Posted on May 31, 2011 by MMAWeekly.com Staff
from mmaweekly
Anderson Silva at the UFC 126 post-fight press conference
Anderson Silva has usually been a fairly quiet individual when it comes to prefight chatter.
Never one to buy into trash talk, his devastating finishing power seems to be all the talk that the UFC’s top middleweight needs.
Despite his icy demeanor prior to fights, one person still gets under Silva’s skin and that’s former title contender Chael Sonnen. The two fought last August at UFC 117 with Silva pulling off a late-fight triangle choke submission after succumbing to Sonnen for the better part of five rounds.
With his title fight against Yushin Okami at UFC 134 just around the corner in his home country of Brazil, Silva has opened up a little bit and critiqued his opponent for his choice in training partners leading into the bout.
“You have to find the best person to train you, and I think he chose wrong,” Silva told Brazil’s O Globo newspaper on Sunday.
Okami has worked with Sonnen on and off for the past year, ever since they fought at UFC 104 in October 2009. Coincidentally, Sonnen won a lopsided decision over Okami.
Since that time, at different points, Okami has sought out the tutelage of Sonnen and his training partners and coaches at Team Quest. Silva is obviously not a fan of that action.
“I will never line up with a loser, a loser in every sense,” Silva said about Sonnen. “He did not win the fight (against me), (he) was caught doping, is being sued for various things, and is suspended from the UFC.
“Want to be a champion? (Be) allied with good people.”
Silva also expanded on his original fight with Sonnen, pointing to the rib injury that almost forced his withdraw from the fight altogether.
“Sonnne was not a hard opponent for me,” Silva stated. “I was hurt with cracked ribs and fought five rounds. If not, the fight would have been different.”
Silva did go on to say that he doesn’t see the fight against Okami as revenge. Silva was disqualified in his first fight with Okami at Rumble on the Rock in 2006, when the Brazilian landed an illegal upkick that brought about an end to the fight.
It was the last time Silva had a loss placed on his record. Revenge or not, he’ll get a chance to rectify that in August. As for his beef with Chael Sonnen, only time will tell if those two will ever meet in the Octagon again.
from mmaweekly
Anderson Silva at the UFC 126 post-fight press conference
Anderson Silva has usually been a fairly quiet individual when it comes to prefight chatter.
Never one to buy into trash talk, his devastating finishing power seems to be all the talk that the UFC’s top middleweight needs.
Despite his icy demeanor prior to fights, one person still gets under Silva’s skin and that’s former title contender Chael Sonnen. The two fought last August at UFC 117 with Silva pulling off a late-fight triangle choke submission after succumbing to Sonnen for the better part of five rounds.
With his title fight against Yushin Okami at UFC 134 just around the corner in his home country of Brazil, Silva has opened up a little bit and critiqued his opponent for his choice in training partners leading into the bout.
“You have to find the best person to train you, and I think he chose wrong,” Silva told Brazil’s O Globo newspaper on Sunday.
Okami has worked with Sonnen on and off for the past year, ever since they fought at UFC 104 in October 2009. Coincidentally, Sonnen won a lopsided decision over Okami.
Since that time, at different points, Okami has sought out the tutelage of Sonnen and his training partners and coaches at Team Quest. Silva is obviously not a fan of that action.
“I will never line up with a loser, a loser in every sense,” Silva said about Sonnen. “He did not win the fight (against me), (he) was caught doping, is being sued for various things, and is suspended from the UFC.
“Want to be a champion? (Be) allied with good people.”
Silva also expanded on his original fight with Sonnen, pointing to the rib injury that almost forced his withdraw from the fight altogether.
“Sonnne was not a hard opponent for me,” Silva stated. “I was hurt with cracked ribs and fought five rounds. If not, the fight would have been different.”
Silva did go on to say that he doesn’t see the fight against Okami as revenge. Silva was disqualified in his first fight with Okami at Rumble on the Rock in 2006, when the Brazilian landed an illegal upkick that brought about an end to the fight.
It was the last time Silva had a loss placed on his record. Revenge or not, he’ll get a chance to rectify that in August. As for his beef with Chael Sonnen, only time will tell if those two will ever meet in the Octagon again.
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