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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Chael Sonnen is nothing if not consistent, as the UFC's middleweight #1 contender appeared on ESPN's Sportscenter Wednesday morning to continue his version of hyping his fight with Anderson Silva this Saturday at UFC 117.
"My take on Anderson Silva is that August 7 is his retirement party and it's hosted by yours truly," Sonnen said.
"Diplomacy has failed. I gave him every option to pull out of this fight, the deadline was last Sunday, he did not meet it and now we're going to go to war."
Sonnen continued his line of rhetoric that Silva's being forced to fight him by the UFC, and that he'll be fired come the completion of this fight.
"He's in way over his head, he knows it and I know it, he's ducked me for four years," he said. "I became the number one contender on February 6 and on February 7 he put out a press release stating five different reasons why he shouldn't have to fight me. Well he does have to fight me, Dana White's making him fight me and I'm going to take his title and I'm going to take his career in a couple of days."
As for how the fight goes, Sonnen says he's expecting Silva to fight the same fight he did against Demian Maia in April that drew the ire of Dana White and fans everywhere.
"Anderson's going to dance and he's going to run and he's going to fight the air as long as he possibly can," Sonnen said. "He's not in shape to go with me, he doesn't train like me, he can't go out and get into a fist fight with me on Saturday night. Either way, win or lose, he's getting fired on Sunday morning."
But while his continued comments can be construed as disparaging Silva as a fighter, Sonnen says that's not the case.
"He's a good little fighter - you've got to understand I am the best," Sonnen said. "I'm not delusional on Anderson's skills, he is a very good fighter, I am the best. I've beat every champion there's ever been; I've beat every middleweight I've ever fought, there's nobody else in this company that can make those claims."
"I don't have any illusions that he's going to be a pushover once I get to the ground... we're the two best guys on the planet, and to act as though either one of us has a weakness in any area would just be silly. This is going to come down to who's tougher, not who's better. And [after] 25 minutes, we're both going to be tired, we're both going to be hurt - one of us is going to stay in there and be the world champion."
UFC 117 will air live on pay-per-view this Saturday from the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif.
Penick's Analysis: Well, Chael, it's not just that there's nobody else in the company that can make those claims, because there's nobody period that can make those claims. That includes you. Really, I'm surprised he continues to get away with making these comments about his record without any sort of rebuttal from anyone asking him these questions. Really, you've beaten every middleweight you've ever fought? Jeremy Horn at UFC 60 begs to differ. Demian Maia as well. It's hard to take him seriously when he comes into this fight with 10 losses acting like they simply didn't happen. But I suppose he's got to do whatever he needs to heading into this one to amp himself up, and if legitimately believes the words coming out of his mouth than I suppose he's just happy in his own delusional world. That will come to an end on Saturday.
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QUOTABLES: Chael Sonnen says Lance Armstrong cheated and gave himself cancer: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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