Larry Brown Sports

Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen spent the day at ESPN Tuesday to promote their upcoming UFC 159 fight on Saturday in Newark. They each joined multiple shows and spent time conducting multiple interviews. Jones was his typically reserved self, while Sonnen was obnoxious like usual. However, one thing we did notice that was atypical of Sonnen was an expression of self-doubt.

“I don’t know if I can beat Jon Jones,” Sonnen said during an interview with Sage Steele on “SportsCenter.”

“I don’t if I will beat him. I know I can beat him, but I know he can beat me too,” Sonnen continued. “I may go down, but I will go down like a gangster and I will empty my chamber before I do.”

It was surprising to hear such a braggadocios individual allow for the possibility of defeat. Generally, someone entering a title fight will be full of confidence and the belief that they will win. That does not seem to be Sonnen’s mentality.

Jones picked up on that.

Jones said that he’s learned not to be bothered by Sonnen’s big mouth. Instead, he lets his counterpart talk a big game because it serves them both well for purposes of promoting the fight. But Jones also said on “SportsCenter” that he noticed Sonnen’s lack of confidence in interviews. Jones said hearing Sonnen say he doesn’t know if he can win means that the challenger is already “half-beaten.” Jones said being around his opponent has allowed him to see where the challenger is mentally weak. Jones also said Sonnen ranks toward the bottom compared to his last five opponents because he is not a former world champion. He did admit that Sonnen is a “worthy opponent.”

Though Sonnen has been talking a big game, there is an obvious size and ability mismatch here. Couple that with Sonnen’s self-doubt, and I’m expecting this to be an easy win for Jones. If that happens, Dana White likely will not be able to trot out Sonnen for another big fight until he wins some more.

Chael Sonnen is one of the most entertaining characters in mixed martial arts. The main reason for that is that it seems like he has no filter. Sonnen says whatever is on his mind, whether the timing is appropriate or not. Need an example? Look not further than Tuesday’s edition of SportsCenter.

Sonnen was smack-dab in the middle of discussing his upcoming fight against Jon Jones with Sage Steele when an impulse came over him.

“Can I touch your hair?” he asked Steele. “Can I feel…”

The most surprising part? She actually let him do it. Kudos to Steele for handling the incredibly bizarre moment with poise. Sonnen went on to try to explain why he asked.

“I love your hair, by the way,” he said. “Has this ever happened before? Because everybody that has sat in this chair is thinking it, I can assure you. That’s real hair, people. And it’s very soft, I might add.”

Looks like someone’s in a good mood despite their opponent recently accusing them of cheating throughout their entire career. Saturday night’s fight should be entertaining and Sonnen probably isn’t done talking yet, but my money is on Jones.

Video via Barstool Sports

Jon Jones accused Chael Sonnen of using steroids his entire career and only seemed to give a light-hearted apology for making the statement.

Jones and Sonnen will face each other on April 27 in New Jersey for Jones’ UFC light heavyweight championship belt. During an interview with “UFC Tonight” on Tuesday, Jones was asked why he hasn’t talked much trash leading up to the fight. He then was asked about his lone trash-talking remark about Sonnen, in which he said the challenger lacks a “champion’s soul.”

“Chael Sonnen is a guy who people know he’s done steroids throughout his whole career,” Jones told host Dominick Cruz. “It’s probably why his testosterone is low now and I don’t think that’s the heart or attitude of a champion. So that’s what I meant when I said he lacks ‘championship soul’.”

Jones tweeted a similar thought on Monday:

Take steroids in your prime testosterone levels drop then you take TRT to get in your prime again.. Maybe I should just join the team $$$

— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) April 15, 2013

In case you’re unfamiliar, TRT stands for testosterone replacement therapy. Fighters can be granted waivers by the UFC to receive testosterone if they’re medically proven to have low levels. Sonnen is one of those fighters, and he had a controversy after his fight with Anderson Silva in 2010. Sonnen tested positive for high levels of testosterone and was later suspended by the California State Athletic Committee for not taking the steps to receive an exemption for TRT usage. Though Sonnen says he needs the TRT to treat hypogonadism, many believe that fighters end up with low testosterone levels because of past steroid abuse (as referenced in Jones’ tweet).

Jones tweeted Wednesday to say he was apologizing:

I had no right to accuse chael of being a career long steroid user I apologize. See what had happened was….

— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) April 17, 2013

Jones never gave an explanation for what happened, leading me to believe he wasn’t really apologizing.

Below is an interview where Sonnen talks about steroids, but be prepared to get dizzy from all the circles he talks in:

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Chael Sonnen must have finally heard that WWE boss Vince McMahon once challenged UFC president Dana White to a fight, because he responded Tuesday with a proposal for McMahon.

In case you missed it, White revealed in a recent interview that McMahon wanted to fight him in the UFC or at a Wrestlemania event. White declined, saying that the 67-year-old McMahon is too old to be fighting.

Sonnen, who is 27-12 as an MMA fighter, seems to be game. He proposed a tag team fight between him and White against McMahon and WWE champ CM Punk.

In typical Sonnen fashion, the tweets came in a series of humorous, crap-talking blasts:

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Chael Sonnen has a big mouth, but at least he is a man of his word.

Sonnen predicted to UFC on Fuel co-host (and fellow fighter) Rashad Evans that Dan Henderson would defeat Lyoto Machida at UFC 157 Saturday. He was so confident that Hendo would win, he told Evans he would lick his shoe if his prediction did not come true.

Naturally, Hendo lost a split decision to Machida, and Sonnen got intimate with Evans’ sneaker.

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On Tuesday, the International Olympic Committee made the decision to drop the sport of wrestling from the Olympics, effective in 2020. As you might expect, current and past Olympic medalists in Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling are infuriated by the news. So is Chael Sonnen.

Sonnen, as you likely know, is currently a UFC star who holds a 27-12 record in his mixed martial arts career. What you may not know is that Sonnen was an All-American wrestler in college at Oregon. He was also an alternate on the US Olympic team in Greco-Roman wrestling. On Fuel TV’s “UFC Tonight” earlier this week, Sonnen blasted the IOC for its decision to drop wrestling from the Olympics.

“How do you get rid of wrestling?” Sonnen asked to begin his rant. “It is the oldest sport in existence. In no walk of society can you tell me seniority does not matter. Nothing can date itself back as far as wrestling. They didn’t have bikes, they didn’t have balls and they didn’t have bats — they were pushing and pulling on one another.

“We have an idiocracy known as FILA that has ruined the sport. We have two knuckleheads that you couldn’t trust to run your local donut shop regulating our sport of wrestling. Wrestling has cannibalized itself from 10 spots on the world and Olympic team to nine, to eight, to seven. This is where they’re at it. It’s basic science, the number one rule in biology, you either evolve or you become extinct.”

Sonnen has shown that he is certifiably insane with interviews like this in the past, but it’s tough to disagree with him here. Wrestling dates back to the ancient Olympic Games in 708 BC and was the focus of the Olympics when the modern era began in Athens in 1896. The fact that sports like badminton and table tennis will survive and wrestling has been axed has to drive wrestling enthusiasts up a wall.

After all the drama surrounding the cancelation of UFC 151 because of Jon Jones’ refusal to fight Chael Sonnen on short notice, the UFC finally has the fight it wanted. UFC President Dana White told the LA Times’ Lance Pugmire that Chael Sonnen and Jon Jones will serve as coaches for the third edition of “The Ultimate Fighter” on FX, and then fight in April.

The show is set to begin shooting in two weeks, with the “TUF” finale in April.

“This should be a good one,” White said of matching arguably his organization’s best fighter against its top personality. “Jon has accepted the fight. He knows the fans want to see that fight.”

Jones’ fight date is not for six months because he needs some time off to recover from the arm injury suffered in a win over Vitor Belfort last month.

As embarrassed as Dana White was to cancel the entire UFC 151 card, he has to be feeling almost the opposite now. Jones’ talent combined with Sonnen’s personality and ability to trash talk should not only send ratings for “TUF” sky-rocketing, but they should also produce excellent pay-per-view buy numbers. The organization will also have several months to properly promote the fight, unlike the UFC 151 card which would have been organized on short notice.

It truly seems like this is a middle ground between Jones and the UFC, and a sign that the two sides are repairing their relationship. And you know that Sonnen is dying for this; he’s been steadily baiting Jones over Twitter for the last several months, even sending the note below a few weeks ago over Twitter:

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