Challenger’s camp talk up their hardcore preparation for title fight.
Normally it’s Chael Sonnen who promotes a fight with his mouth as much as his fists.
But in the lead up to his light-heavyweight title fight against champion Jon Jones at UFC 159, it’s Sonnen’s camp that have been hitting the airways.
Chael Sonnen’s fitness and conditioning coach Mike Dolce said he has been training his charge to pour on the pressure for the entire 25 minutes if need be, to make the champion as uncomfortable as possible.
“If the world were able to see what’s going on in training camp, how he’s looking, how he’s performing, I think (the) odds would change really quick,” Dolce told BJ.Penn.com.
“Chael’s 10 years older, and it’s the big brother mentality, you know? Chael’s been beating up guys like Jon Jones his whole life, his whole career, and that’s the mentality we have going into it.
“He’s going to beat the p*** out of Jon Jones for 25 minutes no matter what – It’s going to be a nasty machine, and we’re training Chael for 25 minutes of non-stop aggression.
“No matter what gets broken, no matter what gets ripped open, no matter how much blood is there, no matter how many bones crack. We are pushing him and training him to power through that, and I don’t think Jon is prepared to power through that.”
Sonnen, the two-time All-American wrestler at the University of Oregon and an Olympic alternate for the United States Greco-Roman wrestling team, has become famous for derisive comments towards opponents, with his Twitter account a common mouthpiece.
As far back as August 2012, Sonnen taunted the champion Jones, goading him into accepting a title challenge from the self-anointed ‘Gangster from Oregon’.
“I know you will never fight me. Don’t be afraid. But I’ll always be the monster in the closet of you mind, little JJ,” Sonnen said of Jones.
Both Jones and Sonnen have been starring in the latest series of The Ultimate Fighter as coaches in a bid to build even more hype for their upcoming fight.
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