by Dann Stupp and John Morgan
Ask a few questions, and you have a headline-worthy sound bite, a boastful prediction, a claim that flies in the face of conventional wisdom, and then a stealthy compliment that makes you think the outspoken fighter really isn't all that bad.
For Sonnen, it's just another day on the job as MMA's most unique personality.
After returning from a 14-month layoff that resulted from multiple suspensions and legal issues, Sonnen (25-11-1 MMA, 4-4 UFC) now meets Brian Stann (11-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) on Saturday's UFC 136 pay-per-view main card at Houston's Toyota Center. The winner could be in line for a title shot.
On Thursday, Sonnen was back in pre-fight mode. And though we got our headlining quote, Sonnen was trying to make a legitimate point – even if he adds in a bit of levity for good measure.
"Listen, I don't have a show," he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I just tell it like it is. You guys ask the questions; I answer them.
"I don't manufacture conflict. I think I'm the most respectful guy in this sport. I have a vastly different opinion of what respect means than some people. Some people think it's respectful to lie and be nice to your face and bow and put a knife in your back when you turn around. I well tell you to your face that when you turn around, I'm going to put a knife in your back, and then I'll do it. That's respect."
Welcome back, Chael Sonnen. Love or hate him (and everyone falls into one of two camps), he remains a major figure in MMA.
Why?
For the past half decade, the sport has seen no equal to Anderson Silva, a record-setting UFC middleweight champion who's stumbled only once during his current 15-fight win streak. Silva, who's widely considered MMA's pound-for-pound kingpin, was dominated by Sonnen for more than four rounds before the champ pulled off a miracle submission victory midway through the fifth round.
Since the August 2010 fight, the performance essentially has been a black mark on Silva's resume. If he rematches Sonnen and proves the UFC 117 meeting was a fluke, Silva essentially has nothing left to prove in the sport.
And if you think Sonnen is too busy focusing on Stann to worry about the rematch, think again.
"I always look ahead," he said. "I don't ever focus on anything. Again, this doesn't require focus, guys. This is a fistfight for a 15-minute time limit. I can't think of anything less meaningful or important in life than that.
"You guys have all worked more than 15 minutes just today. So I'm going to have to go work 15 minutes in the last 14 months. I'm not going to sit around and complain about that or act as though I'm building a piano here. It's a fight."
Surely, though, it's a little more complicated than that, right? Just tell us you've been working on a game plan for an opponent who's quickly become of the division's top-tier fighters.
"I don't do game plans," he said. "Listen, guys. You can take all these guys with their eighth-grade education and their gold teeth trying to sit around and break down a fight. This is the most unsophisticated and un-well-thought-out thing you need to do in life. Two half-naked men are going to get into a steel cage and fight for the applause of a drunken rowdy crowd in Houston, Texas, on Saturday night. We don't need a plan for this."
Despite the humor, though, Sonnen eventually admits that yes, Stann is a real challenge. He presents real problems. And Sonnen, who actually commentated Stann's first pro fight back at SportFight 14 in 2006, knows he gets better each time out.
Stann needed three minutes to defeat his opponent that night: IFL vet and stand-out wrestler Aaron Stark.
"Brian was a natural," Sonnen said. "He fought a national wrestling champion, my teammate Aaron Stark, and he stopped it in a couple minutes of the very first round. I couldn't stop Stark in a couple minutes of the first round. So I was impressed.
"I grabbed him after the fight, introduced myself and said, 'Man, I just think you're really good. I wanted you to know.' I still think he's really good. When he was green and didn't know much about fighting, he won the world championship in the WEC up a weight class, so I don't question his skills at all."
Facing Stann, a true war hero, Sonnen knows his usual heel role will be amplified significantly. He knows his time away has done nothing to cool the hatred so many fans have for him. So when he enters the cage for Saturday's event, he has a simple request.
"Listen, I only ask the crowd to do two things: Be present and be loud," he said.
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