Sometimes these things happen in MMA? I guess after literally years of making jokes at the expense of the Brazilian people (feeding busses with carrots etc), one Brazilian decided that Chael’s 1-5 record against his nation needed one more notch next to the L instead of the W and apparently attacked the light heavyweight contender. Wild.
This is what Chael Sonnen said to MMAJunkie Radio about the incident:
“It was very quick, like those things typically happen, I was visiting with some fans, and a gentleman had started in on me. Ultimately, that’s what it led to.
“I think a fan can do anything they want. I think they can heckle, a fan can boo, but they can’t touch you. But the same thing goes for me. I can yell at a fan too, but you can’t touch them. If you want to be a fan, you buy the ticket, and you can have any energy you want, whether it’s positive or negative. And in this case it was negative, and he went a little too far.”
Shockingly even remarks from a guy whose words incited the violence in the first place, but it’s important to recognize the difference between athlete Chael and showman Chael. What’s worrisome is that people KNOW and UNDERSTAND that pro wrestling is fake, but it’s a difficult situation when these fans feel they need to take action against pro athletes that can very much hurt them in retaliation if they feel threatened — and that’s good for no one. From there the snowball will tumble and get bigger, and the last thing I ever want to read about is Chael getting stabbed by some guy in the Mandalay Bay lobby. So what happens now? Do we reign back Chael, who’s just selling a fight talking trash about Brazil, or is greater security required? The best thing about MMA is it’s accessibility compared to other sports, but the last thing we need is for this to become a trend.
