Silva, Sonnen separated after dustup at weigh-in

Anderson Silva gave the estimated 8,000 fans crammed into the Mandalay Bay Events Center for Friday’s weigh-ins a sneak preview of Saturday night’s mega Ultimate Fighting Championship title fight at the MGM Grand.

After weighing in at 184 pounds, the middleweight champion walked toward Chael Sonnen and jammed his shoulder into the challenger’s chin.

The fighters were quickly separated as the overflow crowd roared at the dustup. Sonnen mockingly rubbed his chin as if he was hurt in the incident.

Sonnen, who nearly shocked the longtime champion when the two first met in 2010, took one last opportunity to promote what is expected to be one of the biggest fights in UFC history.

“Champion vs. icon; myth vs. legend; Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen; fake guy vs. the bad guy and only on pay per view,” said Sonnen, who weighed in right on the limit of 185 pounds.

Silva used his brief camera time to again rail against how Sonnen has chosen to promote the fight.

“I don’t respect Chael, and Chael doesn’t respect (anything),” he said. “Chael doesn’t respect UFC and doesn’t respect my country. Tomorrow I’m going to fight.”

Neither fighter could be heard over the raucous but evenly split crowd.

The pay-per-view card begins at 7 p.m. Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.