An old feud between Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen appears to be brewing again after comments Sonnen made on ‘The MMA Show’.
Sonnen had claimied to interviewer Ariel Helwani that Silva almost walked out on the first day of filming at TUF: Brazil 3 a few years ago, but relented after ‘The American Gangster’ showed the Brazilian star his bank account and told him, “do you really think that you should be giving me advice, or should you just come along for the ride and let me take it from here?”
According to Sonnen, after that Silva agreed to continue to serve as a coach opposite Sonnen on the show.
However, a furious Silva has now denied that version of events ever took place, and says it was long-time coach Rafael Cordeiro who convinced him to stay on TUF.
“He comes here and tells a story that didn’t happen,” Silva said in a Facebook video as transcribed by mmafighting.com. “When the show started, my first act was to tell him ‘turn to the camera and apologize for everything you said about this country or I won’t work with you’. And he said ‘I won’t apologize, I really think this is a sh—y country, and I won’t apologize’.
“I left, and started talking to the production when my coach, Rafael Cordeiro, came to me and said: ‘Wanderlei, here’s the deal, you will be able to answer this guy the way you like, inside the ring. You will beat him up. Go back and do the show not for him, but for the athletes’. I respect my master, and I said ‘master, you’re right’. And he comes and says he showed me his bank account. What is this?”
In all fairness, it wouldn’t be the first time that Sonnen has told a tall tale. In fact, Sonnen’s ability to make outrageous and often fictional claims with a straight face is all part of the schtick that made him a star in the first place.
Silva is not amused however, and it’s now rekindled his desire to put his fist in Sonnen’s face at the earliest opportunity.
“Sonnen, you’re a pu—y,” Silva said. “You’re hiding behind the UFC contract, you’re still tied to this event. I was able to let myself free and will fight in other promotions. This year, God willing, I will come back. And I’ll tell you this, we’re in different promotions, but we live in the same world. I don’t accept anyone telling lies about me. I can go there and put my hand in your face, you punk.
“When your archrival is talking trash, that’s one of the things that motivate you the most. I challenge you. If you can’t fight MMA, I challenge Sonnen to do any type of fight that involves punches in the face. If you want it, come get it.”
The 39 year-old Sonnen is currently serving the last few months of a two-year suspension for failing multiple drug tests, so technically he could fight again in the near future.
However, up until recently Sonnen had indicated he didn’t intend to return to fighting. That being said, on Monday’s interview with Helwani he did name five fighters that he would still like to compete against, and ‘The Axe Murderer’ was among them, along with Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
Of all those fights, the grudge match with Wanderlei is the least likely to happen since Sonnen is still under contract with the UFC and Silva is now with Bellator and Rizin’, so the chances of the two finally settling their differences once and for all remain slim at this stage.
