Chael Sonnen Ripped Wanderlei on Twitter Shortly Before Scuffle on TUF: Brazil 3
To the surprise of no one, three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen and long-time rival Wanderlei Silva came to blows today on the set of the third season ofย The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil.ย
"Dana White: a huge fight broke out today in Brazil between @sonnench and @wandfc. Chael got sucker punched by 1 of Wandy's guys. #RealTalk
โ UFCONFOX (@UFCONFOX) January 27, 2014
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Yesterday, "The American Gangster" posted a tweet that may have been the catalyst that ignited the hard feelings between the two teams.ย
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"It's entertainment "($)". If it was just about pride and honor I would have beaten you up in that van and thrown you into oncoming traffic.
โ chael sonnen (@sonnench) January 26, 2014
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Sonnen is referring to an incident in 2011 where the bad blood with Wanderlei started, since "The Axe Murderer" called out his American counterpart for his recent trash talk about Brazil.ย
The two fighters were riding in the same van when the seemingly minor verbal disagreement took place.ย
Since then, a huge rivalry was built, with the two finally looking like they would settle their differences at UFC Fight Night 26 in August.ย
However, the speculated main event never came to fruition, as Sonnen instead ended up fighting fellow Brazilian brawler Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.ย
Sonnen won the bout via a guillotine choke in the first round.ย
As for Wanderlei, the former decorated Pride champion delivered a vintage performance at UFC on FUEL 8 in March. Silva delivered a crushing knockout in the second round to defeat "The All-American" Brian Stann.ย
Neither Sonnen nor Silva have commented publicly since the incident was revealed by the UFC.ย
The UFC announced today, per MMA Junkie, that TUF: Brazil 3 will air exclusively on UFC Fight Pass, the UFC's new digital network which must be paid for monthly, with the first episode streaming on March 9 at 10 p.m. Eastern Time.
Johnย Heinisย is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also theย MMAย editor forย eDraft.com.
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