Thursday morning in New York City, Bellator MMA held a press conference for their highly anticipated Pay-Per View event this Saturday. While the event went off without any major speed bumps, a brief scuffle broke out at one point as MMA legend Wanderlei Silva shoved Chael Sonnen. Fortunately, Bellator MMA President Scott Coker and security guards in attendance were able to diffuse the situation before things got out of hand, like they did during the infamous Silva-Sonnen Ultimate Fighter brawl.
Following the event, Scott Coker gave a statement on the matter, explaining that things could have been much worse, and that neither fighter would be facing repercussions for the situation.
With that being said, Wanderlei Silva has now released a statement on the matter through MMAJunkie:
“I saw him scared. The time is going to come. Like my dad always says, ‘You can’t play with a man.’ His time is going to come.”
“He did that before in Brazil,” Silva said. “He did it first. I did it as payback. He took me down in Brazil. I haven’t taken him down yet, but in the fight I’ll give it back to him.”
“He talks so much,” Silva said. “Everyone knows he’s a chicken. He feels my hands. I know this fight is going to finish. … I know he’s scared. I look at the fear in your eyes. Now you can’t run. When the guys lock the cage I’m going to pay you back.”
The two of course are currently slated to headline the event on Saturday night, when their storied rivalry will finally see the two men meet in the cage four years after they were initially slated to fight under the UFC banner.
While fans are torn for their predictions on the fight, one thing is all but guaranteed – the fight will be an interesting one!
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/22/2017.