Chael Sonnen exclusive

Chael Sonnen will be a well known entity among Brazilian fans. Responsible for the first loss in Paulao Filho’s career, the American hardly had time to enjoy the glory of his accomplishment and set his sights on another Brazilian representative. With his bags backed for the UFC, the fighter currently with the WEC has picked Anderson Silva to be his next victim, and in an intense campaign mixing marketing and self-confidence, he makes a point of stating how he knows how to overcome the one many consider to be the pound-for-pound best these days.

Nalty Jr, GRACIEMAG.com collaborator, had a chat with Sonnen in the United States. Check it out:

Will your fight with Anderson Silva end up happening? And how do you plan to beat him if it does?

How do I plan to beat him? That’s a secret (laughs). I’ll definitely fight him. I’m not going to the UFC with a white flag. My flag is red, I’m declaring war. It’s always like that, all fighters when he grabs the microphone says the same thing, they challenge every fighter in the world, except Anderson Silva. A lot of folks don’t have what it takes, before even fighting they’re all ready yellow. I’m not going to do that, it would really disappointing to my fans. I’m the only fighter who wants to fight him, and the only one who has what it takes to beat him.

And on the fight with Paulao Filho, what happened?

It was unbelievable, surreal. To tell you the truth, I was really well prepared for this fight, both technically and physically, very confident. The fight started, we landed in some positions and he didn’t do anything. I was waiting for Paulo Filho to do something, attack, but he didn’t attack. So I had to take the initiative. I hit him a bunch of time and he still didn’t do anything, he wasn’t responding. At the times in the fight when we were standing he didn’t try to punch. The fact that he didn’t do anything really blew me away, and the crowd booing the whole time. So I thought: “My God, what’s he trying to do? What’s going on here?” He kept not doing anything, he didn’t want to fight and so the time ran out. After 15 minutes of fighting we went home. That’s what happened.

Do you know the date for your fight with Anderson, are you prepared?

I don’t make those decisions, I don’t have a set date yet, but if it were to be today I’d be ready for this battle. When I get to the UFC and they give me a microphone his is the name I’ll call out. I don’t think he’s as good as everyone says. He’s a really good fighter, sometimes fantastic, and he really deserves to be champion. But I can surely beat him, and who knows he might beat me too. Anything can happen. But the risk he runs is the same as I do. I’m trying to find out who the real champion is. I noticed that every time they interviewed Anderson and asked him if he’d fight Paulo Filho, he’d always avoid the subject. And Paulo Filho would do the same. I heard a lot of people say Paulo Filho is a better fighter than Anderson Silva. So let’s think about it: if I can beat Paulo Filho, I can surely beat Anderson Silva too.

And what are you thinking of doing to beat the one considered by many to be the pound-for-pound best in the world?

I would never strike with Anderson Silva, he’d knock me out quick. Even if he didn’t knock me out, I’d surely get hurt. I have a different strategy for this fight. I’m not going to stand and trade. That’s his strength. I’m going to take him down, take it to the ground and hit him the whole time, until he gives up. And if he doesn’t believe me, I’ll prove it to him.

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