by Will Cooling – September 23, 2010 | @Insidefights.com
Chael Sonnen cancelled his planned appearance on MMA Live just hours before he was due to appear on ESPN to explain the story behind his positive drugs test. The show’s host Jon Anik told MMA Junkie that he didn’t know the reason why Sonnen cancelled the widely trailed appearance and refused to speculate whether it had something to do with the fighter’s appeal, but was clear that it was “certainly a disappointing reality for us when we arrived here this morning to tape the show”.
This is not the only time that the voluble UFC middleweight decided that discretion was the better part of valour, with a video surfacing today of Sonnen failing to back up his infamous trash talk when put on the spot by legendary Pride veteran Wanderlei Silva. The fearsome (and it has to be said, very dapper) Axe-Murderer criticized Sonnen for his comments about Brazil, the Nogueira brothers and his lack of respect for the MMA community. In a thinly veiled warning to the former world title challenger, Silva shared with him the Brazilian saying “You have respect, you don’t lose your teeth”. Sonnen responded by saying “thank you”. You can watch the full video here (Sonnen segment starts at 3:52):