Chael Sonnen said the fan went “too far”. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
The occurrence of a regrettable episode behind the scenes of the TUF 17 Finale, last Saturday (13), was reported by Chael Sonnen, in an interview with the website MMA Junkie. The American revealed that he was almost attacked by a fan, identified as Brazilian, in the stands of the Mandalay Bay Events Center – the venue for the event. The intervention of a security guard prevented Chael from being hit
“I was talking to some fans and this man attacked me”, he said. Sonnen still tried to understand his attacker's reasons. “The guy seemed like a nice guy. He was a fan of Anderson Silva. He was supporting Anderson Silva verbally. But turning it into something physical, yeah, that was a surprise. But to a certain extent, he just seemed like a guy with a passion for his favorite fighter”, he pondered.
Despite the seemingly understanding words, Chael Sonnen made a point of condemning the attitude. “I think a fan can do anything they want. I think they can harass, they can boo, but they can't touch us. But the same thing goes for me. I can yell at a fan too, but you can touch him. If you want to be a fan, you buy the ticket and you can have any energy you want, positive or negative. In this case it was negative, and he went a little too far”, criticized the TUF 17 coach.
Chael Sonnen returns to the octagon on April 27th, against Jon Jones. The fight, which is the main fight of UFC 159, marks the meeting of the coaches of the 17th season of the reality show The Ultimate Fighter and is valid for the light heavyweight category belt.
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