CHAEL SONNEN’S DESIRE to get his hands on a championship belt during his fighting career has led to some of the most entertaining verbal exchanges the UFC has ever seen.
This was highlighted perfectly before, during and after his two fights with middleweight champ Anderson Silva when he cut close to the bone a few times with his verbals but ultimately came away with two losses and no belt.
His focus then switched to a different division and champ but his tactics remained the same and he has somehow managed to talk his way to a title shot against Jon Jones in April as well as a coaching role versus Jones in the next series of “The Ultimate Fighter.”
Sonnen and Jones to revive “TUF.”
The announcement of the two marquee signings to the series has couldn’t have come at a better time after the programme posted its lowest ever viewing figures last week.
The show has suffered a number of blips recently including a change of format which has contributed to a steady decline in viewership over the last number of seasons.
The prospect of watching Chael Sonnen verbally wear down Jon Jones over a prolonged period of time should help change the fortunes of the ailing series and help bring it back to the Griffin-Bonnar or Liddell-Ortiz days.
It will be interesting to see how Jones copes with Sonnen’s attempts to get under his skin as well as finding out their coaching styles and we will have a fight between the two at the end of the show that will no doubt be one of the biggest hyped fights of the year. With a buzz already surrounding the fight and verbal volleys already exchanged, the only downside to this announcement is that we will have to wait a few months before watching it all unfold.
Cage Contender returns to Belfast
One of Ireland’s premier MMA organisations, Cage Contender, returns to its spiritual home in Belfast this Saturday, as the King’s Hall gets ready for yet another great night with plenty of local talent on show. Gunnar Nelson, who made his UFC debut just a few weeks ago and fought on a number of Cage Contender cards, will be in attendance to watch his training partner Arni Isaksson take on Wayne “Mayhem” Murrie.
Former UFC veteran Ross Pointon has been told by Dana White recently that if he wins his next two fights he will be back in the UFC and he must overcome the dangerous striker Conor Cooke if he is to make it back to the UFC.
Young Ballymena prospect Alan Philpott will take his strong submission game with him as he face Ricky Edgeworth again in their long awaited rubber match. Stephen Kilfin and Stevie McCombe are also ones to look out for on the card. With Norman Parke performing strongly on the current series of TUF, Cage Contender has again proved that it provides the right type of environment and gives fighters the perfect opportunity to try and make it to the big-time.
