The fine people over at Bellator MMA gave us all what we wanted, the long-awaited, weird-as-hell fight that is Chael “The American Gangster” Sonnen VS. Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva. They even did us one better, hosting the event in the legendary Madison Square Garden in NYC.
For Silva it was his first fight back after a long layoff as well as a chance to stab back at Chael for his phenomenal trash talk. As for Sonnen, it was a chance to capitalize and do what he’s been saying he would do if him and Wanderlei were ever to lock horns in the cage.
Things, as you can see in the highlight video made by MMAWeekly above, didn’t quite according to plan for Mr. Silva, the opposite, however, can be said about Sonnen’s performance, which was definitely a classic showcase of his repertoire, take him down, ground-and-pound him for a while, then do the same thing next round. Silva did have on shining moment in the fight though, where landed a clean blow to Sonnen’s noggin, dropping him for a short time.
Oh yeah, Wandy wants a rematch:
“In the finish, I felt sad, mad because I wanted to make a really good fight, not just take the guy down and hold (him). I like to make battles, I like to make it a great fight, and that night he played the game too long and he won. But I like to fight different, you know? I like to fight with more emotion. The truth, (when I knocked) him down and I went to give him the punch, he take off his head away. So close, so close. If I hit that punch (it was) gonna be the finish. And the truth, I’m thinking the best moments in the fight were my moments. I be more close to winning the fight than him. I wanted to make it two more rounds. I wanted to make the fight back. I feel sad with me, I feel sad that my game plan didn’t work and man, I just want to have the rematch. I’m gonna train a lot, I’m gonna prove I can beat him.”
Sonnen on the other hand…
“Let’s be very honest here, he’s been sidelined for a while,” Sonnen said. “I had that same experience with Tito. It hurts so bad to lose, I just never envisioned it happening, then when it happens and you’re faced with the reality of ‘Oh my God I just lost to this guy that sucks, I suck.’ Well, I just passed that to Wanderlei. I was the worst fighter in Bellator when I woke up this morning, whelp, he is now, I got that that off my back. So I imagine he’ll want a rematch. I just get it, it’s what I would do. I’d give it, I’ll fight any of these guys.”
He’s hunting bigger game… Namely Fedor Emilianenko
“Don’t misinterpret that, I’m on a legends ass whupping tour,” he said. “And there’s only so many of them around here, and Fedor is the next one around here. And I believe that fight was being looked at, so it’s like look, if we’re going to do this fight anyway, let’s make it my idea. And I was never kicking a guy when he’s down. Don’t forget, he was the curtain jerker and I was the main event. I’m gonna be the main event next time. I was pulling Fedor up!”
Rory MacDonald too?
“I know Rory MacDonald and I are going to cross paths eventually,” Sonnen said. “And I know, wierd, calling out a guy that’s 170 pounds. There’s a story behind it. … Rory knows what happened, we have to fight. I have no choice.”
