Chael Sonnen Calls Out Lyoto Machida, Talks Wanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben

[WrestlingSmarks News]

Chael Sonnen did an interview with MMAFighting right after the Chris Leben vs. Wanderlei Silva fight at UFC 132 and, as usual, he had some very interesting things to say. Sonnen, who recently had his suspension lifted by the California State Athletic Commission and is free to apply for a license anywhere in the country, had been expected to face The Axe Murderer after talking a lot of trash about him recently. But after Silva's loss to Leben, it appears Chael no longer wants that fight. When asked about the Silva/Leben fight, Chael was actually pretty respectful:

"I hope he's okay. He can't do this work, this isn't a line of work he's gonna...he just can't do this work. But I certainly wish him well and I hope he's okay."

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But it didn't take long for the Chael we all know and love/hate to come out:

"The only guy that would have finished him quicker is me."

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And he made it clear that he won't fight Silva now:

"No, it doesn't make sense, no. Wanderlei's gonna need to do something else. I don't have any interest in getting in there with him. I don't want to be the next guy to force him to have a flashlight shined in his eyes."

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He continued on and called out a guy that doesn't even fight in his division:

"I don't know what the future holds, there are plenty of guys out there to fight. There's a karate guy at 205 pounds, I might stop there on my way back to 185 for a tuneup fight and take out Machida."

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But there's one guy out there that Sonnen won't fight:

"I do not want to fight Chris Leben."

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And finishes up with one of his famous backhanded compliments:

"Chris looked at this fight totally different than I did. I look at Wanderlei as a bum, and Chris looked at him as a hero. Chris said look, I really like this guy's style, I mimic myself around him, and I think that should be a real compliment to Wanderlei."

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You can catch the full interview after the jump.

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