Their rivalry was one of the most intense of the early 2010s. Back when they were competing for the UFC middleweight title, nobody could have pictured Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva laughing with their arms around one another.
The past decade – and Chael’s retirement – seems to have mellowed their relationship, which was once categorized by incessant taunts and vitriol between the two MMA legends. Sonnen recently lent his promotional skills to a press conference for Silva’s upcoming boxing match against YouTuber Jake Paul, and discussed how his fate remains intertwined with Silva’s in an interview with MMAFighting.
Chael Sonnen’s Deep Kinship With Anderson Silva: “When his career dies, mine dies”
“When his career dies, mine dies.
There’s something, no matter how small — I’m in that ring with him. I’m a part of that journey, I’m a part of what got him here, the hard workouts he did or the motivation somewhere along [the way]. A small part, but in fairness, he’s my last connection. When he goes, that’s it.
The wrestling community felt that when Daniel Cormier stepped away. But I’ll just share that I cling — I cling to Anderson hanging in there. I cling to him still being able to do this. I cling to how good he looks, showing his motivation and hard work. It matters, in some way.”
Sonnen had nothing but praise for his old adversary, and warned those who are writing Silva off because of his age against doing so. Anderson Silva, he says, never truly retired: he just changed games.
“People love to bring up this age of Anderson, and I won’t just dismiss 47 years old versus [25] years old. I won’t just dismiss that. However, this is not like the other stories. This is not somebody that walked away and is coming back. This is not a return, it’s not a comeback. This is the same career. This is an extension. This is a guy that never got out of shape.
I was just doing an interview with Anderson — he used to not like to do them, he’d pretend he didn’t speak English, it used to drive me crazy — but he’s doing an interview over here, he’s quite articulate, he never missed a beat.
Some of these older fighters that we have that come back, they can’t go cut interviews because you can’t understand what they’re saying. I’m not looking to put somebody down, [but] this is a different story. We have not seen a guy that extended his career. Jake Paul, this is as real as it gets, man. You don’t play — you don’t play with Anderson Silva.”
Is Chael right about Anderson Silva? Let us know in the comments.
