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Joe Stevenson and Chael Sonnen open up eyes with their post-fight comments
By Zach Arnold | October 25, 2009
I’ve written about 8,000 words over various articles on the UFC 104 event for other sites, but a few things stuck out at me that I thought were very interesting.
- Chael Sonnen absolutely buried Yushin Okami in several post-fight interviews. He said that Okami should change his nickname from “Thunder” to “Anchor” because all the guy ever does is drag people down to the undercards on their fight bookings. He said that Okami doesn’t know how to promote a fight. Sonnen also ripped into Rich Franklin and said that he would like to fight Franklin at 195 pounds. If he didn’t get that, he said that he would step in for Dan Henderson against Nathan Marquardt on January 2nd in Las Vegas in the #1 contender’s match for Anderson Silva’s 185-pound Middleweight belt.
- Joe Stevenson all but accused Spencer Fisher of being a greaser. He claimed that Fisher was all oiled up and that he struggled to get a takedown in the initial stage of their fight because of this. Stevenson back-tracked only a little and said that perhaps if Fisher didn’t use skin cream that maybe he ate a lot of garlic. (I’m serious.) Stevenson also said that he would love to fight Shin’ya Aoki next.
Now, here are the comments transcribed. First, Chael Sonnen:
“We got men and women at war right now, they got real problems so me complaining about where I come out on the card is would be very arrogant but WITH THAT SAID, there was guys that I’m opening the show for that would never fight after me had that not been my dance partner so, you know they call him Yushin “Thunder” Okami, I call him Yushin “Anchor” Okami, he pulls people down whereas if you get a fight with me, if you get me on the docket, I’m going to pull you up, I’m going to get exposure and attention and people cared about the fight and he’s got the anchor, Okami’s got the opposite effect so it was it was annoying, yes.”
“If you’re not to fight a guy, don’t and I’m not going to fight him again so I’ll be a little more humble to him but there is some truth uh to the statement you know he kind of pulls you down a little bit. He has a very hard time of promoting a fight and it’s not just a fight, this is the fight business and if you can’t hype a fight uh you’re going to get relished to the undercard and that’s where we were so you know I stand by the statement and I would encourage Yushin Okami, who’s still a Top 10 fighter, you know to be able to maybe hype a fight a little bit and bring some more fan interest.”
“Um, I executed a lot of things right but I felt like I couldn’t get the takedown, I was making the excuses like I was like man he feels slippery, he feels oiled up, and I felt like he was but why even say anything like that? It’s my fault for even taking it there.”
“Oh yeah, definitely he put some like lotion on this morning or last night took a bath, something was different about him, maybe he had a lot of garlic though, that can make you slippery as well.”
“Never, never complained about it either, he was just, he felt a little slippery to me, it could just be in my head and that’s why I need to improve myself.”
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I wonder if White gave Sonnen a nice bonus for beating Okami….
I bet he got a bonus for beating him, and an extra check for calling him out like that.
Sometimes you need to hear stuff like that from someone who wouldn’t normally say it to you.
1. Book fight with Sonnen for undercard
2. Get beaten by Sonnen and promoted to PPV
3. Get called out by Sonnen as a guy who is card deadweight and who can’t cut a promo
4. Profit
Yushin “Anchor” Okami…
Sounds about right.
Sonnen is great for a quote. Who can ever forget his quip about not practicing BJJ because he’s a republican?
Hopefully Okami gets released. He has more value in Japan now than in the US, I think.
On a scale of 1 to 10….
Okami’s Value in Japan = 1
Okami’s Value in USA = -10
I typically make fun of Sonnen being in the Top 10. I guess i have to stop laughing now. Looks like he really has stepped up his game and is a legit Top 10 fighter. He isn’t beating the top top guys though…. And is still always 5 seconds away from being caught in a submission…. But he has earned his Top 10 place…
Okami will not get cut for this. The only fighter who got cut for one loss was Kalib and that was for completely different reasons. Okami sucks but he’s not Starnes level cowardly. But this will take him out of the title picture, give UFC a reason for leaving him off PPVs and the UFC should buy Sonnen a Lamborghini for doing that.
Who does Velasquez fight next? Does he get a title shot? Or does he fight somebody like Nogueira? Personally, I would like to see him fight Nogueira next, as I think he can win it and it would really solidify him for a title shot. If the UFC continues to put in title contenders 1 fight too early (like they are doing with Carwin), it hurts the title belt slightly….
Fighters need to relax with the greasing allegations. If you eat a heavily alkaline diet you will have thick clamy sweat. Guys have been doing that for years. It isn’t greasing.
I’d like to see Velasquez vs Dos Santos. Winner gets a title shot. Nog gets next shot the Vel/DS winner gets the shot after that.
No way in hell does he deserve a title shot for beating Rothwell, as that fight was such a showcase fight for him. Give him Nogueira or JDS.
I like Velasquez vs Dos Santos for next title shot after Nogueira’s.
MW Top 7:
1. A.Silva
2. Belfort
3. Henderson
4. Franklin
5. Sonnen
6. Okami
7. Marquardt
Based on that, it makes perfect sense to match Sonnen against Franklin or Marquardt. This would again make Franklin into a gatekeeper to the MW title shot, having already proved a stepping stone for Belfort and an obstacle to W.Silva. And if Henderson doesn’t fight Marquardt, Sonnen is the logical fill-in for the #1 contender fight.
I’d match Okami against the loser of A.Silva vs Belfort, but I don’t see it happening. He’ll probably be relegated to fighting mid-level competition.
1. Anderson Silva
2. Dan Henderson
3. Nathan Marquardt
4. Vitor Belfort
5. Damien Maia
6. Chael Sonnen
7. Yushin Okami
Franklin is a LHW now.
And it makes no sense to have Cain vs. Dos Santos and kill 1 potential title challengers. Just like Cain/Carwin was stupid matchmaking. And Noguiera is nit getting the next title shot… so he needs a good opponent.
As for Cain getting a title shot…. Arlovski was ranked #2 in the world off of beating Rothwell and Nelson…. So if that can be justified as a legit challenger for Fedor…. Nobody should complain….
Did anybody see the DREAM 12 card? I watched a select few. The white ring was an absolute eye sore. I called it a month ago….. Too much white between the canvas and the cage. At some points, the cage looks like some bad CGI from a cheasy B film…. It looked almost fake…
Sonnen hasn’t improved at all in the last 4-5 years. He beat Okami because he was better at all of Okami’s strengths than Okami was himself.
Let him lose to Maia again or really, anyone with an active guard.
I still support Yushin Okami.
That is what a true fan does.
I still hate Yushin Okami.
Fuck him.
Is this the first time a guy won in the first round and still complained about “greasing”
The best part of Okami’s fight?
I won $20 betting on Sonnen, predicated solely on the fact that they were televising the fight, so it was a guarantee Okami lost and they just wanted to show it so everyone would shut up about him not getting a title shot.
“The only fighter who got cut for one loss was Kalib and that was for completely different reasons.”
Jake O’Brien, the first time around. There might be more.
Chael Sonnen is such a douche. I can’t wait til he fights Franklin or Marquardt and gets dropped.
[...] 104 post-fight press conference videos and interviews via Fanhouse & Fox Fight Game. Fight Opinion has a look at some of the interesting statements made by Joe Stevenson (Fisher was “slippery”) and Chael Sonnen (Okami drags his [...]
@ The Gaijin: Can I have the name of the betting site/friend that takes your bets on prelim fights that have already happened? I could make a killing!
Sonnen’s a smart guy (kinda). He’s saying what Zuffa wants to say, but can’t. Brown-nosing is always a good career decision.
What’s the beef between Team Quest and Franklin? Can someone explain?
@ Brad - lol…Well to be fair we both knew that the fight was pre-taped but were at a bar and legitimately didn’t know who had won the fight.
I just figured they hate Okami and his legion of fans who were bitching about no tv time and no title shot and really wanted them to eat some crow by televising a lopsided loss.
If you watch the interview, Sonnen wasn’t a total jerk about Okami. Setting aside Sonnen’s criticism of Okami’s ability to promote fights, Sonnen is nothing but complimentary about Okami as a fighter. He says Okami is “as strong as any fighter he’s ever faced” and “definitely still Top 10″.
I have to say even though i\’ve been really tough on Okami for awhile now (mostly his fans). I just read his interview about losing to Sonnen and that guy is a class act. Unlike others who got beat and started talking about supposed injuries that caused them to lose. Okami gave Sonnen all the props that he deserved for him win and didn\’t make any pathetic excuses. I hope he learns to step up his training because he is a talented guy but he fights too conservatively and this could be the start of seeing him change things up and make a real run at the MW title.
@The Gaijin: You kidding? You’re looking way too much into this. Only the hardcores want Yushin to get a title shot. His fights don’t need to be televised to sway the minds of Okami fans/haters. A casual fan could care less about Okami.
Oh yeah I forgot about O’Brien since he was brought back so fast. And I also forgot Sean Gannon, although I’d bet my cat he comes back in to fight Kimbo in 2010.
“Hopefully Okami gets released. He has more value in Japan now than in the US, I think.”
Someone might want to tell that to the Japanese promotions. Nobody came sniffing after Okami the last time he was a free agent. Why would anyone snap him up now? Pretending that Okami has value ANYWHERE is laughable.
For whatever reason, the UFC is the ONLY promoter who has historically shown any interest in Yushin Okami. The should be lauded for that but instead they are lampooned for not ‘treating him right’. They could have cut him after the Franklin loss but didn’t. The could have let him walk as a free agent after the McDonald win but didn’t. Okami fans should be thankful that the UFC keeps him employed.
I predict that Zuffa will re-sign him once again. He’s a top 10 caliber fighter who fights cheap because there is no competition for his services. Guys like that are useful as long as the remain cheap.
Zuffa is the friendliest promotion for boring fighters. There isn’t even a close second. And even the UFC doesn’t exactly have the fairest playing field. Exciting fighters always get the benefit of the doubt when matchmaking is considered.
They’re forced to, there’s no charity on their part. They’re the most public of the MMA orgs so if they were to fire Yushin Okami while he’s winning or just because he lost one fight, then they risk a possible wave of negative press being called an illegitimate sport for giving guys like Wanderlei Silva and Chris Lytle a dozen chances while giving an actual winner the shaft. They fortunately can afford to have it both ways. If they ever have a downturn in business where it becomes time to trim the fat, then it will get interesting to see them justify keeping Clay Guida over Gray Maynard.
[...] 104 post-fight press conference videos and interviews via Fanhouse & Fox Fight Game. Fight Opinion has a look at some of the interesting statements made by Joe Stevenson (Fisher was “slippery”) and Chael Sonnen (Okami drags his [...]
[...] 104 post-fight press conference videos and interviews via Fanhouse & Fox Fight Game. Fight Opinion has a look at some of the interesting statements made by Joe Stevenson (Fisher was “slippery”) and Chael Sonnen (Okami drags his [...]
@ Mark. No I am not kidding…people have been bitching forever about how “Okami is getting screwed”, etc., etc. and maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t but they were definitely hoping he was going to lose one of these times b/c he’s BORING. How well would a Silva-Okami main or semi-main event sell without a huge name to bootstrap it along?
This was the perfect opportunity for the UFC to douse every last ember of the “Okami’s getting screwed” camp. He lost and got dominated in a boring fight - and that is the ONLY reason they bothered to televise the fight. “You want to see Okami on the ppv main card? Well here you go! He got schooled, now let’s never speak of this again.” The hardcores got their cake, and had to eat every last terrible bite…and I don’t blame them (UFC) one bit.