• UFC 159

Sonnen: Dana says Jones is putting people to sleep

Chael Sonnen launched into one of his great tongue-in-cheek tirades on Tuesday, claiming Dana White called Jon Jones a "jerk" who is killing crowds in the UFC.

Sonnen was at his creative best on the UFC Tonight programme, where he acts as an analyst. Addressing his UFC 159 light-heavyweight title bout with Jones, Sonnen decided it was time to mock the seemingly invincible champion.

Few are giving Sonnen a chance ahead of the April 27 collision, with Jones the bigger and seemingly more talented fighter in all areas of the sport. Sonnen though, says president White has asked him to do the UFC a favour by beating him.

"I got a call one day from Dana," Sonnen began. "He said, 'Chael I'm putting you to work. You see, I overpaid for this light-heavy who I now realise is a jerk. He's been winning fights not with brains nor with brawn, and his matches and his one-arm cartwheels are making the whole crowd yawn.

"Nobody is coming to see him, in living rooms or in bars. Why don't you send this guy to Cirque du Soleil or Dancing With The Stars?'

"He handed me his wallet, his ATM card, his PIN number too. He said, 'Chael, whatever is in the account, take it. It's all for you.' I thought for a moment and I said, 'I tell you what uncle D, for you and the fans, this one's on me.'

"So I went and did some homework and got some tape of his fights. I suggest you all give it a try if you're ever having problems sleeping at night. They tell me he's good but I know that can't be true.

"I saw him get armbarred by Vitor [Belfort] and he's 52. He's so boring, he made [Lyoto] Machida fall asleep. The snoozefest he had with Rashad [Evans] or beating up on [Stephan] Bonnar - who's older than God.

"Here's the truth … Do whatever you have to do to stay away Jon - you don't want to fight me."

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