‘I don’t get what all the fuss is about’

IN THE world of mixed martial arts there’s a fight that is on the tip of almost everybody’s tongue. But not everyone shares the same enthusiasm.

LAS VEGAS, NV - DECEMBER 26: UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey poses for a portrait during a UFC photo session on December 26, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) Picture: Images Getty

IN THE world of mixed martial arts there’s a fight that is on the tip of almost everybody’s tongue.

The undefeated, and undisputed dominant force that is Ronda Rousey against a foe that could be her most formidable: Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino.

The speculation surrounding this bout has been looming for months, and it’s a fight that the pair have on-again-off-again spoken about for years now.

Not all people in the mixed martial arts industry share the same enthusiasm about this fight though. The self-proclaimed “bad guy” of mixed martial arts Chael Sonnen is one of them.

“That fight is just a little bit ridiculous, I don’t even think it’s fun to talk about. I could be missing the boat there,” Sonnen told news.com.au.

“I hear people talking about it like they’ve got some excitement but I don’t know where that comes from.

“Had they fought years ago back when Cyborg was really into the sport and she was competing at a really high level it still would have lasted about thirty-seconds. I don’t know where it all comes from, she can’t make the weight class, she’s never made the weight class, this is just the reality of that situation — that fight is never going to happen.”

Sonnen is no stranger to the criticism that a fighter receives after testing positive to a banned substance.

Recently, Cyborg — a fighter who herself has a prior history of testing positive for banned substances — has accused the world’s most dominant female athlete in Rousey of being a

dirty fighter. With these allegations being unfounded, Sonnen doesn’t think Cyborg truly knows what she’s talking about.

“I really don’t think so,” Sonnen said. “First off, Ronda understand the rules, she’s one of the few people that really gets what you’re allowed to do and what you’re not allowed to do because it’s Olympic level testing and she was an Olympic athlete.

“Most people that get jammed up on that stuff, I mean you get some people who are trying to cheat the system but most guys that get hit on that stuff are going, ‘Wait a minute I’m not allowed to do that?’ — they simply don’t know the rules.

“It’s very fair by Ronda [to accuse Cyborg],” Sonnen continued. “Cyborg tested positive, she can’t get around that. I’ve been in her shoes, I’ve failed those same tests. You’ve gotta understand if you fail one of those tests you are open to that forever.

“Forever people can accuse you of that. I don’t think that Cyborg still does it, I think the rules changed and she changed with the rules but she is still subject to that kind of scrutiny, and that’s just a reality.

Cris "Cyborg" Santos.

“Whether she did it years ago or not, Cyborg, welcome to your life, it’s just the way that it is.”

Sonnen doesn’t exactly shy away from his past, and how his career in the UFC played out.

UFC 117 will forever be etched into his memory. By way of Sonnen, it was the fight that truly made people begin to take an interest in Anderson Silva the man as well as Anderson Silva the fighter.

The lead up to the highly anticipated middleweight title bout at UFC 117 saw Silva opposite a charismatic enigma. When the two finally stepped into the famed Octagon and stood opposite each other on July 7, 2012, the challenger gave Silva the fight of his life. Sonnen was the clear winner of the fight heading into the fifth and final round. A new champion was all but ready to be crowned. And then, Silva managed to coax a tap.

Following that fight, Sonnen would test positive to elevated levels of testosterone. A little over four years later he would go on to announce his retirement from active competition, and a little over a year following that, so much changed. Anderson Silva tested positive for a banned substance, the former middleweight kingpin is seemingly a world away from the dominance he once cast over the division. Speculation has ensued and many look to justify their losses against Silva because they believe he has always been a cheat. Sonnen though? He just tells it like it is. He always did. And always will.

“I knew exactly what he was doing and he knew what I was doing,” Sonnen explained. “You’ve got to understand, there’s a misconception that the UFC had a drug problem, the reality of it is that it had an age problem. The guys from my generation, things were different when we started, the rules were different, the rules changed over time and we did not change. We were set in our ways and we kinda said, this is how we’ve always done it and this is how we’re gonna keep doing it.

“When the rules changed there were just a lot of guys who were caught with their pants down and there’s no excuse about it, that’s just the way it happened. [Silva’s] in a jam now because there’s a couple of things that were just ridiculous. He failed for three substances, none of the substances I had ever heard of and I doubt any of your readers had heard of them until he tested positive for them, so that’s a little underhanded.

“When you look closer, two of the substances are over the counter at every store in the world, they are sleep-aids that help you fall asleep. I can tell you, in fight week you’re stressed out of your mind, you’re dehydrated, you can’t sleep and if he took something that’s gonna help him fall asleep, if I’m gonna be his opponent, take more, take five times as much it’s fine with me. To come out and say that stuff is banned with no warning ahead of time — there’s no list, there’s no one you can call and check, there’s no way to tell until it shows up and there’s a violation — that’s underhanded.

“Was he wrong? Yeah. And why he keeps denying it I have no idea. This is a bulletproof test, if it says it’s in your system, it’s in your system. That’s the end of it. The medicines change all the time, what guys take changes on a daily basis. You have to understand, Anderson is not my friend. We are enemies and we always will be, but even from the stance of his enemy he gets a full pass. He had a leg that was snapped in two, he had, not only every moral right but he had an obligation to heal his leg and if he had to turn to the free market or black market for that, he gets a full pass from me.

Chael Sonnen (top) against Anderson Silva in 2010.

“Now, that doesn’t mean he can go out and fight, if he’s got something like that in his system still, that disqualifies him from participating in a fight. You can’t combine the medicine and the athletic competition. But, just looking at the medication side of things he had every right to do that and if he took something that healed a leg that snapped in two he should tell us what it is, he should help science and help medicine and tell us all what he did, it’s miraculous. I don’t know why he’s so embarrassed and so ashamed, it was in his system, that’s without question, he fought - you can’t do that, that’s where the apologies need to end. As far as taking something to fix his leg? Good for you Anderson.”

Sonnen knows a thing or two about what happens both inside and outside of the cage. Jon Jones recently relinquished his light heavyweight title after a spate of controversy outside of the Octagon. Some have said that Jones, who was once considered the best fighter on the planet, may look to hang up the gloves, Sonnen on the other hand thinks that Jones is far from done in the sport.

“I think Jon Jones is gonna be back a lot sooner than you think,” Sonnen predicted. “He’s still got to get through a court date and anything could happen there — including jail time. If he gets jail time that just kicks the can down the road farther as far as his return. He’ll definitely be back and he will be champion again.

“He’s a young guy that behaves as a young guy. Some people get success and they change, I don’t know that he’s changed. He was behaving like a knucklehead before he was champion and he behaves like a knucklehead now. He’s a young guy and I think a little bit needs to be considered there. He’s a fist-fighter, he fights inside a steel cage I’m not totally sure all that’s expected of him, and why? He’s a very nice guy and that story never gets told, it seems like whenever he does something bad there’s always a camera around him but when he does something nice it just goes unnoticed. I know him pretty well and he’s a nice guy — he just behaves like a knucklehead and to me that sounds like a pretty regular person.”

Originally published as ‘I don’t get what all the fuss is about’