Sonnem against Nate Marquardt. Photo: Josh Hedges
The same skill he has in wrestling, Chael Sonnen has with words, scathing words. Known for his ability to get into his opponents’ heads, Sonnen doesn’t even spare the most highly-regarded fighter of present day, Anderson Silva. The two face off August 7 at UFC 117. The UFC picked out some sound bites that sum up the fighter’s personality handily.
“The only thing I do differently from all the rest is speak the truth. Fighters lie, lie and lie. I don’t know if they’re lying to themselves or if they’re just trying to make for a good interview.”
“There are only a few fighters out there, me included, who will really fight anybody. So not only will I bring honor back to the division, but I’ll bring back honesty as well.”
“I’ll fight whoever. A lot of guys say that, but behind the scenes they invent an aching arm, injured knee, or a shoulder injury. They make up excuses not to get in the octagon, but I have injuries too. I never feel good when it’s time to fight. I never get in the ring feeling well. But when the music starts to play, I walk in there anyways, regardless of the opponent. I never think about who I’m going to face.”
“There are guys here and there who get upset, but I’m not going to name names. I don’t like pointing fingers, just pointing out some things they do, to make them take a look at themselves. I’ve bumped into guys before who’d say, ‘Hey man, I read that interview of yours where you talked about me and you were right about that. I never even noticed I did that.’ So I don’t know if that causes me problems, because, at the end of the day, this is the fight world and we’re not friends. If someone has a problem with something I say, then let’s fight.”
You can already tell the fight against Anderson will bring some extra added emotion into the octagon. And, as Sonnen’s main weapon is his wrestling, pick up on some of his tricks of the trade in the video below.
* These quotations were translated back to English from ones compiled by Thomas Gerbasi and posted in Portuguese on the UFC Portuguese-language website.