Perennial UFC title contender Chael Sonnen, to the surprise of no one, was less than impressed with the way Wanderlei Silva carried himself on the set of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3.
Speaking with MMA Fighting's Dave Meltzer, the pride of West Linn, Oregon explained why he found it extremely difficult to coach opposite "The Axe Murderer."
"I had to explain to him, `I'm the bad guy, you're supposed to be the good guy,'" Sonnen said. "But when you attempt to jump me, that's going to turn the people against you and for me, and I don't want to be the good guy. I had to drop the fourth curtain and explain this to him, and it didn't register ... It was really tough. He really followed a gang mentality. The more people on his side, the tougher he got."
Sonnen also noted that Silva shook his hand on the first day of filming and agreed to put their differences aside in favor of recording a good season, only for the now infamous on-set brawl to take place hours later.
The 37-year-old Team Reign Training Center fighter has been linked to a grudge match with his Brazilian counterpart since August, but injuries and scheduling conflicts now have the bout moved to almost a full year later at UFC 175, per Yahoo! Sports.
This is the third time the date and venue of the bout has changed and Sonnen is still not convinced the fight is actually happening at all:
CAN-derlei asked Dana to postpone our fight until "July 32nd"
— chael sonnen (@sonnench) April 11, 2014
While Sonnen is just 3-4 in his past seven matchups overall, he's 6-1 in his past seven non-title fights.
On the other hand, Silva hasn't strung a pair of wins together since 2006 and is 4-4 in his past eight bouts.
The Brazilian slugger delivered a vintage knockout in his most recent contest against Brian Stann at UFC on FUEL 8 last March.
Will Sonnen back up his trash talk and give Silva a beatdown on July 5, or will Silva show he has at least one more Pride-esque performance left in him?
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
