• UFC 112

White 'will cut' Silva if he mocks next opponent Sonnen

Dana White has confirmed Chael Sonnen will be Anderson Silva's next opponent, and he has made a promise to all UFC fans that he will cut the middleweight champion if he repeats his UFC 112 antics.

White was left furious by Silva's performance against Demian Maia, when he ruined his initial brilliance against the Jiu-Jitsu specialist by mocking him during the second half of the fight. White was so embarrassed of the UFC's first main event in Abu Dhabi that he left the arena during the fourth round.

"Nobody's supported him more than I have," White told ESPN's Rome is Burning show. "I've called him the best pound-for-pounder in the world but he didn't act like it the other night.

"Not only did he not act like the best pound-for-pounder, he didn't act like a champion or a UFC fighter. Taunting, not fighting, and then from the third round onwards running, I've literally never seen anything so bad."

White confirmed Silva's next fight will be against Chael Sonnen, the man Maia leapfrogged into No. 1 contendership for the UFC 112 event due to injury. Sonnen will bring an A-class wrestling game to the Octagon, but that has made little impact on Silva in the past - most notably when he choked out Greco-Roman standout Dan Henderson.

Back then that victory over Henderson earned Silva the unofficial label of 'world's best pound-for-pounder', but more recent performances against Thales Leites, Patrick Cote and Maia have tarnished that reputation. And White is adamant that anymore disrespectful taunting from the Brazilian will get him kicked out of the UFC.

"He's got a real tough fight coming up. His next fight's gonna be against Chael Sonnen, Chael's not gonna lay back. When Anderson has done this before, he's done it against real good Jiu-Jitsu guys, guys who want to take him down. Chael Sonnen's gonna take him down, but he's gonna double-leg him.

"Look at Anderson Silva, he demolished Rich Franklin twice, destroyed Dan Henderson, destroyed Nate Marquardt, went up to 205lbs and destroyed the guys he fought there. Then you see what he did at the weekend, it's unexplainable.

"There's nothing I can do to him contractually, he's contracted to get paid, and he gets paid. I've talked with him and, personally, I actually do believe he is now embarrassed of what he did.

"But if he acts like that again, I will cut him. I don't care if he's the best pound-for-pounder in the world, I don't care if he's the middleweight champion. I will cut him."

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