UFC's Chael Sonnen tells Wanderlei Silva 'accosting a gangster can be hazardous'

As the host of “UFC Tonight,” Chael Sonnen has a battery of cameras at his disposal. So after Wanderlei Silva filmed and posted a recent confrontation between the two fighters, what else did you expect him to do?

Sonnen opened Wednesday’s new edition of “UFC Tonight” with a rant about the seemingly manufactured confrontation with “The Axe Murderer” this past Saturday at the Mr. Olympia event in Las Vegas.

“I’m all for Wanderlei having a little fun,” Sonnen said. “Good for him. Let him have his fun. But Wanderlei, thee things: First off, if you’re going to do a publicity stunt, do not bring your own camera. It looks staged, which it was. It insults your audience. Assume that they’re going to connect the dots. Show up where a camera is, and then go into your routine.”

Sonnen, who of course has made a living as MMA’s unquestioned king of trash talk, didn’t stop there. The self-proclaimed “Gangster from West Linn, Oregon” honed in on Silva’s recent reluctance to accept a fight with Sonnen, with the Brazilian reportedly holding out for a cut of pay-per-view revenue, as reason why the MMA legend has no business issuing challenges.

“Secondly, in this country and within this industry, if you refuse to fight a guy like you did me, you forfeit your right to talk about that person in this type of fashion,” Sonnen said. “Accosting someone in public can be regrettable. Accosting a gangster can be hazardous.”

Sonnen (29-13-1 MMA, 7-6 UFC) is currently slated to fight Rashad Evans (18-3-1 MMA, 13-3-1 UFC) at November’s UFC 167 event. Silva (35-12-1 MMA, 5-7 UFC) is currently on the mend but should be ready to fight in early 2014. While time will whether the pair will ultimately fight, Sonnen said he’d be happy to meet Silva in a different fashion on the set of “UFC Tonight.”

“Third and finally, Wanderlei, if you would like to come on this very set and conduct a conventional and traditional style interview, we here at ‘UFC Tonight’ will pay your way,” Sonnen said.

RSVP at your earliest convenience, Mr. Silva.

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