During a twitter chat today with Chael Sonnen via FuelTV, he was asked why the triangle choke is so hard for him to defend/escape.

I wonder what Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping were saying to each other?

Meh…I’m not super excited for this fight, although I don’t want to see Chael Sonnen lose before Anderson Silva is healed up and ready to fight. A rematch between Silva and Chael Sonnen MUST happen. Mark Munoz is a dangerous fighter for anyone, and he might take Chael’s chance at a rematch. Evidently Mark Munoz and Chael Sonnen wrestled each other at some point in college, and Munoz outwrestled him? I don’t really think that will happen in their fight on January 28th.

In case you haven’t already heard, he is an animal.

I’m becoming a bigger Chael Sonnen fan every time I see him fight or listen to an interview of his. Sure, some of his trash talk is right out of the WWE Wrestling, but it’s still great.

He ragdolled Brian Stann this weekend like it was no problem for him at all. Bring on Anderson Silva.

Several good fights on this card. I am very glad to see Nogueira get his knockout victory over Brendan Schaub. I was worried it would end up opposite. I also figured Forrest Griffin would get unconscious, which he almost did, but was a TKO by Shogun Rua. Now Forrest Griffin and Shogun Rua have fought twice, and each has won one. Rematch? Also to consider, is Forrest Griffins wife was evidently in labor about to give birth to their child while Forrest was fighting.

I kind of figured Anderson Silva would run through Yushin Okami, and he did…a 2nd round TKO…I saw the moment where Okami decided he didn’t want anymore of this fight. He was dazed, and just quit defending himself. Chael Sonnen has been very outspoken about his dislike for Anderson Silva, and Chael has been training Yushin Okami for this fight, and repeatedly said how Okami was coming home with the championship belt. It didn’t happen. However, Chael did make a statement on his Twitter, saying “We call Andy “champ” like we call developmentally disabled animals “champ.” Good boy, Andy, good boy!”

Also, I think there was a record number of hats stolen from fighters as they walked to the cage.

Like him or not, I am a Chael Sonnen fan. People either find him to be obnoxious or hilarious. I tend to think a little bit of both.

For 30 minutes, Chael Sonnen spoke solemnly, seriously about the suspended state of his career and his attempts to revive it. But when the topic switched to the current state of MMA, Sonnen seemingly flipped a switch and became the soundbyte machine we’ve come to expect.

Appearing on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, the UFC middleweight took aim at the weight division directly above his. While praising the recently crowned UFC light-heavyweight champ Jon Jones, he blasted the rest of the weight class’ contenders for what he sees as their unwillingness to face him.

READ MORE via Chael Sonnen Compliments Jon Jones, Rips 205 Division and Predicts GSP Loss — MMA Fighting.

I was excited to see Vitor and Anderson fight, but I would also like to see Chael Sonnen fight Anderson, and I actually think Chael might be a tougher fight for him than Vitor would be right now.

Joey Beltran def. Rolles Gracie – TKO (Punches) 1:31 R2
** Gracie looked terrible, not what I expected.

Chris Tuchscherer def. Tim Hague by majority decision (29-28, 29-28, and 28-28. This was an unpopular decision with the audience.

Phil Davis def. Brian Stann by decision.

Rob Emerson def. Phillipe Nover by unanimous decision.

Melvin Guillard def. Ronys Torres by unanimous decision.

Mac Danzig def. Justin Buchholz by unanimous decision.

Matt Serra def. Frank Trigg by TKO in round one.

Demian Maia def. Dan Miller by unanimous decision.

Paulo Thiago chokes out Mike Swick in round one.

Chael Sonnen dominated Nate Marquardt for a unanimous decision victory.

Randy Couture defeats Mark Coleman by rear naked choke in round two. Coleman refused to tap, and was about to pass out from the choke when the referee stopped the fight.

Rolles Gracie over Joey Beltran (I hope this fight is shown)
Chris Tuchscherer over Tim Hague
Brian Stann over Phil Davis
Phillipe Nover over Rob Emerson
Ronys Torres over Melvin Guillard
Justin Buchholz over Mac Danzig
Matt Serra over Frank Trigg
Demian Maia over Dan Miller
Mike Swick over Paulo Thiago
Chael Sonnen over Nate Marquardt
and RANDY COUTURE over MARK COLEMAN…

Kyle Kingsbury over Razak Al-Hassan
Jorge Rivera over Rob Kimmons
Chael Sonnen over Yushin Okami

Antoni Hardonk Vs. Pat Barry - I am excited about this fight.. should be interesting. Somebody is getting kicked. I’ll go with Pat Barry for the win.

Eric Schafer over Ryan Bader
Anthony Johnson over Yoshiyuki Yoshida
Spencer Fisher over Joe Stevenson
Josh Neer over Gleison Tibau
Ben Rothwell over Cain Velasquez

and… Lyoto Machida will defeat Shogun Rua.

Just got back from Nowhere, Georgia…but in time to catch UFC 98.

Sherk vs. Edgar goes to a decision…who would’ve guessed? Ummm, I think it was almost guaranteed to go a decision, I wouldn’t have guessed anything else. Frankie Edgar wins via decision. According to Dana White’s twitter, “Sean sherk ran out of the ring and out the doors and down the street in his fight shorts and no shirt”.. LOL.

Chael Sonnen vs. Dan Miller…Sonnen says he’s gonna punch a hole in Millers face. So far, it’s looking like he’s right. Round three and Sonnen is pretty much dominating the fight, except for a couple of good, but unsuccessful guillotine attempts by Miller. Chael Sonnen wins via judges decision.

Drew McFedries vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam “Professor X”.. the audience boos when Referee Yves Lavigne isi ntroduced.. and shortly thereafter, Drew McFedries KO’s Xavier Foupa-Pokam, knocks him down, Xavier recovers, back to his feat momentarily, then KO’d again by McFedries, knocked around some more before the referee stops the fight. Foupa-Pokam protests the stoppage, but it was fair, in my opinion. Drew McFedries wins by KO at 37 seconds of round one.

Hey, there’s Holly Madison from Girls Next Door and Dancing With The Stars…but I want to know who the other blonde chick is beside her.

btw: WAR Machida.

Krysztof Soszynski vs Andre Gusmao – Gnarly knockout win for Krysztof Soszynski in round one. Gusmao took some good shots without seeming hurt, but finally dropped unconscious from a right cross.

IRON MIKE TYSON IN THE HOUSE.

Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra! -  I kinda want Hughes to win this, but I also like seeing underdogs win, and I think Serra is the underdog here. I just hope it’s an entertaining fight. Holy shit, Matt Serra using the Rocky entrance music. Awesome. I think I want him to win now…but of course, it’s hard to beat Bocephus music. Above average staredown between Hughes and Serra.

Round One: WOW Serra hurts Hughes badly! Has him rocked bad, but Joe Rogan says it was from a head-collision. Matt Hughes has Serra’s back now, this might be bad for Serra, Hughes has his hooks in, just under one minute left in round one. Serra escapes and their both back to their feet. Great fight so far. Round Two starts, and it’s spent mostly with Hughes in Serra’s half guard. Not much ground and pound from Hughes, and Serra was rolling his eyes at the lack of action. ROUND THREE, last round. Hughes takes Serra down, controls him, but Serra gets some good sub attempts, tries a triangle, omaplata, referee starts them back on their feet. SERRA THROWS HUGHES,  lands some good shots, controls, round over. Will it be enough for the win? Nope, judges give it a 29-28 unanimous decision victory for Matt Hughes.

Joe Rogan interviews Hughes after the fight, and Hughes mentions he is now a free agent and has no fights left with the UFC… he says he and Dana White will talk it over and see about one more fight in his hometown. Hughes also clearly says he won’t be fighting for any other organization.

LYOTO MACHIDA vs. RASHAD EVANS – I 100% want Machida to win this fight. I also hope the fight is entertaining, I hope Rashad brings it and doesn’t try to counter Machida’s counter.

Round One: How long will it take before they actually tough eachother? Machida throws the first strike, with a low leg kick that doesn’t land. So far one minute into the fight and nothing yet. There’s a kick from Rashad, it doesn’t land. Still no contact. I already hear boos in the audience. Machida is southpaw, and Evans is orthodox right now. NICE head kickfrom Machida, lands, but not enough to hurt Rashad yet. MACHIDA knocks Rashad down with a kick to the body. MACHIDA wins round one easily.

Round Two: THAT WAS AWESOME. Machida is unstoppable. He just left Rashad Evans unconscious laying against the fence. He probably broke Rashad’s nose, also.

I think I just heard Rogan say “Mixed Mortal Arts”..

BTW: Rashad Evans seems like a genuinely good dude. Good post-fight interview with Rogan, even under such disappointing circumstances for him.

PRELIM FIGHT RESULTS:

George Roop defeats Dave Kaplan via judges decision
Yoshiyuki Yoshida defeats Brandon Wolff via guillotine, round one
Kyle Bradley defeats Phillipe Nover by TKO, round one
Tim Hague defeats Pat Barry by Guillotine, round one
Brock Larson defeats Mike Pyle by arm-triangle choke, round one

**Rumor has it that two of the fighters’ mothers got into a fight in the audience? I need to hear more about this entertainment.

WECâ„¢ INVADES FLORIDA FOR THE FIRST TIME

URIJAH FABER vs. MIKE BROWN
PAULO FILHO vs. CHAEL SONNEN

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2008 LIVE FROM THE SEMINOLE HARD ROCK HOTEL & CASINO IN HOLLYWOOD, FL

LIVE ON VERSUS 9 P.M. ET/6 P.M. PT

Tickets Go on Sale Monday, July 21 at Noon

Las Vegas –World Extreme Cagefighting® (WEC™) announced today that two world titles will be on the line on Wednesday, September 10th when the organization makes its initial foray into the great state of Florida. In the main event, WEC Featherweight Champion “The California Kid” Urijah Faber defends his title against Florida’s own Mike Brown, and in the co-featured bout, WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo “Eli” Filho returns to action to battle Chael Sonnen in their highly anticipated rematch. This championship doubleheader will take place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

WEC: FABER vs. BROWN will be televised live nationally on VERSUS beginning at 9:00 pm ET/6:00 pm PT. All live WEC events will be presented in Hi-Definition (HD) and SAP where available. For more information and how to find VERSUS in your local viewing area, visit http://www.versus.com/findversus.

Tickets for WEC: FABER vs. BROWN go on sale Monday, July 21 at noon and are priced at $175, $125, $100, and $50 (not including applicable services or taxes). Tickets are available at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino box office and all Ticketmaster locations. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (954) 523-3309. Tickets also are available online through www.wec.tv or www.ticketmaster.com.

With technique, tenacity, and charisma, “The California Kid” Urijah Faber (21-1), has proven time and time again why he is considered one of the best fighters in MMA today. Faber captured the WEC title in March of 2006 with a decisive second round stoppage of Cole Escovedo. Since then, he has continued to dominate the division, defending his crown with first round wins over Joe Pearson, Dominic Cruz, and Chance Farrar. His most recent victory came in the long-awaited superfight against Jens Pulver, where he displayed top notch striking and a champion’s heart in defeating the future Hall of Famer by unanimous decision in front 12,000 fans. But there is no rest for the man on top of the heap, and on September 10, he will return to fight one of his toughest opponents yet in Florida’s own Mike Brown.

Mike Brown (19-4) has compiled an impressive MMA record over his seven year pro career, and his aggressive style in the cage has earned him a large fan following. In his most recent bout on June 1st, the well-rounded American Top Team fighter earned a title shot with an exciting three round win over a game Jeff Curran, and he is undoubtedly going to have a hometown crowd in his corner when he challenges Faber for supremacy at 145 pounds. Brown fights out of Coconut Creek, Florida where he earned his reputation as a top ranked 145 lb. fighter.

Considered by many to be the premier middleweight fighter in the world today, WEC Champion Paulo ‘Eli’ Filho (16-0) has fought the best that the 185-pound division has to offer, both here and abroad, and he has yet to taste defeat. In 2007, Filho made his WEC debut in stirring fashion, stopping Joe Doerksen in the first round to win the organization title. He was pushed to the limit in his first title defense last December though, when Chael Sonnen got him in trouble early and dominated the first round. In the second round, Filho rebounded, catching Sonnen in an armbar with only seconds to go in the frame. And while there was some controversy over whether Sonnen verbally submitted or not, the fight was halted with five seconds left in the round and Filho retained his crown. Yet like a true champion, Filho respected the challenger’s performance and didn’t want his victory to have any question marks surrounding it, so he granted Sonnen a rematch.

Chael Sonnen (21-9-1) left quite an impression in his WEC debut last December with his stellar performance against Filho. But this six-year MMA veteran is no stranger to competing at the top levels of the sport, having beaten world-class fighters such as Jason Miller, Jason Lambert, Trevor Prangley, and Amar Suloev. Now approaching his prime as a fighter at 31, Sonnen plans on bringing the belt home in his second shot on September 10.

The remaining bouts for WEC: FABER vs. BROWN will be announced in the near future. All bouts subject to change.