The Anderson Silva that dialed in for a media call promoting UFC 148 was different than any heard before.
The alternately polite, dismissive and non-communicative UFC middleweight champion was replaced by a guy who breathed fire for his opponent, Chael Sonnen, before leaving early, the smoke still clearing on his words.
"First of all, Chael is a criminal," Silva (31-4 MMA, 14-0 UFC) said through translator and manager Ed Soares. "He's been convicted of crimes. He doesn't deserve to be inside the octagon. And 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."
But it didn't end there – it went on and on. Every mention of Sonnen (27-11-1 MMA, 6-4 UFC), who also participated on the call, brought forth a new stream of vitriol from Silva.
"People who live in the past, and things that are in the past, are in museums," Silva said about his past performance against Sonnen, which took place at UFC 117 and ended in a come-from-behind, fifth-round submission victory for the champ. "Right now, I'm focused on what's going to happen in the next few weeks, and right now, playtime is over.
"I'm going to beat Chael like he's never been beaten before. The joke is over. There's no more talking. I know he's on the line listening, and the game is over. 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."
Silva and Sonnen headline UFC 148, which takes place July 7 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Main-card bouts air live on pay-per-view following prelims on FX.
Silva reportedly balked at fighting Sonnen a second time when a rematch was proposed and was enraged over comments the onetime middleweight challenger gave that disparaged his wife and his native country of Brazil. Today, that rage boiled over and surprised not only Silva's camp, who told MMAjunkie.com (
UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com) that the fighter, who was taking today's call while in Brazil, stormed away after his connection to the teleconference dropped, but also UFC president Dana White.
"I've promoted every Anderson Silva fight since he's been in the UFC, and I've never heard him talk even remotely like this," White said. "He usually doesn't say anything negative (or) disrespectful. I've never heard Anderson Silva talk like this."
White ended the teleconference less than 30 minutes after it began when Sonnen suddenly disconnected from the call. Before his exit, the onetime middleweight challenger called Silva an "amateur" and referenced the well-known barb – one of many delivered before and since the first fight – that stoked Silva's rage.
"Tell him I've got two words for him: Medium. Rare," Sonnen said, a quip referencing an interview in which he said he wanted Silva's wife to make him a steak.
Silva and Sonnen's first fight at UFC 117 was widely considered to be one of the best fights of the year and a defining performance for Silva, who was taken down and pounded on by Sonnen for more than four rounds before cinching a triangle choke/armbar that forced Sonnen to tap.
White said the rematch, which has been delayed for two years by, among other things, a six-month suspension served by Sonnen for elevated testosterone levels following UFC 117, is expected to generate pay-per-view numbers that rival UFC 100. That event garnered a reported 1.6 million PPV "buys."
"It doesn't matter if I'm on the bottom, the side, the top – it doesn't matter," Silva said when asked how he would avoid taking the damage he took in the first fight. "Chael Sonnen's going to get his ass kicked like he's never gotten his ass kicked before. What I'm going to do inside the octagon is something that's going to change the image of the sport. I'm going to beat his ass like he's never been beaten before. I'm going to make sure that every one of his teeth are broken, his arms are broken, (and) his legs are broke. He's not going to be able to walk out of the octagon by himself. I can guarantee that.
"And I know that he's listening, so the game's over. No more [expletive]-talking. It's on now."
Despite his come-from-behind win at UFC 117, Silva, who is ranked as the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, said he would make Sonnen pay for two years of trash talk.
"I"m going to make him eat everything that he's said, not only about myself, but about our country (and) about everything," he said. "I'm going to make him pay and make sure he never disrespects any fighter. Not only Brazilian, but any fighter. I'm going to beat him maybe the way his parents should have beat him to teach him some manners. Because he's disrespectful, he's a criminal, and I'm going to beat him up like he's never been beat before. He can say whatever he wants, but I'm not playing any more."