UFC fighter Chael Sonnen was interviewed on the Jim Rome radio show in preparation for Saturday's UFC 117 versus Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Championship. To hear the interview and see fight related photos, go to JimRome.com.

Sonnen on alleging Anderson Silva is a fraud: Look Anderson Silva's got good skills, but to act like his resume is anywhere near mine is absurd. This guy hasn't accomplished near what I have in this sport. I've beat five world champions, I've fought 12 guys in the Top 10 and I've beat ten of them. He can't make claims even close to that. 

Sonnen on Silva's level of competition faced:  He's only ever fought a couple of guys that are still with the company. He fought a math teacher from Ohio [Rich Franklin], he fought a one-legged guy from Canada [Patrick Cote], and he fought a bunch of guys that didn't even hold their spot in the roster. He's a good little fighter but he's gonna find out I am the best.

Sonnen's follow up after being questioned for calling Silva a "good little fighter":  Yeah, he's a good little fighter. He's got some skills and some talents in some areas. He's not gonna be a walk in the park but this isn't going to be the hardest match in my life either. 

Sonnen's explanation on how this fight got so personal for him: Three things- earrings, crooked hats, and pink t-shirts. That represents Anderson Silva. I represent the working man. The guy who gets up and slugs it out everyday regardless of how he's feeling. This guy's a rich man and a rich man has many problems. A working man only has one. 

Sonnen on if he thinks he can beat Silva or if he knows he will: I think I can win this fight, I don't know I'm gonna win. That's what bullies do. Bullies fight people they know they can beat. I never know that I'm going to win, I just know that I can win. I've worked hard my whole life. Some guys have training camps for eight or ten weeks. I don't have eight or ten weeks training coming at this fight, I have twenty-five years. I started on this mission when I was nine years old and on Saturday night I'm gonna finish the game. 

Sonnen on Silva's promotion of this fight: He's actually done the opposite affect. Not only has he done nothing to help promote the fight, he's actually tried to stop me. His management has called my management behind the scenes and asked that we stop with the promotion and that we stop with the talking about Anderson. 

Sonnen's bold statement about Silva: Look this is Anderson Silva's last fight, Dana White knows that he's anti-UFC. He knows that Anderson has tried to sabotage the company for years and win, lose, or draw, Anderson is getting fired Sunday morning. Dana's already said he's not going to put up with his antics. He's already said if Anderson does it again, he's going to fire him. In fact, he's said it to you on your show. Dana means it. He's a man of his word and Anderson has no choice but to do those antics. Those things everyone calls his "antics," is just his fighting style. You can't change your style. This is it. They're calling this show Sonnen vs Silva, but they should really call it the Anderson Silva Retirement Party hosted by yours truly. 

Sonnen on Silva's language barrier: Anderson speaks perfect English. I've known Anderson Silva for a number of years. Everybody in the UFC locker room knows he speaks English, including Dana which is one of his frustrations with the whole "se habla espanol" thing. He just doesn't wanna talk to the media and doesn't wanna talk to the fans so he pretends that he doesn't as soon as that red light is blinking. We all knew that he speaks perfect English but I was the one who outed him over a year ago. You can go on Youtube and find a number of interviews where he slips up and starts speaking perfect English. One time on CNN he said something in Portuguese and his interpreter translated it wrong and Anderson corrected him in English saying that he misquoted him.

Sonnen on what advantages he feels he has over Silva: I'm the tougher guy. This is a twenty-five minute fight that's going to come down to not knows better but whose tougher. I don't care whose better. This isn't the "Ultimate Striking and Grappling Championship" this is the Ultimate Fighting Championship. I am a better fighter than him. I'm a better fighter than a man God ever created, and on Saturday I'm gonna have twelve pounds of gold to prove it. And if Anderson Silva beats me that doesn't  mean he's that great, that just means I'm that bad.

Sonnen on whether he said "Lance Armstrong gave himself cancer": I did not and Lance called me about that. I work out in the Lance Armstrong building three days a week at the Nike campus. I have spoke of Lance Armstrong or anybody else that does not have a contract in the Middleweight  Division in the UFC. When he called me that was the first I heard about it and I thought he was kidding. 

Sonnen's reaction to Jim Rome playing him the audio clip of the Lance Armstrong quote: Jim that doesn't sound anything like me. There's no way anyone will think that sounds like me. Sounds like a guy with a Hispanic accent to me, maybe I had a bad connection but I thought you were kidding around with that voice over. That's certainly not me.

[You could clearly tell that audio clip was him and every caller, emailer, texter, two people who do voice verifications for a living, and the man who did the interview with him all said it was him following the interview]

Sonnen's final prediction for the fight: I'm leaving with the World Championship and Anderson Silva is leaving there unemployed.

Powell's POV: Hilarious comments from Sonnen. If this doesn't light a fire under Silva to take him out, then nothing will. A big thanks to Dot Net Member Mark Gessner for providing the detailed recap above.

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