Wanderlei Silva sympathetic about Chael Sonnen's suspension despite their recent confrontation
Former Pride 203lb champion Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva raised eyebrows when he had a high-profile confrontation with middleweight contender Chael Sonnen which was caught on camera. But Silva, who’s
said he’d be open to a fight with Sonnen, said he had nothing but sympathy for Sonnen after he tested positive for steroids in the wake of his recent title fight loss to Anderson Silva. Sonnen received a one-year suspension for the infraction, which he is
currently appealing.
"Maybe he's going to fight with me but he is one year out. But that's tough, a year is too much time," Wanderlei said of Sonnen's impending ban. "I agree with what [UFC President Dana White] said, they took
his job for a year, that's terrible. This guy has a family and this guy needs to work. I think six months is okay, a year is too much time."
Regarding Sonnen’s use of steroids, he said he didn’t condone the use of them.
"For sure, [steroids] is wrong. But you can't take a job from a guy for a year, that's not so good."
But outside the cage Silva and Sonnen have had their differences on how to properly conduct themselves. Not too long ago, Sonnen was doing his part to sell his fight against Anderson Silva. Sonnen is known
for his ridiculous statements and trash-talking, and he did a great job in rousing public interest. He fired up the champion and delivered a great fight even though he lost by a last-round submission after having dominated the fight. However, he made the mistake
of insulting Brazil [both Silvas’ home country] and the legendary fighting duo of the Nogueira brothers, who are highly esteemed by "The Axe Murderer", in one of his trash-talks.
Silva disliked those statements and he could not stop himself from confronting Sonnen about his excessive trash talking. Silva schooled Sonnen about the proper way to promote a fight.
It is rare for Sonnen to be at a loss for words but when Silva started his lecture about promotion etiquette, the American kept quiet most of the time and absorbed all the Brazilian had to say. Although appreciative
of Sonnen's knack of promoting fights, “The Axe Murderer” suggested that the brash cage fighter went overboard by making disrespectful comments.
It all started with Silva asking about Sonnen's next fight and praising the latter's performance in his last match against the UFC middleweight champion. Straight away, after Sonnen expressed his thanks for
the admiring comment, Wandy interjected his thoughts.
"I'm thinking," Silva said. "You make a challenge. You sell the fight, you make a promotion, it's good. But you need to be careful talking about some things, like Brazil. You're talking bad things about Brazil.
You don't know Brazil. When there is something you don't know, you need to respect that thing." Sonnen interjected he’d been to Brazil.
"You've been to Brazil, but I am Brazilian," Silva continued. "Like you've been talking about the Nogueira brothers, these guys are the history of the sport, we have to respect these guys. The promotion is
good, but you need to respect some things. These guys need respect. We need to have a good conduct about that. So don't do that anymore."
Silva's English may not be very good, but he delivered a clear and respectful speech. However, his final statements were rather inauspicious.
"In Brazil we have a saying, ‘You have respect, you don't lose your teeth.' In Brazil we say that. Give respect because we don't know about the future, no?"
It produced a tense moment in the minivan they were both currently riding in, but the normally verbose Sonnen was suddenly tongue-tied, and could only nod his head and thank you.
A fight between these two is definitely intriguing and a potential blockbuster. Perhaps Silva knows this and it is just too bad that Sonnen's impending suspension gets in the way.
But either way the Axe Murderer showed why he is one of the UFC’s most beloved fighters. His straightforward willingness to confront an opponent on any subject wherever he is combined with a lack of vindictive
intent, as he was quite willing to speak up in Sonnen’s defence when few others would.
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