Be sure and join us at 2pm EST for coverage of the UFC 117 Media Conference Call. No we didn't get credentialed, but we will be following Luke Thomas' tweets from the call which he'll be covering for CBS Radio.
If you tweet be sure and follow Luke at his twitter page: MMANation
Tweets are after the jump:
MMANation On the #UFC117 conference call. Tweets to begin to that effect shortly.
MMANation #UFC117 call just began. Ed Soares also on the line to help translate Anderson Silva, so who knows if he'll translate properly? We'll see.
MMANation Silva on this being most anticipated UFC fight of his career: "No."
MMANation Chael: "I'm the toughest guy in the company. There's never been a guy with earings who could out-tough me. Anderson won't be the 1st."
MMANation Chael says the attention his smack talk has brought has been a distraction. "I'm a partner w/ the UFC, Silva is an employee" #UFC117
MMANation Chael basically just stayed in Portland for this fight. Trained a little with Couture, but stayed almost exclusively in Oregon. #UFC117
Kid Nate: Not sure how smart that is. Training exclusively within his comfort zone is a big part of the reason Sonnen has lost by submission so many times.
MMANation Silva on Dana White saying he could potentially cut Silva from the UFC: "He can say whatever he wants to say." Wow. #UFC117
MMANation Silva has given one word answers twice now. When asked if he's angry with the entire process he says, "no". Make that 3x. #UFC117
MikeChiappetta Anderson Silva said about 10 combined words addressing the 4 questions he'd been asked until someone asked him about soccer. #UFC117
Franklin_McNeil Anderson Silva seems to being showing disdain toward promoting his fight with Chael Sonnen, he's giving mostly yes and no answers.
MMAspot Anderson says he's never had a problem with wrestlers and the Dan Henderson fight is proof.
duresportmma Chael seems playfully angry, though. Silva seems tuned out completely. RT @lorettahuntmma: Sonnen seems angry during this #UFC117 conf call
MMANation "I don't believe in this things like sportsmanship and honor." - Chael Sonnen. #UFC117
MMAspot Chael isn't opposed to Silva's antics. He just doesn't like him.
MMANation "I'm going to take his belt on August 7th and Dana's going to fire him on August 8th." - Chael. #UFC117
MMANation Silva says he's "very excited" about the atmosphere at#UFC117 given that the entire main card is all Americans vs. Brazilians.
MMANation Remember how Silva looked disinterested and acted strangely when he fought Maia? He's doing the same thing on this#UFC117 conf call.
MMANation Chael insults Cote and Franklin and says Silva hand picks his fight. #UFC117. Honestly, I can't tell if Chael is trolling or believes this.
usatmma Ok, I liked that Sonnen dig about Silva fighting 'math teachers from Ohio and one-legged guys from Canada'
MMANation Silva says some of the stuff Sonnen says is "funny".
MMANation "Of course I'm promoting this fight myself. That's the way it should be." Sonnen: media are only fans Silva has.
Franklin_McNeil Sonnen continues to be an awesome interview, he's ripping Silva on this conference call. Silva isn't saying a word in response.
MMANation Franklin McNeil and Ed Soares having a slightly tense moment.
usatmma Ed Soares more animated than Silva is.
usatmma Ed's not even bothering trying to translate the last two questions.
Franklin_McNeil I tried to get Silva to respond to Sonnen's harsh comments. He and manager Ed Soares say they will take care of business on fight night.
UnfilteredMMA Silva: Of course he deserves the title shot
MMANation "No, I haven't gotten bored. I like my sport, my weight division and I'm prepared to stay in my weight division." - A. Silva.
MMANation Chael: I could beat up Anderson in the hotel parking lot, but I want to do it in front of millions on August 7th.
SI_JoshGross Anderson's English is getting pretty good. He & Ed Soares speak English to each other instead of Portuguese whenever possible.
MMAspot Sonnen: Anderson is flat out scary. He's vicious and sharp. He's gonna hurt me, but I can walk through it... and leave with the belt.
usatmma Anderson shoots down the notion of a catchweight w/GSP.
usatmma: Hm. Silva comes alive suddenly. I feel like he said a lot more than what Ed conveyed about his interest in his own division.
usatmma Sonnen now claiming he beat Filho twice.
MMANation Chael claims Franklin ducked him for 18 months, which explains the "animosity"...such that it actually exists.
MMANation "The way [Chael] chose to promote the fight is not the way I try to promote the fight." - Silva.
MMANation Silva is a very, very weird guy. Something's not right about him. RT @usatmma: @duresport You have driven Anderson into silence....
MMAspot Anderson: People aren't paying to watch people talk shit, they're paying to watch people fight.
MMANation Chael: "I've accomplished far more than Anderson Silva"
MMAspot Sonnen: I've beat every champion of every company there's ever been.
MMAspot Anderson (on changes in training camp): I started training with Steven Segal.
usatmma Chael: 'You knew you were setting yourself up for a foreign (or did he say moron?) answer, and you got one.'
MMANation Ok, Chael's critique of Anderson not promoting the fight properly did, in fact, made me LOL. And he called him "dummy".
MikeChiappetta This is the most bizarre UFC press conference ever. Anderson's terse answers, Chael doing everything in his power to sell the fight.
MMANation "I can't think of any fight where he's been out-grappled". Chael talking Silva. Um, Daiju Takase?
usatmma Honest answer from Chael. 'I can't just command him to his back'
MikeChiappetta Chael just said he's dominated every fight he's ever been in "including the one's I've been beaten in." Yes, he really said that!
MMAspot Sonnen: 40-some men couldn't out-strike me. 20-something men couldn't out-grapple me. This is going to be a REAL fight.
MMANation That wraps the call. Surreal. At the last second, Silva giggles as he thanks Chael for being on the call. What a bizarre ride.