• UFC 134

Silva questions Okami's decision to train with Sonnen

ESPN staff
May 31, 2011
Anderson Silva was stretched in his contest with Chael Sonnen © Getty Images
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UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has offered some stinging criticism for forthcoming opponent Yushin Okami, after discovering the Japanese fighter has been training with Chael Sonnen ahead of their fight at UFC 134.

Sonnen previously came close to beating Silva in the Octagon, taking their fight last year to five rounds before eventually succumbing to a submission from the Brazilian.

But Sonnen has subsequently had real troubles that have tarnished his reputation - posting abnormal levels of testerone in the aftermath of his fight with Silva, before subsequently having his licence to fight revoked and also admitting to serious money laundering charges in a separate legal matter.

As a result, Silva questions why Okami would want to associate himself with such a fighter.

"You have to find the best people to train with, and I think he [Okami] chose wrong," Silva told O Globo. "I'd never align myself with a loser, a loser in every sense ... He didn't win the fight [between us], got caught doping, is being sued for various things, and is suspended from the UFC.

"You want to be a champion? Get with good people, with winners."

It would seem that Okami had chosen to work with Sonnen because the American has come closer than most to beating Silva - who is unbeaten in his last 14 bouts - but the man known as 'The Spider' poured scorn on that theory too.

"Moreover, Sonnen wasn't a tough opponent for me," he added. "I was injured with cracked ribs and fought five rounds.

"If I hadn't been injured, the fight would have been different."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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