Belfort, it's simply surprising to see him say anything complimentary about one of his Brazilian colleagues, as we're used to a very different line of talk from him on that subject.

[Chael Sonnen art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]