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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – In a supposed four-year campaign for the UFC middleweight belt, contender Chael Sonnen has cast a lot of stones in the direction of current 185-pound title-holder Anderson Silva.
And a Friday appearance at a UFC Fight Club Q&A session at GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, gave him free reign to trash the champion – with often hilarious results.
But Sonnen, a man whose political aspirations have prompted him to run for the Oregon Legislative Assembly, risked an unpopular stance when he cast a stone at the Olympic aspirations of a Canadian hero, UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
"In fairness, he's not going to make an Olympic team," Sonnen said.
It was one of the more tame sound bites that came from the razor-tongued fighter, who was once a two-time All-American at the University of Oregon and served as a U.S. Olympic team alternate.
St-Pierre earlier this year made headlines when he expressed an interest in a bid to represent Canada in wrestling for the 2012 Summer Olympics. He admitted his wrestling isn't where it needs to be, but in January, he said he is seriously considering the idea of taking a year and a half away from fighting to pursue gold.
St-Pierre said he was training to make the 2008 Olympic team but he was interrupted by a call to fight Matt Hughes at UFC 92 when Matt Serra withdrew due to injury.
The UFC welterweight champion quickly backed off claims that he planned to take a hiatus from the cage, but the idea intrigued many fans who wanted to see how the French-Canadian fighter's grappling skills would stack up against international competition.
They wouldn't stack up well – especially against U.S. wrestling talent –Sonnen said.
"Well, I know wrestling pretty well, and I even know Canadian wrestling pretty well," he said. "In the U.S., he wouldn't have much of a chance. We take wrestling really seriously. In Canada, they're doing better and better."
A few members of the audience booed the statement, though Sonnen quickly clarified that his evaluation does take away from St-Pierre's talent.
"I think he could probably be a top-10 guy," he said. "He wouldn't break into the top six – and not because he's not a good enough athlete. But (in the U.S.) these are young kids that have been doing it since they were 8, 9 years old.
"There's a lot of positions; there's a lot of scoring techniques in wrestling. I don't even know if you'd be able to teach him all the rules in time, let alone the positions."
Meanwhile, Sonnen (24-10-1 MMA, 4-3 UFC) said his wrestling credentials are more than sufficient to take out Silva (26-4 MMA, 11-0 UFC), whom he faces on Aug. 7 at UFC 107.
"I've got two national championship plaques on my wall that [say] I can take him down," Sonnen said. "I've got a silver medal from the world championships in 2001 that says he can't stop me from taking him down. If he's got an answer to it, God bless him."
St-Pierre (20-2 MMA, 15-2 UFC) currently is serving as a coach opposite former NCAA Division I wrestling champion Josh Koscheck on the 12th season of "The Ultimate Fighter." The two are expected to meet in the traditional season-ending fight between the show's coaches at an unannounced event in December.
The reality show coaches first met at UFC 74, and St-Pierre dominated the fight on the ground despite Koscheck's vastly superior wrestling credentials.
And a Friday appearance at a UFC Fight Club Q&A session at GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, gave him free reign to trash the champion – with often hilarious results.
But Sonnen, a man whose political aspirations have prompted him to run for the Oregon Legislative Assembly, risked an unpopular stance when he cast a stone at the Olympic aspirations of a Canadian hero, UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
"In fairness, he's not going to make an Olympic team," Sonnen said.
It was one of the more tame sound bites that came from the razor-tongued fighter, who was once a two-time All-American at the University of Oregon and served as a U.S. Olympic team alternate.
St-Pierre earlier this year made headlines when he expressed an interest in a bid to represent Canada in wrestling for the 2012 Summer Olympics. He admitted his wrestling isn't where it needs to be, but in January, he said he is seriously considering the idea of taking a year and a half away from fighting to pursue gold.
St-Pierre said he was training to make the 2008 Olympic team but he was interrupted by a call to fight Matt Hughes at UFC 92 when Matt Serra withdrew due to injury.
The UFC welterweight champion quickly backed off claims that he planned to take a hiatus from the cage, but the idea intrigued many fans who wanted to see how the French-Canadian fighter's grappling skills would stack up against international competition.
They wouldn't stack up well – especially against U.S. wrestling talent –Sonnen said.
"Well, I know wrestling pretty well, and I even know Canadian wrestling pretty well," he said. "In the U.S., he wouldn't have much of a chance. We take wrestling really seriously. In Canada, they're doing better and better."
A few members of the audience booed the statement, though Sonnen quickly clarified that his evaluation does take away from St-Pierre's talent.
"I think he could probably be a top-10 guy," he said. "He wouldn't break into the top six – and not because he's not a good enough athlete. But (in the U.S.) these are young kids that have been doing it since they were 8, 9 years old.
"There's a lot of positions; there's a lot of scoring techniques in wrestling. I don't even know if you'd be able to teach him all the rules in time, let alone the positions."
Meanwhile, Sonnen (24-10-1 MMA, 4-3 UFC) said his wrestling credentials are more than sufficient to take out Silva (26-4 MMA, 11-0 UFC), whom he faces on Aug. 7 at UFC 107.
"I've got two national championship plaques on my wall that [say] I can take him down," Sonnen said. "I've got a silver medal from the world championships in 2001 that says he can't stop me from taking him down. If he's got an answer to it, God bless him."
St-Pierre (20-2 MMA, 15-2 UFC) currently is serving as a coach opposite former NCAA Division I wrestling champion Josh Koscheck on the 12th season of "The Ultimate Fighter." The two are expected to meet in the traditional season-ending fight between the show's coaches at an unannounced event in December.
The reality show coaches first met at UFC 74, and St-Pierre dominated the fight on the ground despite Koscheck's vastly superior wrestling credentials.
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