The Doggy Bag: The Silva-Sonnen Edition

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It still seems crazy to me that so much for the UFC is resting on Anderson Silva-Chael Sonnen, and Sonnen specifically because he is always in the press running his mouth, when Sonnen has such a checkered past. I was thinking about this after Silva called him a “criminal” this week. Sonnen is a criminal and he is a sports cheater, too. Yet, he could win the biggest fight of the year on pay-per-view and become UFC middleweight champion. I just don’t know what to think about this -- Dan from Grand Rapids

TJ De Santis, Sherdog Radio Network program director: It's interesting that Silva's words ring so true with you. Yes, Sonnen has a checkered past, but, it seems in today, the lines are more blurred than ever. Nothing is black or white, just gray. The UFC benefits from a massive PR team that can make the blackest of stories seem as if they're just off color matters that don't really mean anything of substance.

It seems that the TRT and real estate-mortgage fraud issues that Sonnen has had have almost gone to further is character in this sport. If another fighter that wasn't as outspoken as him had the legal issues he has had, it would be the talk of the town. It seems that the Team Quest product has gotten to the level of Manny Ramirez; it's just Chael being Chael.

As you mentioned, Sonnen is less than a week away from his second chance at UFC gold. More people than ever are sold on the idea that he will take Silva down and beat him up for five rounds (again). Should he be in this position? Should the UFC have stepped in following his actions outside of competition in the real estate matter? Should they step up and fight against fighters using TRT? What would that do? Right or wrong, it would deny the promotion and fans alike the fight of the summer.

I am against fighters using TRT, and I am also one that thinks the UFC should hold fighters more accountable for their actions away from the Octagon. However, the UFC only makes examples out of fighters when it doesn't impact the company directly. Stopping Silva-Sonnen 2 is bad for business, plain and simple. With the decline of ratings on cable and pay-per-view alike, I think an argument can be made that stopping this fight on July 7 for any reason, regardless of if it was a TRT issue, might just be bad for the sport.

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