UFC 134: Chael Sonnen Gives Sincere Breakdown of Yushin Okami vs. Anderson Silva

In MMA, there aren't many things that are more rare to see these days than Chael Sonnen giving a straight answer to a question.

However, Sonnen did just that when he made a brief appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter. 

The embattled UFC middleweight gave an unbiased breakdown of the UFC 134 main event fight between Yushin Okami and Anderson Silva. 

Sonnen has squared off with both men in the Octagon before, soundly defeating Okami by unanimous decision at UFC 104, and notoriously pushing Silva to the brink at UFC 117 before being submitted in the fifth round. 

Bloody Elbow was kind enough to provide a transcription of Sonnen on SportsCenter:

“Look, I’ve had the opportunity to compete with both of these gentlemen, and I can tell you first hand this comes down to two things.  It’s real simple: range and pace,” Sonnen said. 

He elaborated by breaking down the keys to victory for both fighters:

“If Anderson Silva can keep his opponent at the end of his punches, keep that distance that he’s so accustomed to, those devastating strikes with his feet and with his fists are gonna land.”

Shockingly, Sonnen not only acknowledged that Silva could beat Okami, but that he could do so in impressive fashion.

“He can have a great night.  He can finish this fight in devastating, highlight-reel fashion.”

However, the West Linn, Oregon native is still putting his money on Yushin Okami in this middleweight title bout.

“Yushin Okami knows this.  He’s fought him once before, and he failed to do that.  He’s had five years to think about.  He’s had five years to realize he needs to get inside, he needs to push the pace. He needs to wear Anderson Silva down.”

“And I really believe he’s going to do that.  I think we’re going to have a new middleweight champion.”

UFC 134 takes place at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with the preliminary card commencing at 8pm Eastern Time.