Silva submitting Sonnen at UFC 117

UFC’s Dana White Adds “I’ve Never Heard Anderson Talk This Way”

By FCF Staff

Nobody on today’s UFC 148 medial call was likely terribly surprised to hear some fiery and headline making rhetoric, however, the source of the comments may have caught some observers off guard. This time around it was the usually more withdrawn UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, rather than the showman Chael Sonnen, who provided some of the more heated comments.

Of course the two will fight again on July 7^th at UFC 148, nearly two years after Silva came from behind and tapped Sonnen out with a fifth round, triangle-choke at UFC 117.

The upcoming event, which will be hosted by the MGM Grand Garden Arena, will also feature a rubber match between former light-heavyweight champs Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz.

All four of the aforementioned fighters were on today’s call, as was UFC President Dana White. Here were some of the highlights.

Sonnen denied that he does “characters” and that he’s been serious about this fight for some time, and cited his near lifelong dedication to fighting as evidence. The charismatic fighter repeated his contention that he believes Anderson Silva is not the person who he appears to be.

When Dana White was asked if he would like to see Anderson Silva speak English more often and make himself more available to the media, the UFC President said fans “are not showing up to watch him give speeches.”

Silva was asked if Sonnen crossed the line when he allegedly made comments about his wife, and according to the champion’s interpreter he said “Chael is a criminal; he’s been convicted of crimes, he doesn’t belong in the Octagon, and when the time comes I’m going to break his face, every tooth in his mouth.”

The champion Silva was asked why it was such a difficult fight for him when he fought Sonnen the first time, and the Brazilian responded by apparently saying that “people who live in the past belong in a museum, playtime is over; Sonnen is never going to want to fight in the UFC again.”

Sonnen was asked to respond to Silva’s comments, and stated he believes that the champion’s tactics, like fighting with his hands down, are “amateur”, and that he’s going to expose Silva once again as an amateur.

White said he expects to do over one million buys in pay-per-view buys for UFC 148 and that he believes it will compete with the figures they did for UFC 100.

Ortiz relayed that he “he knows who Forrest is and how he likes to fight” and that their upcoming bout “means the world to me.”

The former light-heavyweight champion also thanked the UFC for recently inducting Ortiz in the organization’s Hall of Fame.

Griffin stated that the “whole thing is to never lose two in a row” while discussing what’s at stake for him in regards to the upcoming fight. Griffin is coming off a first round knockout at the hands of Mauricio Rua last August, after scoring back-to-back decision wins over Ortiz and Rich Franklin.

Silva was asked what he plans to differently in the rematch with Sonnen, and the middleweight relayed that he hopes to make sure that Sonnen can’t walk out of the Octagon on July 7^th.

A fired up Silva also said that he hopes to make Sonnen “pay for what he said about my country.”

White said he believes the rivalry between Sonnen and Silva is the most heated of any he’s encountered in the promotion, and added “I’ve never heard Anderson talk this way.”

The upcoming main card for UFC 148 will also feature Ivan Menjivar vs. Mike Easton, Cung Le vs. Patrick Cote and Chad Mendes vs. Cody McKenzie.