This is a message to Dana White and the rest of the brain trust that creates UFC fight cards — set up a bout between Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva as soon as possible.
The well-documented feud between the two fighters took another turn on Saturday at the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding festival in Las Vegas. The two crossed paths on the morning of the event and Silva appeared to go out of his way to verbally accost the 36-year old Sonnen.
MMA journalist Larry Pepe witnessed the event and said, via Twitter, “[The two were] screaming at each other, [Silva] pointing then restrained and led away.”
The national host of MMA on Fox Sports Radio went on to say, “Wand sought out Sonnen and was the aggressor in the confrontation.”
Silva confirmed Pepe’s version of events later in the day in a video that the fighter posted to his official YouTube channel. The video not only shows the confrontation at Mr. Olympia but also features a clip of Silva calling Sonnen “fearful.”
“I didn’t smash you today because I’m a professional and professionals keep it out of the streets,” Silva said in the video. He added, “Everything you [Sonnen] said about me will have payback.”
The Brazilian is referring there to the numerous times that Sonnen has called out the 37-year old Silva. The most recent of those came after Sonnen submitted Shogun Rua at UFC Fight Night 26 in Boston on August 17. After his victory, the Oregon native grabbed the microphone and threw down the gauntlet.
“Wanderlei Silva, six feet tall and 205 pounds. Boy, until I met you I didn’t know they could stack crap that high,” Sonnen said. “I just got done with a world champion, if you don’t think I’ll add a middle-aged comedian just for the goddamn pleasure of it you better think again. Wanderlei Silva, three months, you and the bad guy.”
It is interesting that Silva is returning fire on Sonnen now, because according to Dana White, it was because of the Axe Murderer that the proposed fight hasn’t happened yet. White apparently called Silva to book the fight for November 16 at UFC 167, but the Brazilian refused, citing a desire for a percentage of the pay-per-view money.
Sonnen was instead scheduled to fight former light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans at UFC 167 and the Sonnen-Silva grudge match was put on hold. Now, after this latest incident, it appears plans for the much-anticipated matchup will be fast-tracked again.
Neither Sonnen nor Silva is a young fighter anymore — both have only a limited number of fights remaining in their careers. Therefore, it is important that this fight gets definitely scheduled sometime in the near future, while both fighters are still at the top of their game.
This feud goes back over a year, ever since Sonnen made some patently unflattering comments about Brazil in the lead up to his fight against Anderson Silva at UFC 148. The two have been trading shots since then and the war of words can only be stopped with a meeting in the Octagon. This is me calling out the UFC and the two fighters: give the fans what they want. Let’s see Silva vs. Sonnen in 2014!
Dylan Sinn is a freelance contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSinn or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
Photo Credit: Getty
