Friday, August 17, 2012

Chael Sonnen camp welcomes Jon Jones fight


Following Wednesday's Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen Twitter dustup, the UFC light heavyweight champion and his manager, Malki Kawa, had choice words for Sonnen, who labeled "Bones" a "dork" and essentially challenged him to a future fight.
Sonnen's manager, Mike Roberts, heard the talk. And while he admits his client would be more than happy to take on Jones, he thinks it's best to let the fighters speak for themselves.
"I'm not going to respond to what Malki says," Roberts told MMAjunkie.com when asked for comment. "All anybody cares about is the fighter. What Malki and I have to say means nothing."
The beef between Sonnen and Jones started when the two-time UFC middleweight title challenger hosted Tuesday's new edition of UFC Tonight. Sonnen, who revealed that he's moving up to 205 pounds to face Forrest Griffin in December, likened the effort needed to take the belt from Jones to something akin to stealing his Halloween candy.
"I could go up to 205 and I could take Jon Jones' belt the same as I could take his candy on Halloween -- a little punk kid, I'd snatch it away all I want," Sonnen said on UFC Tonight. "But there's something to be said in sportsmanship for earning your shot. And on the 29th of December, I'm going to go through Forrest to do it."
Jones took to Twitter to blast Sonnen for his comments, and Kawa backed his client when contacted by MMAjunkie.com.
Roberts suggests it's not a manager's place to aid in any pre-fight hype.
"I would never say anything bad about Jon Jones," Roberts said. "That's between Jon and Chael, and it would be very irresponsible of me to pass any type of judgment on Jon Jones in regards to this matter."
While Roberts prefers to abstain from any potential ongoing feud, he does admit he would be happy to see Sonnen face Jones for the light-heavyweight belt. However, he thinks any such fight would be made simply because Sonnen is driven to be the best fighter in the sport and not due to any personal beef between the fighters or their management.
"It's like Chael has said all along, 'If you're not trying to win championships, you need to retire,' " Roberts said. "So, of course whoever has the belt is who Chael wants to fight. He'll go through whoever he has to go through to get to that person. Right now, Forrest Griffin is the biggest and baddest one out there available to fight."
In the end, Jones may have tipped his hand when he indicated he wasn't allowing himself to be provoked by Sonnen's comments but was instead simply engaging in a little fan-friendly match of wits. Roberts, whose client's trashtalking over the past few years has become the stuff of legend, isn't interested in trying to determine Jones' mind-set or intentions. He prefers to remain on the sidelines, and he advises Kawa to do the same.
"I 'm not sure why Malki feels the need to get in the middle of it, but to each his own," Roberts said. "He's going to get himself in Chael's crosshairs, and he will lose that battle."
MMAjunkie.com is part of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group

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