When Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen meet Saturday night in the main event of UFC 159 in Newark, N.J., it will be a battle between fighters with mutual respect.
That’s quite the change of pace for two fighters who have been known to get into war of words with past opponents. Sonnen, whose dislike of UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has been well documented to the point where he doesn’t even consider him to be the legitimate champ, called UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones the best ever on a pre-fight conference call Monday.
In response to Jones saying one of his goals is to beat the record of Tito Ortiz for most consecutive light-heavyweight title defences, Sonnen said the 25-year-old Jones should have nothing to prove.
“Newsflash buddy, you are the best,” Sonnen said. “Maybe Tito has a few more wins, but he wasn’t facing the same competition. I’m not going to degrade Jon. He’s the best the weight class has ever seen.”
That’s a far cry from what Sonnen thought of Silva, who he has twice fought for the title and was able to control with his wrestling before being stopped — first in the fifth round of their August 2010 bout, then last July at UFC 148.
“Silva’s the best pound for pound? He’s not even the best round for round,” Sonnen said Monday. “Jon Jones is considerably better than Anderson Silva. I stomped Anderson Silva twice.”
As for Jones, he had some kind words for Sonnen, the challenger that many didn’t feel deserved the light-heavyweight title shot in his first middleweight bout coming off the loss to Silva last summer.
“Chael is a guy who shoots (in for a takedown) without putting much thought in it. He has great timing,” Jones said.
Jones did add that people put too much focus on Sonnen’s wrestling rather than his.
“Nobody respects mine at all. Maybe I’ll take him down more than he takes me down. I’m glad for the chance to prove my critics wrong again, that my wrestling is inferior,” Jones said.
Sonnen, who in part was given the opportunity to coach on the past season of The Ultimate Fighter opposite Jones before meeting him for the title this Saturday after calling him out on Twitter, said he got a totally different impression of Jones from their time on the reality show.
“My perception of Jon changed in the first 30 seconds. The first 30 seconds I was around him, I realized he’s a great guy,” said Sonnen, who added that people who criticize him are off base. “He’s the world champ, people should copy him, not correct him.”
But Sonnen was clear that he felt he could beat him. And then he went into his patented speech mode regarding his critics who believe he didn’t truly earn the chance to fight for the 205-pound belt.
“I don’t earn title shots. Title shots earn me,” Sonnen said. “I’m a Republican, I don’t talk in those terms. I take what I want and that’s it.”
As for whether any trash talk from Sonnen — of which there hasn’t been too much up to this point — will affect him, Jones said it won’t be an issue.
“My emotions aren’t overly involved. I’ve studied him a lot, his interviews, his personality,” Jones said. “I’m comfortable with who I think he is. I never fight overly aggressively. I always stay relaxed, calm, composed.
“When I fight, it’s relaxation, it’s beauty, it’s peace. It’s martial arts. It’s what God has put me on this planet to do.”
NOTES: While there wasn’t any heated exchanges between the UFC 159 headliners, there was between co-main event fighters Michael Bisping and Alan Belcher. At one point, Bisping — who is the original Chael Sonnen when it comes to verbal sparring — interjected during a Belcher response to a question.
“A win over me will be by far the biggest win of (Belcher’s) pathetic career,” said Bisping.
Belcher responded by saying that Bisping had better win then if that’s how he felt, to which the brash Brit was quick to reply again.
“I ain’t going to lose to you, it’s in the bag,” Bisping said. “It’s a formality. I just have to show up, slap your little face, take my cheque and go home.”
