No.3: Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva
Wanderlei Silva’s beef with Chael Sonnen dated back to when the ‘American Gangster’ was trash-talking his way into two fights with Anderson Silva, which included some less than flattering remarks about Brazil that didn’t sit too well with ‘The Axe-Murderer.’
Sonnen never paid any heed to Silva’s repeated warning’s to stop talking badly about his countrymen though, which meant that by the time the two were paired off together as coaches on TUF Brazil Season 3, there was unbearable tension between them.
In the end that proved too much for Silva to handle and so rather than wait for an officially sanctioned fight later that year, he tried to pick a fight with Sonnen on set during filming for the show.
Sonnen attempted to diffuse the situation, but Silva kept staring him down and then came close enough that he felt he had to defend himself, shoving the Brazilian brawler away before going into a fighting stance.
Silva quickly came back at him, throwing a right-handed slap at his rival’s head, but Sonnen ducked under it and immediately took him down and landed a few ground and pound blows.
Meanwhile, cast members from the show flooded in, mostly trying to break the fight up, though a fighter from Silva’s team punched Sonnen several times in the back of the head before the melee was finally broken up.
Silva suffered injuries to his back and hand during the brawl, postponing an eventual fight between them until UFC 175, which didn’t come to fruition because they both subsequently failed drug tests and were slammed with lengthy suspensions.
However, years later Sonnen eventually did beat his adversary by decision in Bellator.
