UFC 117 - Chael Sonnen vs Anderson Silva

[TheElite]

I never knew that Chael Sonnen was such a funny guy.

Props to him. (Y)

[Rappy Veteran]

To hype his UFC middleweight title fight with Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen has employed a simple strategy: Say as many outrageous things about Silva as he can think of.

But as Saturday night's fight draws closer, Sonnen isn't satisfied with just taking on Silva. He has now decided to verbally attack Lance Armstrong, suggesting in an interview that Armstrong's cancer was caused by the use of performance-enhancing drugs, and that Armstrong's support of cancer research has been nothing more than an elaborate fraud.

"Lance Armstrong did a number of things and he gave himself cancer," Sonnen said on Pro MMA Radio, as transcribed by MMA Mania. "He cheated, he did drugs, and he gave himself cancer. Well, instead of saying 'Hey listen, I cheated and gave myself cancer, don't be like me,' he actually made himself the victim and then went out and profited something like $15 million from this 'Hey, poor me, let's find a cure for cancer' campaign instead of just coming clean and saying, 'Look, here's what I did, I screwed myself up, and I hope people learn from my mistakes.'" :blink:

Sonnen was answering a question about the type of people who bother him, and he seemed to be suggesting that Armstrong is the same kind of phony that Sonnen says Silva, the UFC middleweight champion, is. For good measure, Sonnen threw in that he thinks Michael Phelps is a "pothead" as well, and Sonnen generally seems to think that he deserves to be considered America's one authentic sports star.

Armstrong, of course, has always denied that he ever used performance-enhancing drugs, and Sonnen has no evidence for his theory that using PEDs caused Armstrong to get cancer. Ultimately, the comments were just another attempt by Sonnen to get a little more attention for himself, and for Saturday night's fight.

[TheElite]

He's just probably saying out loud what many people think.

It sure will give him publicity.

[D. S. Veteran]

Sonnen subscribes to the WWE school of hype.

[rathefeare]

Sonnen subscribes to the WWE school of hype.

Ali copied his persona almost note for note from Gorgeous George. Boxing and Pro wrestling have been linked in type promotion all the way back to when wrestling used to be real sport. Nothing new here really.

[Rappy Veteran]

[Dev Null Zen]

Love how Chael is already laying the groundwork for a loss with the stomach bug thing.

[Rappy Veteran]

TONIGHT!

Chael the time is now! to put up or shut up! :p

[+StevoFC MVC]

Chael said some really funny things during Inside MMA last night.

[D. S. Veteran]

Initiating media blackout until I can see this :shiftyninja:

[Bubbabyte]

SOOOO ****ed... that was BS, Silva got exposed, i feel bad for chael.. it was a tap though.. god dammit. Chael gets major respect, I was one of the few who actually thought he could win this fight, don't know where he goes from here though. DAMMIT!!!!!

[_I am Reptar]

Immediate ****ing rematch please. Just like Edgar vs Penn

[Johnson]

Immediate ****ing rematch please. Just like Edgar vs Penn

QFE!!!

[Dev Null Zen]

Please god, no rematch. Chael was dominant, but aside from maybe 2 or 3 shots, never really did a lot of damage. It was all busy work. At the end, only Chael really looked like he'd been in a fight, he took some decent damage from Silva on the ground. And to try and act like he didn't tap at the end, Chael just made me lose all respect for him there.

[Aaron Veteran]

Please god, no rematch. Chael was dominant, but aside from maybe 2 or 3 shots, never really did a lot of damage. It was all busy work. At the end, only Chael really looked like he'd been in a fight, he took some decent damage from Silva on the ground. And to try and act like he didn't tap at the end, Chael just made me lose all respect for him there.

Ever thing I have read this morning states that the cards all heavily favored Sonnen. Had he just stalled that last 2 minutes he'd have the belt.

[dead.cell]

Please god, no rematch. Chael was dominant, but aside from maybe 2 or 3 shots, never really did a lot of damage. It was all busy work. At the end, only Chael really looked like he'd been in a fight, he took some decent damage from Silva on the ground. And to try and act like he didn't tap at the end, Chael just made me lose all respect for him there.

I highly disagree, and I was going for Silva myself. Chael did a lot of damage to Silva, despite the fact that Silva wasn't exactly bleeding or anything... Silva took some nasty shots to the ribs and face.

As for the tap out, you can't be indecisive about that crap. Sonnen didn't appear to dispute it at all when they talked with him, so I get the impression that he did it without being fully positive himself.

[Dev Null Zen]

I highly disagree, and I was going for Silva myself. Chael did a lot of damage to Silva, despite the fact that Silva wasn't exactly bleeding or anything... Silva took some nasty shots to the ribs and face.

As for the tap out, you can't be indecisive about that crap. Sonnen didn't appear to dispute it at all when they talked with him, so I get the impression that he did it without being fully positive himself.

I don't dispute that he had rocked Silva a couple of times, but if you have a chance to rewatch the fight, you'll see how most of what landed when he had him on the ground was impeded one way or another. Sadly, it turned into a GSP style lay and stay busy routine. I was pretty shocked how many takedowns Chael had though. I wonder if the rib injury hurt Silva's takedown defense. All in all though, I have actually come to like Silva a bit because of this fight though. He showed a lot of heart, maybe for the first time, and showed he was human.

[D. S. Veteran]

WHAT THE!!!???? I was upset that Silva won but Chael did tap. So kudos to him. Chael got careless and paid the price. The belt was just minutes away... It was an exciting fight.

The rest of the fights: Roy Nelson took a beating but soldiered on. Great fight. JDS showed why he's a top contender but if he couldn't put Roy away, he has no chance against Lesnar or Cain. If Lesnar withstood Carwin, he can very well withstand JDS.

The Guida fight was nice, shame about the injury. Stefan Struve... DAMN! Kid has got a LOT of heart.

Matt Hughes still got it. Very good choke.

The Fitch fight was a boring one.

[Rappy Veteran]

[TheElite]

Wow. What a fight!

In my books, Sonnen is the next best middleweight after Silva. Sonnen is a champion in my book. He dealt with Silva in a way that no other can.

[User6060]

silva had an injury and you could tell.

silva did pull off the submission which was the ONLY way he was going to win that fight and it was an obvious tap that he immediately regretted as he almost got free. chael just couldn't end it (lots of blows but they were sissy girl punches and silva just let him go at it)

[Lovell]

Kind of glad Silva won, all the **** and disrespect Chael has shown to the other fighters and other athletes made me really hate him.

"When you screw up, you have to own it. That stuff really gets under my skin. Take Lance Armstrong. Lance Armstrong did a number of things and he gave himself cancer. He cheated, he did drugs, and he gave himself cancer. Well, instead of saying ?Hey listen, I cheated and gave myself cancer, don't be like me.' He actually made himself the victim and then went out and profited something like $15 million dollars from this ?Hey, poor me, let's find a cure for cancer' campaign instead of just coming clean and saying, ?Look, here's what I did, I screwed myself up, and I hope people learn from my mistakes.' You just watch these guys and can't help but think, God, what a fraud. You got the whole Michael Phelps being a pothead thing too. I'm just glad I'm in the business I'm in so I can get them in the cage and kick the crap out of them."

Was impressed with Matt Hughes choke. :shiftyninja:

[TheElite]

After watching it again, damn! Is Silva invincible? The guy practically took little to no damage and was not hurt when Sonnen was raining down bombs on him.

Props to both Silva and Sonnen. They've gained a lot of respect in my eyes.

[D. S. Veteran]

After watching it again, damn! Is Silva invincible? The guy practically took little to no damage and was not hurt when Sonnen was raining down bombs on him.

Props to both Silva and Sonnen. They've gained a lot of respect in my eyes.

Silva has BJ Penn like skin. Doesn't bruise or bleed. He took damage, just didn't show. Everytime the round started, Anderson would rush Chael and try to knock him out before he got inevitably put on his back. Chael made him sweat.

[TheElite]

I still feel bad for Chael though.

He was so close to dethroning Silva. He could have done it as well if he took it easy. Atleast we know now that Silva can be beaten.