UFC on FOX 2 – Press Conference Produces Fireworks, Stirs Up Controversy

In a sit-down of six contenders, the UFC on FOX 2 press conference was full of fireworks. The event takes place January 28th at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. This is the UFC’s first time back to Chicago since UFC 90 when Anderson Silva defended his title against Patrick Cote. The three-fight main card featured Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis, Chael Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz, and Michael Bisping vs. Damien Maia.

The most outspoken, unsurprisingly, was top middleweight contender Chael Sonnen. His sharp smack-talk was on point as he made shots at Anderson and his current opponent, Mark Munoz in a battle of wrestlers. Chael Sonnen, however, doesn’t label himself as such.

“I’m not a wrestler. I’m a fighter from the mean streets of Westland, Oregon,” said Sonnen, who later claimed to be a gangster. His hilarity didn’t stop there, it snowballed into an evening of laughs.

“I think everybody up here is grateful to be on FOX. They say, ‘FOX, thanks,’ everybody but me. I would say, ‘FOX, you’re welcome. You’ve been telling people for years you’ve got the American Idol and now you finally do.’”

“I’ve got no problem with Anderson Silva, but I’m not going to change my schedule around just to kick his ass.”

“I’m not waiting for him or anybody else. If I’m not the best guy and Mark is, then God bless him, and he can go have the shot.”

Sonnen responded to a question from mmarecap.com about a tweet that Dan Henderson issued earlier in the week.

Henderson’s tweet read, “All the “injuries” that keep Anderson from a remath w/ or Chael will heal real fast if they offer Bisping to him.”

Sonnen responded, “I don’t believe Anderson’s hurt. I know he says he’s hurt and then he was in training camp with Wanderlei that got caught on tape. He just got done working with Machida that got caught on tape. I really don’t care about Anderson Silva. I truly don’t. How hard is it gonna be to become world champion beating up math teachers? I don’t understand it. Give Anderson Silva my schedule and see how well he does. Yeah, I think he’s ducking me. I think he’s ducking Dan Henderson. I don’t know if he’d be eager to fight Bisping, you’ll have to Dan about that comment but no, I don’t think he’s hurt.”

Michael Bisping was happy to respond as well, “Well he’s just another person who had his shot, wasn’t he? I seem to remember him getting tapped out like Chael did, so both of these guys have a problem with submission defense. If he’s bitter about it, don’t talk shit to me about it just because you blew your shot,” said Bisping.

Rashad Evans, though, possibly ignited the largest reaction from the fans in attendance when he made a crack at Phil Davis. The pair shot remarks back and fourth before the one-liner.

“Phil, he’s getting knocked out,” said Evans.

Davis responded, “I’m glad you mentioned that because one of your buddies, Jon Jones, said you don’t have much of a chin.”

The two debated back and fourth, prompting Evans to say, “I guarantee you’ll be the first one to take a shot. Guarantee. Because I’m going to put my hands on you worse than that dude did them other kids at Penn State.”

The exclamation made waves, prompting various negative stories. UFC president Dana White explained for the light-heavy weight contender.

“We talked. It’s not like I’m dealing with stupid people here. It’s one thing when you’re dealing with dummies. When you’re dealing with people who are really stupid, it’s tough to talk to them. But when you call a guy who’s an intelligent guy, he gets it. He knows. The whole thing with me is people are looking to me, and I saw a couple of stupid stories that were written, people who want attention — you know who those people are. What do you want me to do? You want me to have our lawyers draw something up and I’ll come out and read it to you guys? You know, he said something stupid. It’s probably one of the dumbest things you could say. He gets it, and he knows it was a stupid thing to say, and we’ll see what happens.”

UFC on FOX 2 is scheduled to air the three-fight main card, but has the potential to show previous bouts of the night. The event is considered the first of the seven-year deal that the UFC has signed with FOX, and they brought outspoken contenders to kick it off with a bang.