Sonnen: Okami Should Be ‘Clear Favorite’ Over Silva

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Chael Sonnen returns to the Octagon on Oct. 8 to take on Brian Stann.

The UFC 136 main card bout marks Sonnen’s first fight in more than a year. Ahead of the matchup, he stopped by Bruce Buffer’s “It’s Time” show on the Sherdog Radio Network to discuss a variety of topics.

Sonnen on whom he wants to fight after Brian Stann: “Dana [White] and I are at a crossroads. Dana wants this to be a number one contender’s match and wants me to fight for the championship. I don’t have anything against fighting my friend Yushin Okami, who will be the champion by then, but I have unfinished business with Anderson Silva. For me, what I am lobbying for, is win or lose, I will fight Anderson Silva next. Anderson will be working his way back up, or I should say working his way down. I’m going to grab him and beat him up anyway, just for laughs, just on principle. Just for my sheer entertainment, I’m going to go slap that guy around. I don’t need his little tin belt. I’m already the champion.”

On the Yushin Okami vs. Anderson Silva matchup at UFC 134: “Yushin’s gotta be a clear favorite. Yushin’s much better than Anderson. Yushin beat Anderson the last time they fought. It’s real hard to imagine how Anderson would win, but that doesn’t mean he can’t. He’s pulled it off a few times before. I think the hardest part of selling this fight, as they say, is convincing people that Anderson’s actually got a chance.”

On who would win between Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre: “I think it would be one-sided, a very easy match for GSP.”

On whether he’d like to be a coach on “The Ultimate Fighter”: “If I had my choice to do it or not, no, I would stay in West Linn, Ore., and stay at home. I hate leaving home. I think it’s like a six-week venture. … But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do it. I do lots of things that I don’t want to do. If they ask me to and Dana says, ‘Listen, this is going to be helpful and we’re focusing on your weight class and I would appreciate it,’ then of course I would do it.”

On Vitor Belfort (in reference to his win over Yoshihiro Akiyama: “Vitor, for me, is the most intimidating guy in the division and one of the scariest guys in the company. He hits the hardest. He’s the most accurate. He’s got the best hands. He’s filled with experience: tournament champion at heavyweight, light heavyweight world champion. Now he’s down all the way at middleweight.”

On Tito Ortiz: “He’s the most decorated light heavyweight of all time. He’s assured to be in the Hall of Fame. When he made his entrance [against Rashad Evans] and that crowd erupted -- I mean, the roof came off the building when Tito walked out. I think that’s about all you need to know. That’s about all that needs to be said for Tito Ortiz. He has a place in this company, in this industry, and it’s tremendous. It would be horrible to even begin the Tito retirement talk. Just an absolute loss to all of us if he was to call it quits.”

Listen to the full interview (beginning at 2:54).