‘American Gangster’ Chael Sonnen And ‘The Axe-Murderer’ Wanderlei Silva Come To Blows On Set Of ‘The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil’

One of the more heated rivalries mixed martial arts jacked up the temperature big time, as Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva reportedly fought on the set of The Ultimate Fighter.

You can forget about pouring oil on troubled waters, Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei is more akin to dousing a four-alarm fire with napalm.

“Wanderlei and Chael fought. Just today. They literally fought,” UFC President Dana White told MMAWeekly.com.

MMA Weekly reports White was reticent to share even the minute details available about the incident.

“While they were fighting, one of Wanderlei’s guys sucker punched Chael,” White continued. “It went on for awhile.”

It’s not hard to imagine a tense working environment with Sonnen and Silva on-board as coaches of the latest incarnation of TUF, which takes place in Brazil. With all his big-mouthed antics over the years, from goading Anderson Silva, the Noguieras and Wanderlei himself, Chael likely hasn’t made many friends locally. But this incident crosses the line professionally, from the sounds of the admittedly scant information at the public’s disposal. Whether Sonnen or Silva is to blame isn’t even a factor.

Historically, fighters have gotten kicked off The Ultimate Fighter for fighting outside of the Octagon, predicated on the idea that such neanderthal behavior damages the credibility of the athletes and plays directly into the hand of the sports critics. Heck, “Monstah Lobstah” Allen Berube got tossed just for being an instigator. And while it won’t be the first scrape between a coach and an opposing fighter (thanks to Sonnen’s fellow loudmouth, Josh Koscheck), it’ll be interesting to see what happens, if anything, in the wake of the Chael-Wanderlei coaching dustup on set.

It couldn’t possibly be because Chael Sonnen continues to talk smack while this season is still in production, right? Tweets like “Apologize to me or quit” couldn’t be Chael pushing buttons. That’d be like a prisoner spitting in the warden’s face; sure, you might be able to take him in a fair fight but he’s got a ton of backup and you’re in his house.

Not that Chael is alone in stirring the pot. Heck, Silva brought once along a camera crew to film a promo whilst confronting his nemesis.

Sonnen’s Twitter account also references the infamous “van confrontation,” saying “If it was just about pride and honor I would have beaten you up in that van and thrown you into oncoming traffic.”

Yikes.

Considering that verbal barb went out on Sunday and White made the Sonnen-Silva brawl public knowledge Monday, let’s just go ahead and say Chael Sonnen, Mission Accomplished.

It’s entertainment “($)”. If it was just about pride and honor I would have beaten you up in that van and thrown you into oncoming traffic.

— chael sonnen (@sonnench) January 26, 2014

UPDATE:

Here’s an unsubstantiated but intriguing account of how it all went down, courtesy of @MMADiscussions on Instagram. What do you think?