UFC 95 Preview: Chael Sonnen
by Nick Thomas on Feb 12, 2009 11:31 AM EST
in MMA News
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"In my opinion, these are the two best guys fighting right now, me and Maia. I think whoever wins this fight is the best middleweight in the UFC. I think I'm better than Anderson and I think Demian's better than Anderson; I think we would both beat him. For my money, this is the fight to figure out who's the best."-- Chael Sonnen talks to USA Today.
"Anderson Silva has gone on record and said, "I can't beat Paulo Filho." Anderson's manager went on record saying he can't beat Paulo Filho. And Paulo Filho went on record as saying, "Anderson can't beat me."
"I defeated Paulo Filho."
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No, you defeated a drugged up Filho who was talking to different people in the ring…
oh and you did it by decision lol.
Sonnen = moving up the list of people I want to see smashed. Luckily, Maia should oblige quite nicely.
oh and strong imaginary MMAth
Oh brother
Sonnen talks a good game, but c’mon now…Maia via submission within the first couple minutes. We all know it’s gonna happen.
Hah…hahaha….HAHAHAHAHA.
Oh wait… he was serious?
Chael, you know how bad it is that you couldn’t finish Filho? I mean, jeeze he was bloocking punches with his chin face…
I hope Maia takes an arm home with him.
by Kaleb Kelchner on Feb 12, 2009 10:20 AM EST reply actions
maybe Filho...
has a very tough chin face.
….sorry…couldn’t resist
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 12, 2009 10:34 AM EST up reply actions
Haha. And he was bloocking punches…
Wow I usually have good grammar but that post was all kinds of fucked up haha.
by Kaleb Kelchner on Feb 12, 2009 11:39 AM EST up reply actions
slow your roll
lets run through a few facts about cheal
1. he cant gameplan for shit, he doesnt know how to do it welcome to team quest
2. when he makes a mistake, he does it over and over and over
3. jui-jitsu guys are his cryptonite his nick name could be “arm bar anyone”
4. Anderson silva is a black belt, damien Miai is the baddest submission guy in fighting today
nice job cheal, and get a real name please
Actually sorry...
Jacare is a better sub guy than Maia – but Maia is definitely top 5 and probably top 3 and he’s better positionally than some of the other sub guys such as Aoki.
Gimme 1 Round!
Food for thought
Jacare is more decorated for sure, but Maia owns a win over Jacare in competition.
by Nick Travaglini on Feb 12, 2009 12:19 PM EST up reply actions
Jacare beat Maia
In ADCC 2005 in the finals. Maia might be better with a gi. But Jacare is better without
Gimme 1 Round!
Not to mention Jacare won the Absolute division in the Mundials
in 04 and 05. So he’s probably better WITH the Gi also. Oh and Jacare did that after having started BJJ at age 17… He’s 29 now in 2009 so… correct my math but it would seem he won the Mundial absolutes after only having done BJJ for 7 years? Not bad not bad.
Gimme 1 Round!
I don’t know, watching Maia make Gonzaga tap multiple times in an openweight match was pretty impressive. I wouldn’t say anyone in the world is better than he is.
In MMA, Maia is probably the best. In the world, it’s Marcelo.
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill
by FlyByKnight on Feb 12, 2009 12:39 PM EST up reply actions
Also in 2005
Jacare beat Marcelo in the absolute. Granted there is a pretty good weight difference. But just “food for thought”
Gimme 1 Round!
This is bad of me but...
I’m kind of hoping that Maia holds on to whatever submission he beats Chael by for a few extra seconds just to make him feel it. There isn’t a fighter I like less than this Sonnen. I don’t like this attitude, his views, or really anything about him. The value he places on his own accomplishments is so horribly skewed that I think he needs to be taken down a peg. Really, just a delusional turd.
please watch the fighter bashing
You were all right until the last sentence.
"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"
Question on that, was it the “turd” part? Cause I think the delusional part can be argued…
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
Yep...
turd
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 12, 2009 10:49 AM EST up reply actions
Maia won't
Its not like he and Anderson are boys or anything. Sonnen came out and said that he was one of the two best Middleweights in the world. If anything Maia would be more inclined to let him go a little early.
Anderson was clearly being humble. There is a lesson here for Sonnon. i think there are a number of middleweights in the UFC that would make Sonnon wish he had helpful ghosts in the cage like he did with Filho.
And there is a lesson for everyone else.
Everyone needs to stop taking what these fighters say so seriously.
isn’t that the point of reading/commenting on fighter comments?
by MonkeyCHops on Feb 12, 2009 10:49 AM EST up reply actions
God...
that is hard to watch.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 12, 2009 11:00 AM EST up reply actions
Looking back on the fight it’s probably better that Sonnen didn’t go in to finish the fight off because he might of really hurt Paulo, the guy was so out of it that it was dangerous for him to even be in there.
Yeah.
Who even knows what the fuck is going with him in this fight. I’ve taken a lot of drugs, and then I’ve spent time NOT taking those drugs afterwards, and at no point along the way was I in the kind of state of mind shown above.
by KneeToTheFace on Feb 12, 2009 12:30 PM EST up reply actions
Am I wrong?
I thought that Anderson Silva refused to fight Filho because they were such close friends.
Chael is a smart guy and I think this is his way of getting on the title shot radar. He obviously thinks that MMA fans are idiots. He has definitely got people interested in his upcoming fight though. Right?
"Stop smiling you are about to be punched in the face !"
SONNEN BY DECISION!
YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!!!
…no really.
……..I’m serious.
……………….okay, Maia by ripping off an arm, round 1.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 12, 2009 10:49 AM EST reply actions
Maia will not armbar Sonnen. Maia is a fan of chokes. He’ll either RNC him, triangle him, or guillotine him.
Odds are it’s a RNC.
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill
Yeah...
I thought about that…but Sonnen tends to give up his arm. So I think he taps to the armbar here
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 12, 2009 11:15 AM EST up reply actions
somebody's been hanging out with lindland too much
he also “called out” silva after his snail’s pace win over bryan baker in the wec.
maybe he’ll use his “i’m a screamer” defense when maia makes him tap.
This is hilarious
crazy talk by Sonnen. I’m not a big fan of either guy. Anderson would destroy them both.
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
Anderson would not destroy Maia. It’d be quite the opposite. In the one minute it takes Silva to get his rhythm against Maia, Maia will already have him on the ground, passing to half-guard, and setting up Silva to make the wrong move on the ground. Basically, Silva would try to worm out of it but get caught giving up his back. One minute later, Maia would sink in the RNC and ding! ding! ding! we have a new champion.
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill
by FlyByKnight on Feb 12, 2009 12:19 PM EST up reply actions
The Maia needs to push for a title shot.
I’m an Anderson fan, but I want to see him in hard fights that have meaning. So if Maia is so bad ass, then lets get him in the cage with Anderson.
If Maia continues to win, they’ll fight. Actually, if Maia wins this fight I think he’s earned a title shot. But knowing the UFC, they’ll pit him against someone like Nate or the winner of Bisping-Henderson (ugh!). God forbid they make him wait three years.
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill
by FlyByKnight on Feb 12, 2009 12:40 PM EST up reply actions
I like Maia a lot and have watched a ton of his fights and BJJ competition footage but to say he would take down and choke out Silva halfway through the first round is pretty crazy.
For that plan to work Anderson would have to have no gameplan at all and not know that hes facing a deadly submission expert. I haven’t seen any striking out of Maia that would lead me to believe that he could get inside on the Spider in order to execute a takedown. The “all I need to do is close the distance” has been attempted before to subpar results.
The "all I need to do is close the distance" has been attempted before to subpar results.
As have the all I need to do is keep the distance and not let Maia take me down strategy.
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill
by FlyByKnight on Feb 12, 2009 12:49 PM EST up reply actions
Umm yeah...
I’m gonna say I can’t picture that happening. Also I’m gonna need you to come in on Saturday, yeah. Maybe Sunday too.
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
by xFenixKnightx on Feb 12, 2009 12:57 PM EST up reply actions
Hype the fight much?
Wow, you guys are quick to vilify him when I think it’s just Sonnen trying his best to hype the upcoming fight. I talked to him last month down in Anaheim and he was quite humble, joking about how he doesn’t want to get choked or have his arm ripped off by Maia.
I still think Maia will win the fight via RNC in the second round. ;)
It's still funny...
He does seem like a good guy from what I’ve heard (I’ve never had any personal contact with the guy) but it doesn’t make his statements less hilarious.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 12, 2009 11:16 AM EST up reply actions
what.
Man I don’t want to bash a fighter… but this guy is really asking for it…
He’s right about Demiam Maia though, he IS one of the top 2 middleweights right now.
I wouldn’t put chael sonnen in my top 25 after he couldn’t finish a guy who wasn’t even aware sonnen was in the cage with him.
Maia by submission in the first 2 mins.
i like chael sonnen….he did really good against filho in there first fight and then he domminated that guy in the fight after that…and i must admit that second filho fight was not good…but it takes two to put on a good show and there was only one guy trying in that fight…im hoping sonnen wins…i know its a long shot but id like to siva vs sonnen!
No one knew about Sonnen until he threw a bitch fit after he tapped to that armbar in the first Filho fight.
I’m not impressed with him at all. I’m not trying to bash, I’ll be sitting here waiting for him to prove me wrong.
by Kaleb Kelchner on Feb 12, 2009 12:19 PM EST reply actions
Real question is...
Will Sonnen get a second fight in the UFC after he gets choked lifeless by Maia? I think if this is a first round sub, Sonnen gets shown the door. He needed to turn up the heat just to get an invite to the UFC, I don’t think they want to keep him if he doesn’t win. They already know what he can do, and its not enough.
by Nick Travaglini on Feb 12, 2009 12:23 PM EST reply actions
Here’s to hoping Chael loses, because 9/10 of the people commenting this will be PISSED if he dosen’t. lol
by Kaleb Kelchner on Feb 12, 2009 12:28 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
As I do when Machida fights, I get nervous when Maia gets in there because I feel his one weakness (striking) will be truly exposed.
However, when he gets in the cage, he tools everyone and looks great. So I can’t be that nervous … can I?
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill
Rashad Evans. And I’m the biggest Machida fan I know. But I can admit when he’s met his match. And it’s Rashad Evans.
Machida will have problems with patient fighters who possess one-strike knockout power, great strength, amazing athleticism, super quickness, great speed, and top-notch takedowns.
That guy is Rashad Evans.
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill
I like Rashad, and will be picking him to win and keep the title for a while…but two fights ago no one was saying anything like that about him. Great strength? Since when? He barely beat Bisping. He’s a good athelete, and he’s pretty quick. Other than that, I can’t find anything too amazing about him. Oh, the ko power is there too.
But honestly? He’s just a really smart fighter who uses his tools to the best of his ability. Not Superman.
by Kaleb Kelchner on Feb 12, 2009 1:05 PM EST up reply actions
It’s the raw and natural athleticism (and patience) that Rashad brings with him that will be a problem for Machida.
If you can out patience Machida, and still possess the same (or better) quickness, you stand a very great chance.
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill
A very great chance to get boo’ed for 5 rounds you mean right? lol
by Kaleb Kelchner on Feb 12, 2009 1:14 PM EST up reply actions
A win is a win is a win. That’s how I look at it. I’ll get boo’d for five rounds if I win. I don’t really care.
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill
I agree, but in no world does Rashad Evans out “machida” Machida. He can’t play that game, because he never has, and Machida has been down that road so many times it’s not funny. Rashad would have to go for a Guida-esque exchange and quick takedown, where he could pound on Machida. Not dance around and look for one punch, thats foolish.
by Kaleb Kelchner on Feb 12, 2009 1:20 PM EST up reply actions
*note that I’m NOT referring to Guida’s last performance, much rather, the Danzig match, where he’d throw hands and shoot for the takedown rather quickly.
by Kaleb Kelchner on Feb 12, 2009 1:21 PM EST up reply actions
Machida however does have just as much patience, insane reaction time, and a very good sense of balance. Until I see him in trouble I only worry about some kind of dumb bad luck.
Rashad/Machida will be a hell of a fight though.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
I could see Machida capitalizing on Rashad’s lazy jab and getting alot of near finishes.
I could also see Rashad ending the fight brutally, or with some typical Ground and Pound.
Lastly, I could see this being a snoozefest. lol
by Kaleb Kelchner on Feb 12, 2009 1:18 PM EST up reply actions
Haha, I was going to make a comment about the amount of adjectives used to describe Rashad’s skills there reminding me of the old black and white superman tv show opening.
I heard Rashad was faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound and was more powerful than a locomotive.
I almost said he’s not GSP, but saw the one punch KO power thing and decided to go with superman.
by Kaleb Kelchner on Feb 12, 2009 1:16 PM EST up reply actions
Lulz at this
Machida is gonna destroy Rashad and eventually you’ll see him go into a freefall. Rashad is another overrated guy in the UFC thats been sold to you based on the strength of one eyes closed punch.
Gimme 1 Round!
With 2 wins???
Against Liddell and Griffen? Are you fucking kidding me. I know some people here started watching MMA like 2 years ago but calling that one of the best years in recent memory is ludicrous.
Gimme 1 Round!
Anderson Silva had a better year than him
At least he beat 1 real contender in Dan Henderson
Gimme 1 Round!
Mhmmm…whats your point? That rankings mean jack squat? lol
by Kaleb Kelchner on Feb 12, 2009 3:24 PM EST up reply actions
Yep, over rated by many. And yes he has had a good year, whats your point? He had a good year because he went from barely beating an overweight bisping to KO’ing Liddel (no big feat when you can punch hard, chuck’s chin has always been wide open) and beating Griffen…
by Kaleb Kelchner on Feb 12, 2009 2:43 PM EST up reply actions
Could you minimilize results any more please? He beat a top 10 LHW who had been destroying guys for years in Chuck, and he took down the #1 LHW in the world in Forrest.
How is that not fucking impressive as hell?
Chuck has always been over rated. Just go watch his fights, he was asking for what Rashad gave him for a long time.
Forrest’s number 1 ranking was hard to swallow, he edged out a decision over rampage and was winning against rashad until Evans finally kicked it into gear.
by Kaleb Kelchner on Feb 12, 2009 3:26 PM EST up reply actions
Mousasi’s wins against Jacare and Manhoef are more impressive than Chuck and Griffen. Then you get to tack on Kang, Yoon, Cyborg and the other guy.
Gimme 1 Round!
Look back on it at the end of this year
When Griffen is ranked at the bottom of the top 10 or on the outside looking in and Chuck is the same. While Jacare is top 10 and if Manhoef can get any fights is top 10 also
Gimme 1 Round!
Dude...
I like Jacare, but you really need to calm down. He is absolutely, unequivocally not a top 10 guy at 185. He’s a top ten MMA BJJ practitioner, but the last time I saw him he was getting his face flattened by an oncoming foot. His best career win is a UD over Mayhem.
I get it that you like guys that fight in Japan by default— it’s your schtick. But some of this stuff is eye-roll inducing..
I’m not going to argue with you anymore if you think Chuch has always been overrated. That’s just hilarious. He has numerous quality wins when you compare him to any other LHW that is ranked or up there.
How is Chuck being over rated hilarious? He got KTFO’ed by the first guy patient enough to wait for him to chase him and drop his hands.
Maybe I should put it this way. The LHW division wasn’t well rounded until recently, so in the broad spectrum of things, he was over rated. Better?
by Kaleb Kelchner on Feb 12, 2009 3:47 PM EST up reply actions
I hope Rashad tries one of his cocky showboat dances while in the ring with Machida so we can watch “The Dragon” sink his teeth in.
if evans dances like he did with forrest. he's gonna eat a right hand..
http://weoweoweo.deviantart.com/
by Anton Tabuena on Feb 13, 2009 7:17 AM EST up reply actions
Haha, somebody get the chalk board ready, we’re about to have to do some quantum physics.
It was “Solve for x” in algebra.
But it’s “Solve for Machida” in MMA. lol
by Kaleb Kelchner on Feb 12, 2009 1:07 PM EST up reply actions
I think I’m better than Anderson and I think Demian’s better than Anderson; I think we would both beat him. For my money, this is the fight to figure out who’s the best.
Future news story: UFC 95 Drug Testing Results: Sonnen Positive for Crazy Pills
"BJ on the BE" - Kierkegaard
by Brett Jones on Feb 12, 2009 12:34 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
I think he got shrooms from Filho, he told the invisible man next to Sonnen that it was some good stuff. lol
Joking aside, it’s been a while since we heard about Filho? Is he doing any better? I hope he is, he was looking rough.
by Kaleb Kelchner on Feb 12, 2009 1:02 PM EST up reply actions
I like Maia, but I’m not as big on him as many others are. He’s still one dimentional, and I feel that someone like Marquardt could get the win avoiding the takedown and keeping it on the feet.
by Kaleb Kelchner on Feb 12, 2009 12:41 PM EST reply actions
Come on, man. He beat Jason MacDonald and Nate Quarry. He is obviously the greatest Middleweight ever.
"BJ on the BE" - Kierkegaard
by Brett Jones on Feb 12, 2009 12:49 PM EST up reply actions
Thats right! How could I be so foolish. I mean, Nate Quarry was a contender once…how did that fight go? lol
by Kaleb Kelchner on Feb 12, 2009 12:57 PM EST up reply actions
Looks like
A little bit of Filho’s insanity has infected Sonnen. Sonnen is officially fucking delusional.
Maia’a got a win over Jacare, but Jacare’s got a coupl’e a wins over Maia doesn’t he? Marcelo Garcia, Robert Drysdale… they’re tops too. Anyone would sub Mr. Armbar Anyone within the first rd. I don’t understand what Sonnen is doing at Team Quest to get caught in armbars all the fricken time, Horn, Filho…
Its a lot easier
to submit a friend than it is to knock them out. Anderson’s striking is so much better, but how much does he hold back? Maybe Filho is better than him on the ground, and you don’t have to hold back.
Who the hell is saying beating Chuck and Forrest back to back is not crazy good. Your talking like Chuck is a can when if we asked you this in 06 when you started watching you’d say Chuck is the greatest of all time at lhw. Do you realize is resume at 205 is as good as anybodys in the world still! I’m not saying he’s even top 3 anymore but to say knocking him out and then stopping Griffin who’s coming off stopping Shogun (we all know where he was ranked) and gutting out Rampage is not impressive! This guy is def on the same drugs filho was!
I agree
I agree that Chael Talks a lot of b-s….and his fights can be rather boring.
But, I was reading online that Chael actually fought Filho with a broken arm. He stated that he was in a cast up until he flew out to fight. He didn’t want anyone know he was injured and ruin his chance at the belt.
I give him credit for that.
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