Sonnen Says Anderson Silva Isn't Fighting Him, Or Anyone Else, Ever Again

Chael Sonnen is ostensibly battling Michael Bisping next weekend for another shot at UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva's middleweight title, but he stated on today's UFC on Fox 2: Evans vs. Davis conference call held in promotion of their fight that he doesn't see himself, or anyone else, ever taking on The Spider again.

"I can guarantee you – Anderson Silva and I will never cross paths again. I don't if he's going to retire, or [the UFC is] going to retire him," Sonnen boldly claimed. "I think the plan was if I could get past Muñoz and if Michael was successful against Demian, they were going to do an interim championship between Bisping and I. I know Anderson's not going to fight. The folks at the UFC know he's not going to fight. I'm all for promoting and marketing and all that good stuff. I don't want to throw water on a perfectly hot flame, but Anderson Silva's not going to fight anybody."

Though he sort of backed off of his assertion that Silva is faking injuries to avoid fights, Sonnen explained that he believes the man widely considered to be the best fighter in the world just isn't interested in fighting anymore.

"I can tell you that behind the scenes, they tried to put me and Anderson together four times, and four times he said no. I called him out publicly. You call out a Brazilian publicly, you're going to be fighting that Brazilian. That's in their culture, and he sat there and covered his mouth and hid behind Charles Barkley, which is a smart move. It saved him a trip to the hospital," he said. "But Anderson Silva is not going to fight me. I don't believe he's going to fight Bisping. I don't believe he's going to fight again. That's my personal opinion. He even said no to Lorenzo Fertitta's face. Face-to-face - not over the phone - Lorenzo brought him out, sat him down, and said, 'This is the fight we want.' And Anderson said no."

Sonnen meets Bisping in the co-main event of UFC on FOX 2, which goes down on January 28 from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

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