Sonnen is at no loss for words as he gets ready to fight Anderson Silva tonight in UFC 117.
View full sizeAnderson Silva, left, of Brazil, and Chael Sonnen, from Portland, Ore., will go at it tonight in a mixed martial arts fight.Rich Franklin absolutely destroyed mixed martial arts legend Chuck Liddell when they met in the Spike TV series "The Ultimate Fighter" in June.
Twice, middleweight champion Anderson Silva has absolutely destroyed Franklin in UFC fights.
But really, is that any reason for challenger Chael Sonnen, whom Silva will fight in UFC 117 tonight in Oakland, Calif., to go dissing the former profession of a Buckeye-born and raised Franklin?
It happened when a questioner on the UFC conference call last week asked Sonnen if he'd prepared much for this weekend's fight. Sonnen, who's never been at a loss for confidence, had to make Franklin part of the prefight hype.
"Guys go out and they pick their fights and they take easy fights," blustered Sonnen, "fighting math teachers from Ohio and one-legged guys from Canada. This is going to be a tremendous difference when he gets in [the octagon] with an All-American from Portland, Oregon."
Cincinnati native Franklin, you see, is a former math teacher.
Not quite sure who the one-legged guy from Canada is. With Sonnen, it could be anyone. After all, Sonnen is the guy who claimed to be a partner in UFC, while Silva "is just an employee."
Uh, no. According to UFC spokesman Joe Fernandez.
"He was using that loosely, I think," Fernandez said. "Meaning that he helps promote fights with us while he's saying Anderson doesn't. He's not an actual partner."
And by "helps promote," Fernandez means "talks." A lot.
"That's the reason all the questions keep coming to me because I give a coherent and clear answer that somebody wants to hear, and he sits on a speakerphone in a car somewhere and says yes and no," Sonnen said.
The Brazilian-born Silva, who speaks Portuguese and uses manager Ed Soares as his interpreter, really is prone to one-syllable answers.
Case in point: an exchange with a reporter from ESPN in the conference call.
Reporter: "Is this the most anticipated fight for heading into a bout in your UFC career?"
Silva (after Soares translates the question): "No."
Reporter: "That's it?"
Silva: "Yes."
It's a wonder Sonnen can get a word in edgewise. Yeah, right.
"Of course I'm promoting this fight myself," Sonnen said. "And that's the way it should be. Nobody wants to hear from Anderson anyway.
"I'm shocked with all these people that come on here and ask him questions," Sonnen told reporters. "Who cares what Anderson has to say? . . . The only fans he's got is the media. There's nobody buying tickets to see this guy. There's nobody selling merchandise because this guy is wearing it. There's nobody tuning into a pay-per-view to see him.
"I'm the one carrying the show, and that's the way it should be. I'm the one they want to see," Sonnen said. "And I really don't even know why he's here."
Um, because it'd be a pretty boring fight if you were both the challenger and the champ?
Yet, it's pretty clear that with a record of 26-4-1, and holding onto a title longer than any fighter in the history of UFC, Silva probably deserves to be in the cage. And for all his bluster, Sonnen, whose record is 26-10-1, knows it.
"You know, he's a scary fighter," Sonnen said of Silva. "There's not a lot of guys you can say that about that are just flat scary. He's very mean. He's very vicious. . . . His elbows are sharp. His knees are sharp. His fists are sharp. And he's going to hurt me really bad on Aug. 7."
Sonnen went so far as predicting he would probably end up visiting a hospital after the fight.
"And leave with the championship belt anyway."
Also: Ken Shamrock, the first heavyweight champion in UFC history, will be at Power House gym, 1298 W. Bagley Road, Berea, at 11 a.m. today.
For $50, participants can take a mixed martial arts clinic with Shamrock, the founder of the Lions Den training centers. For $30 more, fans and participants get a T-shirt and a photo opportunity with the UFC Hall of Famer nicknamed "The Most Dangerous Man on Earth." Call 440-779-7000 or e-mail ironcagecombat@gmail.com.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: cyarborough@plaind.com, 216-999-4534