Chael Sonnen not falling for ‘scumbag’ Fedor Emelianenko’s ‘nice guy gimmick’

Believe it or not, it’s really going to happen.

If you were told ten years ago…hell, even a year ago that former top-ranked UFC middleweight, Chael Sonnen would one day be fighting the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time and someone that many believe is the greatest of all time across all divisions, Fedor Emelianenko… How absolutely insane would you think that that person was? Welcome to 2018.

Thanks to Bellator’s heavyweight Grand Prix which features a mix of light heavyweights and heavyweights, we’ll be getting this matchup sometime in the near future. And both men have already won their opening round bouts to advance to the semi-finals.

Sonnen, who has never been shy to speak what’s on his mind has been critical of Fedor’s career in the past. On the MMA Hour recently, he continued his usual verbal onslaught.

"Man, you’re getting in a steel cage half naked looking to whip somebody’s ass. You’re a scumbag and so am I." – @ChaelSonnen on Fedor Emelianenko's respectful persona. Watch full episode of #TheMMAHour: https://t.co/fLzf9kLz9M pic.twitter.com/Sjk1ij7AiC

— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) May 15, 2018

“I don’t know about the whole respect thing, he seems like a perfectly nice guy. I don’t think I would want to take anything from him but it’s a gimmick, right? All these guys are workin’ a gimmick. He found his gimmick. He found a little something with the respect and the humbleness and looking like dumpy dwarf being interviewed by…you know his translator, Snow White there. That’s good for some people, it doesn’t do a damn thing for me.

I’m not impressed by it, I don’t fall for it. At the end of the day, behind that little frumpy look on his face and the little doughy bald head is a dirty rotten cage fighter just like me. And he can pull the mask over the world’s eyes if, ‘ah I believe in my god, my this and my that’.

Man, you’re getting in a steel cage half naked looking to whip somebody’s ass. You’re a scumbag and so am I.”

Four men remain in the Bellator GP. On the other side is Matt Mitrione and current Bellator light heavyweight champion, Ryan Bader who’s looking to become a two-division title holder.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 5/15/2018