Chael Sonnen Slams Wanderlei Silva on UFC Tonight

Former three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen was quite cordial opposite UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones during season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter. 

However, fight fans knew we would see "The American Gangster" pull out all the stops this time around, as he coaches TUF: Brazil 3 opposite archnemesis Wanderlei Silva. 

On Wednesday's edition of UFC Tonight, Sonnen sent a message from Brazil putting "The Axe Murderer" on blast. 

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A special message from @Sonnench: "It's real. Everything about Wand is real. Well, except his eyebrows, forehead and record in PRIDE.”

— UFC Tonight (@UFCTonight) January 23, 2014

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Sonnen and Silva were expected to settle their differences at UFC Fight Night 26 in August. However, Sonnen ended up fighting fellow Brazilian slugger Mauricio "Shogun" Rua instead.

He won the bout via a first-round guillotine choke. 

In his most recent matchup, Sonnen got TKO'd by Rashad Evans in the first round of their UFC 167 encounter in November. 

The Team Reign Training Center fighter is just 3-4 in his past seven fights, though his loss to Evans was his first defeat in a non-title bout since February 2009. 

Meanwhile, Wanderlei has struggled since moving from the Pride ring to the Octagon, with a 4-5 record since December 2007. 

Nevertheless, Silva managed to dial in a vintage performance at UFC on FUEL 8 in March, scoring a vicious second-round knockout over former WEC light heavyweight champ Brian Stann. 

This isn't the first time Sonnen has tried to hype the upcoming season of TUF, which will be featured on UFC Fight Pass, evidenced by this tweet from yesterday. 

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I have taken control of both teams. Wanderlei is my assistant. Everything will be fine.

— chael sonnen (@sonnench) January 22, 2014

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John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.