Chael Sonnen news features "The American Gangster's" statements on his fight against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC Fight Night in August 2013, adding that "he got lucky" in that victory.
"The American Gangster" spoke in front of Brazilian reporters during a media scrum at The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3 Finale and explained his sentiments about the said fight.
"I caught him, I got lucky," Sonnen said. "That was a lucky move. If we would fight 10 more times, I would never catch that move again. But he has never said that.
The two men faced each other at a light heavyweight fight, in which Chael Sonnen won via a first round guillotine choke. For "The American Gangster's" part, however, it was a rare show of respect towards an opponent, and a Brazilian fighter, for that matter.
In 2010 and 2012, Chael Sonnen fought former champion and future Hall-of-Famer Andeson "The Spider" Silva. During both fights, he caught drew the ire of the entire population of Brazilian fight fans after making brash comments about "The Spider", and their country as a whole.
But these days, Chael Sonnen seem to have turned down the smack talk towards the Brazilian audience, and instead has shown their fighters a generous amount of admiration.
"The American Gangster" continued to praise "Shogun" for not taking anything away from his victory, which he believes is not a common practice among fighters today.
"He let me have my 15 minutes of fame," Sonnen continued. "He shut his mouth and walked out."
"But very few guys follow that code," he added. "Say what you want before the fight, but when it's done, you accept the result. You let the other guy be happy, if he gets his hand raised, he gets his hand raised."
Chael Sonnen will be facing another Brazilian fighter, Vitor Belfort at UFC 175 in July 5th at the Mandalay Events Center in Las Vegas.
