UFC
UFC challenger Chael Sonnen opines on what fighters say versus what they really mean
Apr 4, 2012 - 2:25:50 PM UFC challenger Chael Sonnen opines on what fighters say versus what they really mean

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

UFC Middleweight Title challenger Chael Sonnen is always good for a soundbyte, making him a good candidate for a weekly segment on Fuel TV's UFC Tonight program. This week, Sonnen tackled the phenomenon of fighters being less than truthful in their public statements, and broke through the facade of what they truly mean.

"Fighters have recently seen it as their quasi-job to continually put out misinformation," Sonnen began (transcribed by BloodyElbow.com). "They just refuse to answer a question head-on. You know there's a tremendous difference with what fighters say versus what they mean."

"For example 'I don't want to leave it in the hands of the judges' means 'I didn't train to go three rounds.' Uh, 'I'm surrounded with a new team in camp' means 'all my old friends abandoned me.' Uh, 'I need to go to training camp to be in seclusion' means 'My wife and kids are driving me nuts.'"

Sonnen, of course, believes he's the bastion of truth in the sport, and his admission that Michael Bisping hurt him in January is something he claims people have been shocked by.

"I don't understand why fighters don't just talk plainly," he opined. "In my last fight, I took on a gentleman named Michael Bisping. He hit me very hard and it hurt...a lot. People are shocked that I would admit that. Because they're all so used to lying. Well, guess what? If a guy hits you hard and it hurts, is your ego so small that you can't pay him a compliment? Is your ego so fragile that you can't say 'Look, I had my bell rung in the middle of a fistfight?' It kind of seems like a normal thing to happen, to me."

"I expect to be hit hard, I expect to be kick hard. I don't need to hide from those things. Let's be objective, let's look at things head on and try to figure out what happened. If he threw a great punch, maybe I can break down the video and learn how to throw it myself. If he threw a bad punch and it hurt, maybe I need to learn how to get out of the way. But I don't need to come to the media and lie."

Penick's Analysis: Sonnen claiming to be the master of truth while it's everyone else who is lying is quite rich, but it certainly makes for an entertaining segment for Fuel TV. There's a lot of half truths in what is said by fighters in interviews; sometimes it's out of necessity to not give away anything their opponent could use against them, sometimes they simply aren't up to revealing much when they're being asked the same questions by outlet after outlet. Still, considering the messenger of this particular sentiment, it's quite comical.

[Chael Sonnen art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]