Sonnen: I would rethink my belief system if God cared about the result of a cage fight
For example, take his answer to a question about whether he’d be disappointed if people remembered him for his interviews…
For example, take his answer to a question about whether he’d be disappointed if people remembered him for his interviews and WWE-style promos rather than his fights.
“That would be a compliment,” he said. “I wouldn’t feel bad about that. ..You know, these guys want to talk about God. ‘Oh, I want to thank God. I want to thank God.’ Listen, I’m a God-fearing man, go to church every Sunday and have since I was a boy. But if I ever found out that God cared one way or another about a borderline illegal fist-fight on Saturday night, I would be so greatly disappointed that it would make rethink my entire belief system.”
See what I mean? It’s funny, entertaining, and clearly a bit that he thought of independently of any specific question, and now applies it wherever he sees an opening. But it doesn’t tell us much. It doesn’t tell us how the real Sonnen might really feel about the way his career is shaping up, the way the character he created is threatening to overshadow the person that he is.
Not that we know much about that person, of course. That’s either because Sonnen keeps him hidden, or because his public persona is so dependent on a kind of aggressive insincerity that it’s almost impossible to tell when he’s playing it straight.
In Bisping, Sonnen said, he sees a fighter who’s “not very good,” but who he respects nonetheless for his ability to win the fights the UFC gives him.
“He certainly hasn’t beaten anybody that’s any good, rankings-wise,” said Sonnen. “But Bisping, you can’t take from him, because he wins. Regardless of the opponent, which he doesn’t have a lot of say in, he gets his hand raised. That’s undeniable. …I’m not a naysayer on Bisping. I’m a supporter, and if he got a shot [at the title], I’d tune in to watch.”