Chael Sonnen: "I hope Anderson wins because I think Vitor is a lot tougher fighter."
by Gavin Vincent on February 07, 2010

In the lead up to UFC 109, UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen told the everyone who would listen that he was on his way to becoming the best middleweight in the world. Last night, Sonnen took a huge step forward in his quest to be the best, by defeating the highly favored Greg Jackson-trained Nate Marquardt. In the process Sonnen - the former WEC middleweight champion - finally earned a shot at the UFC middleweight strap. 

After grinding out a dominant three-round unanimous decision over Marquardt, Sonnon will now face the winner of the upcoming middleweight title fight between long-time champion Anderson Silva and resurgent MMA legend Vitor Belfort. Though not certain who he'll face, Sonnen made no secret about who he'd rather avoid.

"I hope Anderson [Silva] wins, because I think Vitor [Belfort] is a lot tougher fighter," Sonnen admitted. "If I had to choose between the two, I'm going to take the low-road and take the easier opponent to get to the championship. I really do mean it in truth. Vitor Belfort has never lost a fight in the stand-up realm. The blue-print to beat Vitor is out there, but it's not to stand-up with him. I can't wait for that fight, but I am picking Vitor in it."

Having fought around the world for organizations such as; Bodog Fight, Pancrase, and the WEC, Sonnen has found a home with the UFC, and seems to appreciate the oppertunities afforded him by the fighting for the world's biggest MMA organization.

"You know look... at the end of the day, if you want to get to the top of the card in the UFC, you got to fight tough guys," Sonnen said. "If you want to be a fighter, get in the cage and be a big deal at your local strip club, go to Showtime. There is place you can go. If you want to fight real guys, this is the place to do it. I want to get on top, and I expect a tough guy whether it's Anderson or Vitor. If I'm in this company, I know they are going to be tough."

 |  (22) Comments Mickey knox: Between last night and this, I have a new found respect for Sonnen. I completely take calling him a fool back. Wandering_Minstrel: I've changed my position on Sonnen. I don't think he's a douchebag anymore. I think he's a smart individual who knows that to gain publicity and interest for himself, as well as hype his fights, is by becoming out-spoken. A lot of things he has said are not untrue. He is a humble individual if you read between the lines. He never really trash-talked Marquardt, simply, he said that he was going to win by any way possible. He was humble to Marquardt after their fight. Don't mistake his smarts for douchebaggery. He's made lots of valid points up to this point. Hizoka: i was shocked teh fight was not stoped because of that cut... or at the very least checked... it would of been a sour win for Nate had it stoped because of that though thug4less: Keep hating, DV. Sonnen is still a D-bag and, while I was impressed by his performance, I still found it funny that he looked like he was the one that had spent the night being hammered. Marquardt choked and got the heart sucked out of him but I still believe he's the better fighter. GO HARD: exactly AA... sonnen maybe would win round 1 , maybe round 2... but how long would it go before anderson figured him out and knocked him the f out. like someone else said, i was very impressed with sonnen not only this fight but also the okami fight... he might be a legit top 5 MW... however anderson has one of the best chins in MMA, .... sonnen keeps talking junk on anderson silva and i truely cant wait for that KO to happen. Jason Lee: All this trash talk about Silva, shows that he has a little bit of fear of him. Besides, we all know that politicians lie. MAStudent: Sonnen comes from the Randy Couture school of game planning. Maybe he saw a hole in Nate's game and exploited it. I didn't watch this one. I know Sonnen owns a local promotion in Portland Oregon, though. Rumble in the Roseland. I think he has a politicians method for drumming up interest that can also flow over into his local promotion. I watched Sonnen's last fight in October at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Portland, and his Rumble guys were everywhere, had a VIP table, and where giving away prizes and selling merch, all centered around his fight, which he won convincingly against a solid Yushin Okami. I'll have to say, he has to win the fights or at least show well, but he has a nice machine going for himself. What a way to build grass roots notariety for his political career in the future. Castle: I think Sonnen VS. Belfort would be the same as the Marquardt fight. Sonnen by GnP. I just can't see him beating Silva. The stand up is obviously in Silva's favor and the ground would be in Sonnen's. I think Silva would use his BJJ to tie him up and work escapes to get it back to the feet. Oh well, we will see when the time comes.
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