During a media call, Chael was questioned on when he would drop the WWE-type act and get serious about his bout with Anderson. Chael responed in true Chael form.
"I don't do characters, so I'm not really sure what that meant," Sonnen quipped back at reporters. "I got serious about this fight a long time ago. I've been training for combat since I was nine years old, and I've wanted to be the UFC champion since 1993. I couldn't think of a day in my life where this wasn't serious to me."
And, if you think Sonnen would refrain from throwing barbs in Silva's direction you'd be wrong. When asked if he thought the champ was a phony, he replied simply with an "agreed".
Before this could turn into "The Chael Sonnen Show", reporters remembered the champ was on the line. It was only a matter of time before he was asked a question.
Leading up to Monday's UFC 148 media call, this "war of words" had been one-sided in favor of Sonnen. But through all the interviews, press junkets and public appearances, it seemed there was a small storm brewing inside of the soft-spoken champion. That was until Gareth Davies of the Daily Telegraph London asked Silva a question.
Davies's questioned Silva if Sonnen's comments about his wife had crossed a line that none of Sonnen's previous comments had. The answer media people got was one very few probably expected from Silva.
"Well, first of all Chael is a criminal. Chael is a criminal. He's been convicted of crimes. He doesn't deserve to be inside the octagon," Silva was just getting started with his verbal retaliation. "When the time comes and the time is right, I'm going to break his face and break every one of his teeth in his mouth."
For the first time in the months leading up to their July 7 showdown, the battle of words went back and forth. Silva answered a question about why the first meeting was difficult for him in a way that showed just how fired up the champion is.
"No more talking. I know he's (Chael) on the line listening, and the game's over." The champ continued, "I'm going to beat his ass out of the UFC. He's never going to want to fight again after I'm done with him."
Of course, Sonnen was not going to just sit idly by and allow for Silva to get the verbal upper-hand. When he was asked how he best opposed Anderson, Sonnen...well, Sonnen was true to form.
"He uses a lot of movements and motions to set guys up, but at the end of the day, his fielders are amateur. If you walk into a fist fight with your hands down, that's amateur," Sonnen speaking on how Silva has been known to stand in the octagon. "I treated him like an amateur the first time, and he's going to look like an amateur this time."
As many quotable and memorable moments there were on this media call, typing them all out would not do the verbal exchange any justice. If you're still uncertain on how big of a fight this is and how much emotion there is in this fight, just take a look at the latest YouTube video produced by the UFC wonderfully titled UFC 148: It's Personal.
Follow me on Twitter @NiteshDutt.
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