UFC contender Sonnen fluent in fighting words
The success of the Ultimate Fighting Championship has been built largely on the brash, outspoken style of its president, Dana White.
Now one of the organization’s top middleweight contenders is trying to build his career in much the same way.
Chael Sonnen will meet Nate Marquardt in a featured bout on the UFC 109 card at Mandalay Bay on Saturday night, a fight that will determine the next challenger for the middleweight title that Anderson Silva will defend against Vitor Belfort in April.
It is the biggest stage of Sonnen’s career, and he has been using it to take shots at Silva and Silva’s manager, Ed Soares, UFC 109 main event participant Mark Coleman and even the many fighters Sonnen claims don’t “contribute anything to society.”
“I didn’t (trash) anybody, but I discussed them,” Sonnen said Wednesday of his recent statements. “It’s called the truth, and it’s new in MMA. I don’t think guys are used to it.”
Silva and Soares have been Sonnen’s favorite targets during his recent quest for media attention.
Sonnen insists that Silva speaks perfect English but has such disdain for fans and media that he pretends not to know the language so that he doesn’t have to deal with them.
He mockingly referred to Soares, who speaks for Silva as both his manager and interpreter, as a “rocket scientist.” Sonnen also labeled Coleman a “bum.”
All of the talk is designed to make sure Sonnen builds up his name.
“Will it help me get the attention of UFC? Sure,” he said. “I’m here right now.”
While Sonnen (25-10-1) is making sure he gets noticed, his opponent Saturday night has maintained a low-key approach, perhaps to the detriment of his career.
Marquardt, one of the few people the 32-year-old Sonnen has not trashed this week, appeared to have done all he needed to do to earn his second shot at Silva’s title when he won his third straight fight by dispatching contender Demian Maia in 21 seconds in August.
The 30-year-old Denver-based fighter is shy and reserved, however, and thinks that is why he was passed over for the title chance awarded to Belfort.
“I think it’s (part of it), but I just feel that that’s not what I want to portray to little kids watching. I want to display good sportsmanship,” said Marquardt (32-8-2). “I think the way I’m doing it is the hard way, but it’s the right way.
White said Thursday he had not heard all of Sonnen’s statements until the previous night and was surprised.
“A lot of the stuff he said was a little insane and made no sense,” White said, adding that he doesn’t have any influence on what fighters decide to say.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” White said. “I’m not telling guys, ‘Hey, go say some crazy (expletive) and let’s see what happens. It came out of left field. I didn’t expect it, and I didn’t agree with probably 90 percent of the stuff he said.”
There might be another reason behind Sonnen’s attempts at sharpening his rhetorical skills.
The Portland, Ore., resident recently announced a run for a vacant seat in his home state’s House of Representatives, with the primary election set for May. A Republican, Sonnen said his main focus will be on education and local businesses.
He might want to learn to be more sensitive to cultural differences if he hopes to have a lasting career in politics.
Among the things Sonnen said about Silva is that the fighter will be holding conversations in the locker room with other fighters in perfect English, and then as soon as a camera comes around, it’s “Se habla espanol.”
Silva is Brazilian and speaks Portuguese.
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.
