Anderson Silva: Sonnen is disrespectful

Since Chael Sonnen's title bout with Anderson Silva has been announced, Sonnen has used his verbal skills to get inside Silva's head. Using Twitter and interviews, Sonnen has derided Silva, his camp and his opponents.

Until now, Silva had taken the ribbing in stride, but in an interview with Brazilian news outlet Tatame, he finally fired back.

“What he’s saying is disrespecting me, he’s disrespecting me and all opponents I’ve faced. Dan Henderson, in my opinion, is the best wrestler that there is out there on MMA."

Silva went on to joke about Sonnen's one-time career path of politics. Sonnen was in the Oregon state Senate race earlier this year, but dropped out because of an undisclosed legal issue.

"Do you want to be a politician, or do you wanna be a fighter or you want to be a gangster. I chose, for myself, being a fighter. If I wasn’t a fighter, I’d be a cop, and on that case it’d be a serious problem, because you’re a gangster and I’m a cop. Well, I’m a fighter and you yet don’t know what you are, you’ll still choose what you’ll be."

Trash talking is par for the course in building up a title bout, but in the past, Silva has taken the talk personally. Before his bizarre match with Demian Maia, Silva was offended by some of the things said by Maia. This led to Silva yelling at Maia during the bout, calling him a playboy and asking where his jiu-jitsu was.

We'll see how Silva truly reacts to Sonnen's comments when they face off on Aug. 7 in Oakland