Chael Sonnen has made an enemy of Brazil.
His numerous jabs, insults, and stereotypical comments about the host country of UFC 134 have apparently done a little more damage than he anticipated.
According to MMAJunkie.com, Sonnen will no longer be attending UFC 134 due to Brazil’s growing hatred for the former No. 1 contender in the UFC middleweight division. He was originally supposed to corner Yushin Okami in his title fight with Anderson Silva.
Sonnen said a major sponsor of Okami’s requested he not attend the pay-per-view event, which takes place Saturday at Rio’s HSBC Arena.
A source with knowledge of the situation told MMAJunkie.com that Praetorian, a Brazil-based MMA brand, threatened to pull the Japanese fighter’s sponsorship if Sonnen attended.
“There’s a line of people that want to kick his ass,” the source said.
And that could be the least of problems for the expert trash-talker. Sonnen said friends in the country forwarded him a local-media report in which a police chief threatened to arrest him on sight if he showed. The official cited a law that makes disparaging the national identity a crime.
“You don’t have freedom of speech in Brazil; put it like that,” Sonnen told MMAjunkie.com after a workout at Team Quest Tualatin.
It probably is for the best. I didn’t see Sonnen leaving Brazil without incident after his rants as of late.
