UFC 152: Chael Sonnen Praises Vitor Belfort, Hints at His Own New Fight Booking

Despite two-time UFC middleweight title challenger Chael Sonnen's well-documented feud with Brazilian fighters, "The American Gangster" will be rooting for Vitor Belfort when he faces Jon Jones for the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 152. 

"Vitor's an excellent fighter," Sonnen told MMA Junkie. "It's world champion after world champion that he fights, and this isn't any different. It's a good chance for Vitor, and I hope he seizes the moment." 

Sonnen has been anything but complimentary of Belfort in the past, calling him a "chicken and a liar" when he withdrew from the UFC 147 main event against Wanderlei Silva due to a broken hand. 

The former two-time All-American collegiate wrestler was offered a fight with Jones after Dan Henderson was forced out of his UFC 151 title fight just nine days before the fight, but "Bones" declined a bout with Sonnen and the event was ultimately cancelled. 

"The Phenom," who hasn't fought at light heavyweight for nearly five years, got the nod for a championship fight after Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua both turned down a rematch with Jones on short notice. 

Sonnen made it clear he holds no hard feelings against Belfort or the UFC for the way the situation played out, but he is still critical of Jones for turning down a fight with him. 

"

"We're used to being attacked by competition," he said. "We welcome it. We're used to being attacked by the states because it's an opportunity to go in and educate them. But what we're not used to is being attacked from within. We're not used to having one of our own set off a grenade and walk away laughing and never look back. It was really kind of an unbelievable experience from where I stand." 

"

Initially, it seemed as though Sonnen's scheduled return to the light heavyweight division against Forrest Griffin at UFC 155, scheduled for Dec. 29, would remain intact. 

However, Sonnen indicated that may not be the case. "There's going to be some news coming out on me soon. We'll see how things play out. Stay tuned." 

Sonnen's fight with Griffin would have been a rematch from Sept. 2003, where Griffin won via first-round triangle choke. 

Should that fight be off the table, a matchup with Machida could be a real possibility given the legitimate bad blood between the two fighters.