Black Belt in Self-Convincement
Posted on July 25, 2010, 06:28 AM by Anton GurevichFranklin McNeil laughing at Chael Sonnen on MMA Live, was the record-low moment in Oregonian’s build-up for the UFC 117 main event bout. It’s hard to blame people who are not buying into Chael Sonnen’s trash talk, and see in his every appearance something that reminds Joe Rogan’s stand-up show. His talk is indeed very entertaining, and can provide a good comic relief for a casual MMA fan. But there’s still much more than this.
Let’s not forget that Chael Sonnen is a crafty politician. And like many of his colleagues, he himself may not believe in the words coming out of his mouth. The true purpose of Chael Sonnen’s trash talk is not to convince us that he is the man to beat Anderson Silva, but to disrupt the harmony in the mind of the UFC Middleweight Champion. Sonnen knows that despite Silva’s lack of interaction with him, his psychological warfare could have a crucial influence during the fight. Maia said something completely normal for the fight build-up, and see what happened at UFC 112. Imagine what Chael Sonnen’s words will do to Anderson Silva, who is heavily pressured by Dana White to put up an impressive performance at UFC 117.
The most important question is whether Chael Sonnen fully convinced himself that he is the man to do the job. Chael Sonnen at the peak of his mental toughness is the most dangerous opponent Anderson Silva faced inside the Octagon. No disrespect to Silva’s previous opponents, but most of them mentally failed after few minutes in the cage with “The Spider”. Determined, driven and confident Chael Sonnen is more than capable to shock the world at UFC 117.
Chael Sonnen's plans to do exactly the same thing Ben Askren did to Dan Hornbuckle (who shares the same physical attributes as Anderson Silva) at Bellator 23rd. We can speculate about how Ben Askren is a better wrestler than Chael Sonnen, and how Anderson Silva is a better striker than Dan Hornbuckle, but it all depends on who's able to execute his gameplan. Again, the key for Sonnen's success is belief. Thales Leites and Demian Maia had a cautious tactics that were mostly generated by fear from Silva's striking. They had no belief in their abilities to take Silva to the ground. Their main hope was to capitalize on one of "The Spider's" mistakes and to submit him (Werdum actually did it against Fedor). Chael Sonnen promotes a whole different approach in his pre-fight interviews.
I don’t know if we should expect a promised fireworks when Silva and Sonnen at the Oracle Arena in Oakland (Our friends at CagePotato have a good article on this one). It may well turn out as a boring War of Attrition. It will be a moment of truth for Chael Sonnen, who will have to back up everything he said during the recent months. Sonnen himself declared in one of his famous Tweets that “talks is cheap, it takes money to buy Whiskey”. We’ll see how much dineros he has in his pockets on August 7th.
Comments
All I have to say is that Sonnen was fantastic on MMA live, best fighter interview they have had on that show so far.
if chael wins it will be a sad day for martial arts
IF he wins, he will be far more accessible, and a better over champion than Silva for no other reason than he is a good interview and says what's on his mind rather than the proverbial canned response so many of these knuckleheads give during an interview. I think he's a breath of freash air....
****n retard
hes a politician he knows how to tell the "truth" he uses jedi mind tricks like everyother politician and if you like him good luck in life
You're watching the wrong sport.
wtf???
First off Anton, that laugh from Mc Neil WASN'T a "low point" it was a NERVOUS laugh on the part of McNeil after Chael called him and the rest of the media out. Mc Neil had no other choice but make a nervous laugh because all of us who really understand ALL media here in the USA, know what Chael was talking about.
The media help hype and build interest in an event, happening or sport because it in turn gives them job security. If there were no hype, the interst of the people would be lower and in turn. there would be no need to have said media figure head on tv with their fake voice stroking the ego of said superstar..
Sonnen is not only helping to build his fight but giving a slap across the head to Silva and his much swollen ego.
Well said...Sonnen absolutely called the media-in-general out for their love fest with Silva. Think about what he said, "You guys keep saying that he's (Silva) a nice guy. But at the same time he claims to be unable to understand what you're saying." Classic
yeah im sure that was a nervous laugh by McNeil because he knows that Chael is right about the media claiming Silva's a nice guy when he rarely even talks to them. They have to brown nose though cuz if they say something nice then its more likely Silva will talk but if they speak their mind Silva for sure wont speak
I think Sonnen is a small brained juvenile HOWEVER, he schooled Mcneil PERIOD. Sonnen nailed him. If he'd been wrong Mcneil would have quickly come back with "why yes as a matter of fact I DO know Anderson ..." he got caught and was guilty of exactly what Sonnen keeps complaining about, to-wit: uninformed idiots who drool over Silva and give him a pass constantly.
Yea, and then there are the uninformed idiots who believe politicians are even more trustworthy than the media, and who drool over sonnens every word and completely ignore his fight history or credentials.
Sharp indeed.
damn best comment on this thread
Get your head out of SIlvas butthole. His last 3 fights consist of the top MW's in the division and all of them were in dominating fashion.
True and Sonnen actually believes his own press. Big talk, small brain.
I can't wait for Sonnen to go away for GOOOOOD....
Yea me either. I actually liked watching him before all this trash talk stuff...
I cant wait for this fight, I hope that Sonnen finally squishes the spida!!
I cant believe how DW's turning mma into wwe format giving sonnen a pplatform on ufc stages to trash talk silva. he may have even instigated it, but irrelevant, so many fools are falling for the BS and beleiving this is a good match up, when in all reality sonnen should and probably will get destroyed by the spider.
DW's inability to give the spider opponents of consistent world class quality result in this trash talk to hype up the fight.
I know I'll have to eat these words if sonnen produces the upset, but in all honesty the two are worlds apart in terms of mma ability and i expect it to show. I truly hope silva moves to lhw permanently or cuts a few pound and takes on gsp, as barring belfot and bisping there aren't any decent challenges for him at mw.
Sonnen is convinced he can beat him. Whether he is right or wrong, we get to find out on Aug. 7th.
What we do know, without having to wait, is that he's not afraid of him (Anderson) and I think, that's going to be the biggest difference in this fight; most of AS's opponents have been terrified of him; lose / lost, before they even entered the Octagon.
This will not be the case with Chael. Come fight night, Sonnen will be walking in there wanting the fight; convinced in his head, that he is a tougher man and is prepared to take a beating, to give a beating.
This fight will end up on the ground and if Chael doesn't get caught, which he could, he wins. This fight will not stay on it's feet; there will be no Rich Franklin or Chris Leben moment; this will be on the ground - start to finish.
If Anderson winds, it will be by submission. If Sonnen wins, it will probably be by decision. My guess is, is that AS can stifle most of the G 'n P, but won't be able to get back up or stay there (should he).
To me this boils down to one question - can CS stay away from an AS submission for 5 rounds? My guess is no.
I will be pulling for Sonnen, but AS's ground skills and the fact that this is a 5 round fight, I would expect Silva will probably catch him in (semi-gassed) in the fourth or fifth.
Win or Lose - I know that Sonnen is going to force a fight and given Anderson's last number of lack luster performances, that can only be a good thing.
I don't know if you have noticed, but Anderson Silva is a pretty good striker with pretty good movement. He's not that easy to take down. Chael may get a takedown or two, but there is no way this is going to be a 5 round ground fight. You are talking about the best striker in MMA history. To say that a knockout is even improbable is ridiculous.
Mind tricks only work on the weak minded. Has anyone ever seen the great white hype yet? i"ve been saying for months that the geniuses who believe sonnen really ought to watch that movie.
Hornbuckle is a great fighter top 10 easy hes just never faced a guy like that i think he would win in a rematch.
That's a pretty low thing to say. But what else would you expect from a fan of the Diaz boys. Sonnen's dad is dead. Chael promised him on his death bed he would become a champion. Sonnen always worked hard but I'm sure that stays in his mind. Plus when he was fighting for the WEC belt Paulo didn't make weight and he didn't get his belt even though Chael won and dominated the fight. How's that for some luck. At least if the guy made weight he could stop worrying about that promise to his old man. You don't know the fight game. Anderson isn't like that just cuz of his fight with Maia. I just hope Chael doesn't get on lowkick and see that kinda below the belt comment. Even he knows where to draw the line.
His trash-talk is cold and calculated IMO. He saw Anderson lose his cool with polite respectful soft-spoken Maia. He knows that Anderson is probably on the verge of needing a prozac prescription right now. It will have tangible impact on the fight.
Whatever,anderson was the same way with leites and i don't remember him saying anything. Maybe forrest would have won if he saw that and trashtalked silva...right?
Anderson has barely even responded, it's EXACTLY like what happened in the great white hype, and only a certain type of person bought into what the joker was saying
Maia didn't say anything either. Anderson still spazzed out and stopped fighting the best most effective fight that he could. Period. Unless you think acting like a clown and punching the ground is an effective fighting style, in which case I don't know what to say.
haha. this isn't a movie dude. chael didn't just come outta no where from the promoters. he's tough as nails and earned this shot. he might lose but only a certain type of person would deny that he's one of the best and most relentless fighters in his weight class. he runs his mouth but who cares. he wants a big paycheck and he's looking for more fans, sponsors, attention, etc. the guy knows what he's doing.
You know if Anderson punches sonnen's leg, or elbows his foot its over ...when hes in the zone no one can beat him
Hahaha that was an excellent comment!
It is amazing the emphasis, so often, is on Sonnen being a politician. Who cares, he is not asking you to vote for him to win against Silva, he is stating his convictions about who he is as a fighter and building interest in the fight.
Like him or not he is interesting, his opponent rants and raves like a fool inside the cage, but says nothing and lets his keeper (Ed Soares) talk his trash.
Didn't check what anyone said so sorry if I'm repeating but I thought that was a fantastically written article. Someone who really understands the sport, the business and the psychology. Well done mate.
Actually I just had a quick look above. Honestly....Using about 95%less of that style he used against Maia and combining incessant brutal attacks with a few inexplicable movements like thigh or floor punching could be very effective. I was impressed with Silva VS Maia for a short while in which time I thought f%%K "What can anyone do against this guy?" That turned to frustration and disappointment but imagine if he found a balance between that elusiveness and the Rich Franklin fight-like sheer aggression....Then we would see what a truly frightening fighter is.....A dream of Bruce Lee's.
Lets rather there guys as fighters. Sonnen is a good wrestler not great but good. Silva is a black belt in BJJ. Chael has decent stand up. Silva can destroy most people on their feet. No one apart from Maia (who i get the feelng said something beyond the norm to Sliva causing the reaction that was given in the fight) has truly been able to claim disrespect from Spider on a legitimate basis.The real question lies now with the discussion over whether Chael can hop on him for 25 mins (which i doubt) or if Anderson can destroy a wrestler and settle the question once and for all RE his credentials Vs this MMA skill set
sorry, meant "rate these guys" rather than "rather there guys"
and yes i know he's destroyed a few, henderson included but there are questions being asked and they think this is his best test, i would put my , money on GSP Silva or Sogun silva as more defining fights but i truly doubt now that he would consider a movement to HW when BL is there, no disrespect to AS and i dont think P4P it would be a fair match up for BL but AS needs to do somethng, most likely a weight class shuffle, better still for the sport a double drop or lift in weight (i.e lightweight or heavyweight bout)
and for god's sake YES i know GSP and Shogun (i know how to spell his name) arent in heavyweight, the reason i mentioned brock was because anderson considered the double leap to HW, Jebus!
all i have to say is that this is the best title ive ever seen on a postt lmffaaaoo