SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR
“Chael had a hell of a fight tonight.” – UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, moments after submitting challenger Chael Sonnen in the fifth round at UFC 117. Sonnen controlled the first four rounds, garnering a 40-34 score on one of the judge’s cards. (UFC 117 telecast)
“It was a tough fight. He’s a tough guy. I came in second. They gave me my opportunity, and I came up short.” – Sonnen
“I told Rodrigo I’d get the submission this fight. I told him that. Everything worked out yet again.” – Silva, waiting as long as possible to fulfill his promise. (Gracie Mag)
“I knew that I was losing the first four rounds. Not to make any excuses, but a week and a have ago I hurt my ribs. The doctor asked me not to come in and fight, but for you guys and the UFC, I came out here and put it all out on the line.” – Silva. Not to make any excuses, but here’s some excuses.
“I took him to the hospital and they X-Rayed each rib and they noticed that it was a bit swollen, but there was no fracture. They said it was bruised ribs, but the way he reacted when they touched it and how tender they were, they said it was in the muscle as well as the bruise.” – Silva’s manager Ed Soares. Anyone want to clarify what he means by “it was in the muscle as well as the bruise”? (Fight Hype)
“He just said he wasn’t feeling well, and I believe him. I expected more resistance.” – Sonnen (Heavy)
“I’m happy as hell.” – UFC President Dana White
“It’s definitely a rematch that people want to see.” – White. If by “rematch” you mean “superfight.” And if that superfight involves GSP, then yes.
“I mean, I don’t necessarily think an immediate rematch is legitimate. It’s not like he won by decision. You got submitted, man.” – Soares. Yeah, why would a guy who just beat up your boy for 23 of 24 minutes in a five round fight not deserve a rematch?
THE (VERY LONG) WEEK IN CHAEL
“I’ve fought 41 men and none of them out struck me; there’s a first time for everything. But 41 men have tried and 41 men have failed.” – Chael Sonnen (HDNet)
“At some point in 25 minutes this is going to come down to who is tougher and Anderson Silva knows good and well he is nowhere near as tough as Chael Sonnen.” – Sonnen
“He wears these tiny little shorts, his skin is very slippery. He’s one of these guys that greases up.” – Sonnen
“Take Lance Armstrong. Lance Armstrong did a number of things and he gave himself cancer. He cheated, he did drugs, and he gave himself cancer. Well, instead of saying ‘Hey listen, I cheated and gave myself cancer, don’t be like me.’ He actually made himself the victim and then went out and profited something like $15 million dollars from this.” – Sonnen (Pro MMA Radio)
“I never did an interview with Larry Pepe. I never spoke of Lance Armstrong ever. Never. Not until just now.” – Sonnen (MMA Fighting)
“You just watch these guys and can’t help but think, ‘God, what a fraud.'” – Sonnen
“I’m devastated. I came in second.” – Sonnen
“What he said was, ‘I’d like to do the reality show with Chael, I’ll work on my English, we will carry the ratings, and we will do a rematch.'” – Sonnen, translating for Anderson Silva at the post-fight press conference.
“Look there’s a camraderie that comes with this sport that’s inevitable, but fighting Anderson Silva is a lot like eating Chinese food. Twenty minutes after I do it, I’m gonna want to do it again.” – Sonnen
“This sport’s very unique. We scour planet earth, and we came down to the two best guys. If you check the rankings tomorrow, we’re still going to be the two best guys.” – Sonnen
“I’m not Dog the Bounty Hunter, I don’t issue apologies. And you’re not going to be the first one to get one out of me.” – Sonnen
“It’s devastating. I can’t sugarcoat it. My heart’s broken.” – Sonnen, with one of the most brutally honest answers I’ve ever seen.
“He’s a good fighter, and he found a way to win. That’s what champions do.” – Sonnen
“I’m going to go after number one, whoever it is. If it’s Anderson or I gotta go up after the guys at 205 or go on a diet and go after Jose Aldo.” – Sonnen
“It’s one of those moments you’ll think about the rest of your life.” – Sonnen
“A lot of people want to talk about strategy and thinking and blah blah blah. It’s a fistfight in the middle of Oakland, California.” – Sonnen
“I don’t have ill will towards Anderson, and I don’t wish him a bad life. But here’s the truth, if the commissioner would sanction it and Dana would move, I would fight him right now.” – Sonnen
TITO ORTIZ OPENS MOUTH, STICK FOOT IN IT
“He’s been babied his whole life coming from being deaf of course and he’s going to be babied after when I knock him out.” – Tito Ortiz, on hearing-impaired opponent Matt Hamill. Unfortunately for Tito, Hamill isn’t fighting-impaired Ken Shamrock. (HDNet)
“He’s slow; he’s like a big slow ox. I’m going to pick him apart and I know his corner can’t really tell him what to do and show him the mistakes he does.” – Ortiz, who can hear and still doesn’t correct the mistakes he does.
“I’ve noticed he’s deaf, so he has a soft head, you hit him with more and more shots. You people don’t know this. Watch how Franklin knocked him out quick.” – Ortiz
“You hit them with soft shots because their equilibrium, they don’t have no equilibrium. And you hit them with shots and you hit them with small shots, I’m not looking’ for big shots. I’m looking’ for small shots.” – Ortiz, apparently familiar with hitting the handicapped.
SOMEHOW SOMEONE SAID SOMETHING MORE OUTRAGEOUS THAN CHAEL SONNEN
“I was expecting that [to have my weight cut doubted]. Once you miss weight, it’s the first thing everyone talks about.” – Thiago Alves, who has missed weight and tested positive for a diuretic in the past. (MMA Fighting)
“The weight cut has been easy. It’s one of the easiest times it’s ever been. I just didn’t want to go to the workout and miss a day of working on it, because I wanted to make sure everything was under control and where it should be so I can make it easy on myself.” – Alves, claiming he started the week at 177 pounds. Alves weighed in at 171.5 and forfeited 20% of his purse as a result.
“Obviously, I wish I could be home eating a big meal, but that’s not the case. You got to do what you got to do.” – Alves. Or not do it. Whatever.
WHITE NOISE
“Lots of guys are going to have nights where they don’t have a good performance.” – Dana White, spinning Anderson Silva’s UFC 112 performance and forecasting his UFC 117 performance. (MMA Junkie)
“It’s about acting like a lunatic. If he ever goes out and acts like a nut, like he did, yes, I would cut him.” – White. I’ll believe it when I see it.
“[It’s just like 120], you can’t b—- about a card ’til the card’s over.” – White, arguing you can’t complain about a card before the fights go down. Unfortunately, you also can’t pay for a card after you’ve seen the fights, so his point is moot.
“Here’s the thing with that, you’ve got GSP and Koscheck have their season of the Ultimate Fighter, then they’re going to fight each other. You’ve got Shields who’s gonna fight. Now we’ve got Jon Fitch who’s in the mix. There’s a lot going on right now.” – White, reneging on his pre-fight announcement that the winner of Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves would receive a title shot. (MMA Fighting)
PARTING SHOTS
“I really hope this doesn’t happen to you!” – Yoshihiro Akiyama, whose manager embezzled all of his fight money. (Got MMA?)
“He helped me take my game to another level. It’s just we ended up having to part ways. Now Rich Franklin is his top guy-and I want to [expletive] him up.” – Chris Leben, when asked who he would fight if he could pick the opponent. Leben recently parted ways with Matt Hume. (Bloody Elbow)
“You see my walkout, the introduction with me drooling on myself, burping in the cage and stuff. I bring plenty of excitement in my own way.” – Clay Guida, also describing a night with Luke Thomas. (MMA Fighting)
“I got the better of him and I left.” – Roger Huerta, who beat up some donk who KO’d a woman from behind. (TMZ)
“Another thing is, he’s asked for this fight pretty bad and in my mind I want to put him down hard because I don’t want people asking to fight Matt Hughes left and right.” – Matt Hughes, channeling his inner Rickey Henderson. (UFC.com)
“Junior [dos Santos] is going to go, ‘I’ll never fight Roy Nelson again.'” – Roy Nelson. This one’s too easy. (UFC Countdown)