Chael Sonnen can't believe he didn't see Wanderlei Silva's shove coming at Bellator NYC presser

NEW YORK – Although Wanderlei Silva was the one who initiated the physical contact at today’s Bellator NYC news conference, Chael Sonnen takes some of the blame for putting himself in a situation to get shoved by his rival.

When Sonnen (28-15-1 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) and Silva (35-12-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), who meet in Saturday’s Bellator NYC pay-per-view headliner at Madison Square Garden following Bellator 180 on Spike, came face-to-face for a photo-op for the first time in years, “The Axe Murderer” extended his arm and shoved his foe. Sonnen attempted to respond, but security halted any further interactions.

It wasn’t the first instance of physicality between Silva and Sonnen, and after reflecting on the incident, Sonnen said he should have seen it coming.

“I can’t believe I keep falling for it,” Sonnen told MMAjunkie after the news conference. “Every time I let that guy get within arms reach, he does something. I won’t make like today was some big deal. So he touched me? But it could have been a punch; it could have been a kick. I don’t know why that guy has to get so handsy all the time. Even when we were coming across the stage, I put my hand out and said, ‘Just stop right there; they can take the photo from there. Let’s just stay apart for a little bit.’

“My biggest thing with it is, I don’t want this fight called off. I don’t want it canceled for any reason. I had Anderson Silva pull some stuff at a weigh-in one time (before UFC 148), and I knew it was because he didn’t want to do the fight. He was trying to get me to attack him so he could go to the hospital and play up an injury. I’m not falling for any of this stuff. If I have to take some pushes from Wanderlei Silva or whatever it is, this fight is going to happen.”

The matchup between Sonnen and Silva has been seven years in the making. It was once scheduled to occur under the UFC banner in July 2014, but drug testing issues for both fighters led to it being called off. Three years later they reconvene with Bellator in what Silva has called one of the last real grudge matches in MMA. Sonnen said he doesn’t disagree with that assessment of their relationship and believes there’s no reason to act otherwise.

“I don’t like to work off animosity – I would just as soon be civil as anybody else. I don’t like Wanderlei Silva, and there’s no reason to hide it or sugarcoat it,” Sonnen said. “There are guys in this sport that think this is about respect and honor, and they see respect and honor as lying about an opponent. Saying something nice to his face and then putting a knife in his back. I’ll tell the truth: I will tell you to your face that when you turn around I’m going to put a knife in your back, and then I will.”

Sonnen and Silva both agreed they are unsure whether their rivalry will extend beyond Bellator NYC or if it will come to a halt once they finish their business inside the cage. Sonnen said he can’t predict what will happen after the fight, but his goal is to put the Brazilian away as quickly as possible and show who the superior fighter is.

“I would never play with a guy – I would never stay out there longer than I have too,” Sonnen said. “We’ll go out there and get him out of there as quickly as I can. As far as how it goes, I don’t care. I don’t care if we’ve got to stand and bang and all these stupid things you hear. It’s all stupid. You’re out there looking for a victory, and you get it as quickly as you can.”

For more on Bellator NYC and Bellator 180, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.