Wanderlei Silva still “pissed”, wants Chael Sonnen fight
Back in 2013, Chael Sonnen coached ‘The Ultimate Fighter Brazil: Season 3’ opposite MMA legend Wanderlei Silva. The pair were at each others throats throughout the entire season, with things coming to a head when the pair ended up brawling during the filming of an episode.
Silva was angry with Sonnen, and took a swing at ‘The American Gangster’ who quickly slipped the punch and took Silva down, while wearing flip flops. Both teams quickly intervened, with Sonnen being punched in the back of the head by a member of Silva’s coaching staff.
Unfortunately, the pair never stepped into the Octagon to fight. Silva never applied for a license to fight in Nevada, and Sonnen failed a drug test and was subsequently suspended for two years by the NSAC, which prompted his retirement from MMA.
Recently however, Sonnen announced that he was coming out of retirement, and had already signed an exclusive two-fight contract with Bellator MMA.
With both men currently signed to Bellator MMA, many have been calling for the pair to square off under the Bellator banner. Bellator President Scott Coker spoke to FloCombat about the possibility of a bout, saying:
“Since Bellator contracted Chael Sonnen, believe me, we’ve been getting texts and calls from Wanderlei saying that he wants that fight. So, I think you’ll see that fight some time in 2017 for Bellator. Wanderlei is still pissed about what happened between them and he wants that fight. It’s something personal for him. Honestly, I don’t really know what happened to make him that compelled to fight Chael, but I can tell you that he is not happy with what happened between them. That’s going to be a fight where everybody stops whatever they’re doing to turn on the TV to see the fight. As we all know, that fight has been building for a number of years and they couldn’t work it out, but now I feel the timing is perfect.”
Sonnen of course will reportedly be fighting Tito Ortiz in January in his Bellator MMA debut, leaving Silva on the sidelines to wait for a fight with Sonnen.
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Wanderlei Silva