Chael Sonnen has been quiet. Actually, no. He’s been downright gracious when talking about Jon Jones over the last three months.
That could be about to change with his fight against Jones, the UFC light heavyweight champion, coming April 27 at Prudential Center in Newark.
If you know anything about Sonnen – and even if you’re a casual MMA fan, you can’t help but have heard him – he has made his bones (pun intended) via his trash talk. Sonnen likes to call it “truth talk,” but it is what it is. He has verbally torn into most opponents he has faced in the UFC, especially the ones he truly does not like.
It started out that way with Jones. Over the summer, Sonnen used Twitter – and every other media outlet that would put a microphone or recorder in front of his face – to rip into Jones for every imaginable thing, including his DUI arrest last year.
That has ceased since the two were coaches on the “Ultimate Fighter” reality show. Sonnen said he respects Jones as a coach and the two were almost buddy-buddy during multiple media stops to promote the program.
Well, the gloves are about to come off before they strap them on for real. Jones fired the first mild shot on Twitter this week, saying “this will be Chael Sonnen’s last chance at a title and I am going to train that way. … I will dominate my opponent in a way that no one has seen before.”
Obviously, Sonnen couldn’t help but respond. And he did so on Fuel TV’s “UFC Tonight,” where he serves as a studio analyst, on Tuesday night.
“Jon, stop tweeting,” Sonnen said. “Quit trying to be me. It makes you appear stupid, and just gives me material to ridicule you with.”
Shots fired. It seems like the truce is over – thankfully. No one really wanted to see this fight without some pre-bout needling. Sonnen wasn’t done either.
“If Jon Jones, a potted cactus and a slice of pizza from my oven were all on ‘Jeopardy,’ Jon Jones would not make the final round,” Sonnen said. “Now, on a lighter note; Jon, you had another baby, and in seriousness, congratulations. At this rate, by this time next year you will be the ‘Octamom of the Octagon.’”
That’s not quite Sonnen calling Jones a “spoiled brat” and naming a pizza dish after Jones at his Oregon restaurant – chicken and lots of cheese – but hey, it’s progress. UFC president Dana White told me late last year that the cease fire might be just all part of Sonnen’s mind games.
It looks like things could heat up before April 27.
Rousey talks looks in women’s sports: UFC women’s champion Ronda Rousey doesn’t deny that her looks have helped her get where she is. But she believes that being attractive isn’t just a boon for female athletes.
“If I was giving a board presentation, would I do it in my pajamas? No,” Rousey said Wednesday night on Jim Rome’s Showtime show. “I’d put on a pencil skirt and some makeup and I’d try to look nice because in every industry it helps.”
Rousey, 26, says it’s about the whole package. She said she uses everything – her looks, personality and fighting skill – to her advantage. She tries to go on every show possible and give good soundbytes to the press.
“You gotta hustle,” Rousey said. “Part of the hustle is looks.”
It also doesn’t hurt that she’s 7-0 in her career with seven first-round submissions via armbar. Rousey has opened up new doors for women’s MMA, becoming the first female signed by the UFC. The company now has 10 women under contract. She’ll face the winner of an April fight between Miesha Tate vs. Cat Zingano in her next bout.
“I may not have,” Rousey said when asked if she’d be in her position if she wasn’t pretty. “But if I looked the way I do and I didn’t fight, people wouldn’t know who I was at all.”
White “confident” MMA will be legalized in New York in 2013: This week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he and his staff will look into mixed martial arts and the economic impact it could have on the state.
“I don’t have a feeling towards the sport that says, ‘That sport should not happen in the state,’” Cuomo said. “My question is: Why should we do it? The obvious answer is that it could be an economic impact to the state, and you could generate economic activity. That could be persuasive, if it’s true.”
UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta said this week that the organization would guarantee four shows in New York State per year over the next three years. On Jim Rome’s radio show Wednesday, UFC president Dana White expressed assurance that the bill will pass in 2013.
“It’s obviously music to my ears,” White said of Cuomo’s comments, “and I’m very – and I mean very – confident that it’s gonna happen this year and we’re gonna get this thing done.”
White maintained that he’s targeting a show for Madison Square Garden near the end of the year. He had previously stated November for the UFC’s 20th year anniversary.
“After we roll into New York, put on an event and leave, New York will wish they got this thing done five years ago,” White said.
Quick jabs:Herschel Walker wants to fight in the UFC. The football great, now 51 years old, fought twice with two stoppage wins in Strikeforce, the last one back in 2011. Walker told LaVar Arrington on his D.C. radio show that he’d want to fight one more time and then “step aside and give it to the young people.” … Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum, two Brazilian legends, will meet at UFC on Fuel 10 on June 8 in their home country. The two are coaching against each other on the second installment of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil.” … Bellator has booked two tournament finals for March 28 in Tampa. Mikhail Zayats meets Emanuel Newton, the man who knocked out Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, in the light heavyweight finale and David Rickels takes on Saad Awad in the lightweight final. The winners get title shots in their respective weight classes.
mraimondi@nypost.com
