Chael Sonnen: "Anderson Silva's hurt a lot of people. That bothers me a lot."
by Paulo Silva on July 12, 2010

"I'm here because I beat up everybody who got in my way. I beat every champion there's ever been except one and I've stuck my finger in his chest for four years and he wouldn't fight me. He fought a one-legged Canadian, a math teacher from Ohio and a bunch of guys who weren't even good enough to hold their spot in the company. His running is done, his 15 minutes of fame are up and I'm gonna bring it to an abrupt halt. Anderson Silva's hurt a lot of people. A couple of those guys are my friends -- and I don't have a lot of friends. That bothers me a lot. It's a payback thing, absolutely. Let's get rid of this guy. Anderson Silva's really the nuisance, he's truly the problem, we've all had it with him. There's one guy that wants to fight him and there's one guy with the skills to beat him." -Chael Sonnen

UFC number one middleweight contender Chael Sonnen explains the source of his strong distaste for legendary champion Anderson Silva. Sonnen has consistently attacked Silva in the press over the past couple of months and appears content to continue to do so leading into their fight at UFC 117 on Aug. 7.

Since joining the UFC Sonnen has defeated Dan Miller, Yushin Okami, and Nate Marquardt after dropping his debut to Demian Maia. He'll face Silva, who is coming off of a one-sided victory over Maia, in less than a month.

Silva (24-4) has not lost a fight since joining the UFC - a string of twelve consecutive victories, which is a UFC record. Silva also holds the UFC's record for most consecutive title defenses with six. He has been roundly criticized for recent performances in which he showboated and toyed with opponents, failing to engage them. UFC President Dana White was so upset with Silva's last performance, in which he ran from Maia for the last two rounds, that he left the arena before the fight was over, choosing not to present Silva with his championship belt after the fight.

Both fighters will have a lot to prove when they square off at the stacked UFC 117 event.

Make sure to check back with us the day of the event for free, live, round-by-round coverage of UFC 117 right here at FiveKnuckles.com! Join expert analyst Mike Williams as he takes you through the entire fight card blow-by-blow and then keep it right here for all the post-fight news and notes you can handle!

 |  (85) Comments TheBigDonkey: Sonnen just needs to shut up already. Denigrating the quality of Silva's opponents is absurd. GO HARD: this is so funny... what a complete turdmuffin. thug4less: I can see why Sonnen doesn't have a lot of friends if he badmouths the person he's badmouthing AND their freakin' opponents. Sheesh. D_V: I like this. Would anybody be interested if he wasn't doing this? Seriously? He has made this fight interesting whether it will or should be or not. This is great. I hope he starts making fun of the pink shirt some more and towing the line between calling Silva gay or not. That really makes me laugh. GO HARD: is it hyping the fight? obviously, but i truely believe he is the douche that he is coming across as. and hes gonna look dumb when he gets his ass kicked. its okay to hype up a fight but i could care less is other people would watch this fight or be excited for it. as a fighter ... there is an artform to trashtalk and i think hes talking alot of shit he aint gonna be able to back up. he is becoming the new frank mir / matt hughes in the process. IwishIwasMMA: Wow, Sonnen is really hyping GSP up in this fight... saying there is only one man to beat Anderson and only one guy with the skills.. Shit. It is kind of sad he is counting himself out though :P No but really.. There are a lot of guys that can beat him.. especially at LHW. Crimsonred: When you consider that Silva beat the guy he dropped his debut to, and who'll mop the floor with is hyper-extended arm any day of the week, he really needs to reconsider what he says. This douche is going to get fucked up, he seriously is. Tonika Fatale: Lol i would be getting annoyed by now if i was Anderson Silva:rolleyes: GO HARD: take it back... i mean it, TAKE IT BACK!! D_V: irvin and griffin are world class, as are leites and cote. Don't forget it. Fedor fights nobodies and Silva is legit fighting the best in the world. D_V: it's just silly that people think Silva is so invincible. It's just not true. GO HARD: is this where the shogun orgy i heard about is? ;) MusicIzMySavior: this guy will get a serious beating from anderson Crimsonred: I think Silva could beat Rua. His striking is more crisp than Machida's, and personally I've always thought Machida was overrated. Plus, we've been watching Silva fight lazy. He hasn't really been training very much for his fights, hence the gas out against Maia. I think Sonnen will be a huge fight, because if he can show he has some TDD, then I think you have a monster. Rua is good, but not invincible, and frankly I think he'd crumple to leg kicks a lot faster than Silva would. What they should do after Sonnen is a Rashad vs. Silva fight for the interim. If Silva can stop Rashad, no way Shogun can take him down and rape him. If Silva wins, he's had his three shots in the LHW and can fight Shogun for the crown as baddest brazilian. I know GH and DV would all get wood from that, and I have to admit I could get hot for it too. D_V: they sparred for years and rua always won. silva left chute boxe because Rua was better regarded and he's a prima donna jerk that wasn't getting the attention he desired. He's been through 6 MT coaches in his career too. He's really just a baby. I'll take a real fighter like Rua, that's a savage that just likes to fight and fights like a man over someone like silva anyday. What happens when it's not easy? Does he quit like a coward? That's my guess. D_V: Rua is the better fighter. Every Chute Boxe trainer says so. People that have trained with the guy know. He's too strong for silva anyways. He'd just take him down and destroy him. He could beat him standing but he wouldn't anyways. There is not much Silva could do about it. Rua's just a good match to beat him. D_V: Anderson has better hands but less power. nowhere near the chin. nowhere near the kick game. similar clinch game. less wrestling. less ground. Rua spanks him, hands down. IwishIwasMMA: Also something that should be thought of.. Shogun ALWAYS comes in with a world class game plan. He is one of the few guys to do that. He comes in with something just for the current fighter he is fighting. He also always has back up plans... so he is always prepared for many things. Crimsonred: you know, people keep saying Shogun has more of this, Silva has better of that, but we can't really know for sure. I think the solution is we go to their houses, kidnap them, go to Vick's house, and then make them fight in the cage Tonika Fatale: Lol it is going to be interesting fight... mike5k: I'm not a fan or a hater of either guy so my opinion on this is very objective. The problem for Silva in this fight would be that Shogun has no weaknesses for him to exploit. It would be an awesome fight standing but Shogun's power advantage and Silva's unknown chin would probably be a factor. On the ground it's no contest. I think Rua could finish him on the ground, pretty much any way he wanted. D_V: Delusions. There is nothing Machida did like a wild man. He was being tagged. Rua had his timing down. He had to be more aggressive because otherwise he would have been KOed even earlier. The problem for him was Rua hurt him with everything and he hurt Rua with nothing. Silva is not good enough to kick Rua in the leg. He's not fast enough. There is a reason why the difference between Rua and everyone else in that realm of the sport is so high. He has lightning speed with the low kicks. He gets them out there quicker than Machida gets to the punch and Machida's lightning with his punches. Think about it logically. His legs travel further than Machida's fastest hands in the division, and they get there first. There is no counter for that. He's simply better as an athlete than the other guys. There is nothing tactically you can do exploit someone having that much of a pronounced athletic advantage. Other than what Machida eventually did, take him down. That brings a whole new set of problems though. And Silva is no Machida in the wrestling realm. He could never take Rua down if he wanted anyways. And if he did he'd be swept and KOed before he could blink. Silva has only ever exploited crappy strikers. That and Rich Franklin, who didn't look bad anywhere but the clinch, to be honest. Silva beating Rua would be nearly impossible. There is too much of a step up in talent, let alone the monster leap in athleticism. GO HARD: andy would kill shogun... i know he would... im psychic. look u guys are so quick to bring up every fight spidey been in... but when it comes to shogun you only mention his best. always making up excuses for him. shoguns only impressive performances were against machida 2 x's. he went to the third wound with coleman and lookd like crap. he got ownd by forrest. you guys are just as much some huthuggies as i. fact is anderson is more consistant and would beat shogun. u guys are hardheaded and delusional... and truthfully , yall overrate shogun. D_V: rua also kicks harder than anyone. One or two kicks and it's over with some people, like Liddell. He was immobile after two leg kicks. Machida is a tough son of a bitch. People under sell just how punishing those kicks were on his legs. The fact that he could avoid take downs in the first fight after taking 40+ leg kicks is nothing short of spectacular. I don't think Silva has the mental toughness Machida has. I don't think he can go through what it takes. He's not that personality. He's not tough like that. Not many people are. Rua is tough in that he is a tank and can walk through power shots but Machida is tough in that he can't walk through them but he just wills himself through it. I wouldn't think Silva could take that level of punishment, and it's no slight on him, it's just unlikely that anyone other than Lyoto could finish a 5 round fight with Rua and not get taken down once after being hit with 40 leg kicks and then literally need to be wheeled out of the building in a wheel chair afterwards with swollen legs and broken ribs. Mtx: I get what Iwish and DV are saying and I have to agree at some point but still, don't you think a new surgery will make him weaker to some extent? I'm not talking only about someone hitting his knee, I'm taking that out of the equation but I'm talking about him having a weak knee. This could have an effect on those leg kicks. He is having surgery once again and this means his knee will always be a problem in one way or another. He may suffer like he did when he returned to the UFC but I hope he doesn't. And before everyone goes for GH throat, he does has a point you know. When talkign about Shogun you choose what fights to talk about but when you talk about Silva you just choose the ones you want. I know theres a lot of hate for Anderson but he does have a chance if this fight where ever to happen. People just keep talking about Shogun like he is a god. I know, he is good, he is really good, but he can be beaten, ask Forrest. Crimsonred: Her's my question for you guys- what happens if Silva catches the kick? You guys are all talking about Rua's leg and to a lesser extent his body kicks, but in the fights against both Irvin and Griffin he caught their leg kicks, and then smacked them with no small amount of authority in the face. Forrest's leg kicks may not be quite as good as Shogun's, but he definitely has some good ones, so Silva might be able to catch a kick or two, and that might discourage Shogun from throwing them as much. Or hell, he might counter with a flying knee, he throws them very fluidly, to say the least. All I'm saying is Silva probably knows about the leg kicks, and will find a way to counter or reduce its effectiveness, or maybe use them to find an opening. You guys talk about Shogun's gameplanning, but what about Silva's? He's smarter than he lets on, and he plays a very safe game. He never committed when fighting maia, and therefore never left himself open to getting hit with a flying armbar or getting pulled into guard. And additionally, there's a lot more revealing footage of Shogun then there is of Anderson. What makes Silva so scary is how much we haven't seen. We don't know his chin, we don't really know his kicking power, his grappling, his wrestling, or his BJJ. We use data from fights that are years old, and that's an issue. This being said, even GH will admit Anderson is not surefire to win this fight. I would hope DV would agree that Shogun definitely has a chance to lose. This fihgt will be close, and no one holds all the cards. That's what makes this fight so exciting, because it could be a war, or it could be over in a minute. It could end in any area, and no matter what DV says, it could end by submission, KO, or decision by either party. I think this fight could be a blockbuster, we just have to see it happen. EverlastingSpringtime: There is nothing that sonnen has said that has been offensive, hes done a great job of trash talking Anderson and is most definitely on his way to becoming a professional lier (politician). This fight has a ton of pressure stacked on both fighters to perform now and itl be great for the fans :D looking forward to it
HOW WILL THE THIAGO ALVES VS. MARTIN KAMPMANN FIGHT END AT UFC ON FX 2?
Alves def. Kampmann via TKO/KO
Alves def. Kampmann via submission
Alves def. Kampmann via decision
Kampmann def. Alves via TKO/KO
Kampmann def. Alves via submission
Kampmann def. Alves via decision
TAKE ANOTHER POLL!