Chael Sonnen Believes 'the Party Ain't Over Yet' <ABBR class="published updated">8/11/2010 1:56 PM ET By Ariel Helwani</ABBR> Following his heart-breaking loss to Anderson Silva Saturday night, Chael Sonnen made it very clear at the post-fight press conference that he wanted an immediate rematch against Silva. That wasn't just his emotions talking. Sonnen obviously thinks he has what it takes to beat the middleweight champion, and his manager, Mike Roberts, backed up his client on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour. Roberts said that both he and Sonnen met with the UFC Monday to talk about what's next for Sonnen, and in that meeting, Sonnen let it be known that he is ready to dance again with "The Spider." "We've had talks," Roberts said. "I just had a talk with [the UFC] [Monday] morning. You know, we don't tell them how to do their job. The only thing that we do is tell them what we want, and the simple question was asked, 'What does Chael want?' And Chael's answer was, 'I want to do this again. The party ain't over yet.' "They said they were going to figure it out, probably in the next week. Dana [White] and Joe Silva are going to get together and put their heads together and see what makes sense. I'm sure Anderson and Ed are going to say their opinions on what they think and we're going to say our opinions on what we think, and Dana and Joe will figure out the best scenario. But I can't imagine that any less than 7 out of 10 fans would want to see that fight again." As for the news that came out after the fight that Silva had badly injured his ribs in training 10 days before the bout, Roberts thought it was a sign of disrespect to mention it immediately following the win. "I believe [Silva injured his ribs], but my take on that is this: even if it's true, there's no need to say that; there's no point. And I mean, Chael has plenty of issues that distracted him and injuries going into this fight that it's just pointless to bring up. I don't know of a fighter that has gone in [to a fight] non-injured." When asked if he thought Silva's camp was trying to take something away from Sonnen by discussing the injury after the fight, Roberts said, "Oh, sure. For sure. That's the only way there is to look at it," but added that Sonnen wasn't surprised Silva mentioned it. Silva's manager, Ed Soares, also appeared on The MMA Hour, and when asked whether he thought Sonnen deserved an immediate rematch, Soares seemed open to the idea, but not sold on it. "The way I look at it is, Chael fought his fight. And Chael had Anderson on his back for twenty-two minutes of that fight. ...The way I feel is that Chael had Anderson in the position he wanted him, and if he wasn't able to finish Anderson in twenty-two minutes in the position you said you wanted him in, then, hey man, you had your shot. No offense, not saying you can't get another shot, but you know what I mean?" Upon hearing that, Roberts, who serves as the COO of MMA Incorporated, said he wasn't surprised to hear that Silva nor his camp were campaigning for an immediate rematch. "I don't blame them for wanting to fight Vitor Belfort first," he said. "I mean, look what you saw. You think Anderson is dying to get back in there for another five rounds of that? I don't blame him for saying that. It makes way more sense for Chael and Anderson to fight again. " When contacted by MMA Fighting regarding whether he had made a decision on Silva's next fight, UFC president Dana White responded, "not yet." Roberts added that he expects the UFC to make a decision on the matter sometime next week. "I'm sure Dana will make the right decision. He's a very smart guy," he said.
A question for you chaps,.. why doesn't anyone attempt the neck-crank submission anymore?... This used to work like a pearl for Mark Coleman back in the days of Pride,.. and could be a real useful submission for wrestlers especially. I know it's a dangerous move though,.. has it been outlawed in the UFC?..
I wonder why many wrestlers don't attempt that submission anymore, since Chael can't strike for shit, and was limited to softly stroking the confines of Silva's skull for half an hour, the commentators know how to hype up soft shots... "WOW!!" .. but in reality,.. Chael is not very good, and Silva ...looks weak...and just about done.
No, it hasn't been outlawed. People tend to use it occasionally, but having your arms extended while doing it is a good way to get armbarred. All you have to do is grab one of the arms and it's your two arms against that person's one arm. If you loop one of your legs over the person's face, you can set up for an armbar easily.
Exactly,Sonnen is decent but he's not good or great.I agree about Silva he's on the decline I'm not saying he's shot but I think he is past his prime.
Chael Sonnen is a great at applying his wrestling in the MMA cage. It's effective. It controls fights. Unfortunately for him, none of what he does well ends fights. He passed Silva's guard several times but didn't attempt any submissions outside the lame rear naked choke that he was never going to get. Soft ground and pound equals long fights. Against a guy as dynamic as Silva, long fights give him many chances to end things.
I can see the danger against bjj fighters with rubber legs,.. but there are dangers everywhere frankly, I think for a strong wrestler with poor ground and pound game and striking generally, the neck crank is an option such grappling brutes should not ignore, it can be inflicted from inside the full guard too,.. I was a big fan of Coleman's neck crank back in the day, but always wondered wether it should be illegal because it could really damage the upper area of the opponents spine.
Because he's 35.When he was walking back to the locker room after the Sonnen fight he looked like an old man and I knew he wouldn't be fighting for awhile(he's out for the rest of the year)
I just caught his fight with Maia,... daaaaaaaaaaaaamn,.. that was infuritating,.. up there with one of the worst fights I've ever seen, but I believe the blame can go both ways,.. it's not like Maia was flying forward in desperation,.. he was a scared bitch, who looked absolutely hopeless... Maia is a useless striker against a guy with pole vault legs and arms. I think Silva should either retire,.. or work on his own mentallity, take a break.. he's out for a while I hear,.. it's probably what's best for him,.. if he returns and looks like another joke.. it's definitely time to go.
