Chael Sonnen tends to be short on kind words when he talks about his upcoming fights, so he can understand if he's not kindly received when those fights come to pass. Sonnen's return match with Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Championship - scheduled for the UFC 148 fight card next month in Las Vegas - is no exception, as Sonnen alluded to in an interview with his hometown paper, The Times (Tualatin, Oregon).
"North American crowds can be the most unloyal crowds there are," Sonnen said, "but I don't beg for crowd approval."
Of course he doesn't. The only kind of approval that Sonnen seeks is at the box office, at the arena and on pay-per-view. On that score, he's doing just fine, as Silva-Sonnen II is one of the most eagerly awaited rematches in the history of the UFC. For a fighter, that's the only kind of approval that really matters.
Sonnen knows all of this. That's why he often brings a pro wrestling feel to the microphone when he speaks. His post-fight callout of Anderson Silva following his win over Brian Stann at UFC 136 evoked a classic "Loser Leaves Town" match. When he officially earned another shot at Silva with a win over Michael Bisping in January - a bout in which he planned to be accompanied to the cage by WWE star CM Punk - his post-fight comments recalled wrestling legend "Superstar" Billy Graham.
If that sounds like an affront to the very real business of mixed martial arts, think again. By bringing pro wrestling style verbiage to MMA, Sonnen is just doing what Muhammad Ali did in boxing, having grown up an admirer of Gorgeous George. Ali also served as a special referee at the first Wrestlemania, and his special "boxer vs. wrestler" attraction against Japanese star Antonio Inoki was a major part of the genesis of MMA, the sport in which Sonnen makes his living.
And if he angers a few people while doing so, well, so much the better. Sonnen clearly knows quite well that it pays to be the bad guy.
