• UFC 148

Sonnen attacks Silva's manager at UFC 148 presser

Chael Sonnen continued to mock Anderson Silva, and his manager Ed Soares, at Tuesday's UFC 148 press conference, insisting he sees no reason to apologise for anything he has said about the Brazilian's country of birth.

Sonnen has baited the UFC middleweight champion for months in order to force a rematch, after Silva won their first bout with a last-ditch submission. He has attacked Silva, his team-mates, his native Brazil, and even brought his wife into the equation.

Last week Silva finally snapped, promising to break every limb in Sonnen's body. The tirade of abuse from Silva was astonishing, but Sonnen does not feel he has gone too far.

"I offer zero apologies. If you aren't prepared to go too far, you haven't gone far enough," said the poetic American. "If you knew your funeral was coming up you'd have something to say too."

Soares acted on behalf of Silva as his translator on Tuesday, something that Sonnen simply could not helping poking fun at.

"Why are you interpreting for Silva? Firstly he can understand English, and secondly we can download what Ed Soares is doing for $9.99.

"What are we doing, he sits here and pretends he can't speak English? It's like pretending you're the champion. He's got a fake belt!"

Commenting more directly on the fight, Sonnen explained that he felt Silva had done a "solid job" at the top of the 185lb division. But he claimed it was time for a proper fighter to take things forward.

"He's a mixed martial artist. I'm a cage fighter. There's a big difference," Sonnen said. "I'm not trying to get in his head. The true Anderson came through. He tried talking down to me like I'm Vitor Belfort."

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