• UFC 159

Sonnen: Anderson sucks, no way he's better than me

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Chael Sonnen insists nobody can watch his fights with Anderson Silva and form the verdict that the Brazilian is the better fighter, claiming he "stomped" him for 30 minutes.

Sonnen, who says he could never replace Dana White as UFC president, fights the No. 2 pound-for-pounder in the world at UFC 159 on Saturday, when he challenges for Jon Jones' light-heavyweight belt. The No. 1 is Silva.

In the American's eyes, Jones is a far better fighter than Silva, and he uses his own clashes with the middleweight as proof. Sonnen lost on both occasions to Silva - first by submission and then TKO, but in the 30 minutes and five seconds they shared across the two bouts, he says he dominated for nearly the entire time.

"Anderson sucks. I don't want to disparage Anderson, I accept the outcome of our duel. But he didn't want to do that fight. He tried to get disqualified at the weigh-in, he tried to get disqualified during the fight, he tried all of that just to get out of it," Sonnen said.

"With all that said he still found a way to win. I admire that, I respect that, but at the end of the day I whipped his ass for 30 minutes. He got the jump on me for 30 seconds. There's no way you can watch us fight and come out saying Anderson's the better fighter. You just can't do that.

"People say I'm an 11/1 underdog against Jon Jones. I may well be. But those same people think Anderson might beat him? I stomped Anderson Silva, it's a head-scratcher."

If Sonnen is to beat Jones, it is widely expected he will have to out-wrestle the champion, despite the fact Jones has never been taken down. However, Sonnen rocked Silva with his hands in their first meeting, and insists he can do the same to Jones.

"I was going to try for the Olympic team in boxing in 2000, I wouldn't have made the team but I'd have been top five in the country. Me and my dad made the choice to not pursue boxing that year and go after the wrestling team, and I ended up as an alternate on the wrestling team.

"I've fought 49 men and never been outstruck, not one time, not even close. Usually I throw guys down and beat them up but I've ran into guys where I can't. I fought Paulo Filho and couldn't get him down, Yushin Okami I couldn't get him down. I had to stand up and that's fine."

Sonnen is rarely without an opinion on anything, and when asked if victory over Jones would leave him speechless, he replied: "Um… No!"

Summing up what victory would mean, the challenger added: "It would be a by-product of a lifetime of hard work, a lifetime of dedication. I've never been to a party - until I got to college. I was never invited to them, I always wondered what guys did at the weekend.

"I was always at practice. Saturday I was at competitions, Sunday I was taking care of animals. I never had the social life, I sacrificed everything for moments like this."

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