Chael Sonnen on Bellator stint: ‘I came here to chase Wanderlei’ Silva

After all this time, Chael Sonnen sounds like he still wants a piece of Wanderlei Silva ... whether it’s in a cage under commission rules or out on a street corner.

“The next time I see Wanderlei Silva, I’m going to be fighting Wanderlei Silva,” Sonnen said at a Bellator 170 teleconference recently. “And he is going to tell you the same thing. And the goal is, it will be inside of a ring on an appropriate time. But the next time I see him, I’m going to be fighting him.”

Before they get there, of course, Sonnen will make his much heralded Bellator debut against Tito Ortiz in the main event of Bellator 170 at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif.

But with all due respect to the retiring Ortiz, there’s no doubt Sonnen vs. Silva is a fight which would move the needle like few others.

Sonnen and Silva were coaches on a contentious season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, one which included a brawl between the two.

“I came here to chase Wanderlei,” Sonen said. “I didn't care about Tito but Wanderlei is busy so when they asked about Tito I said yeah.”

They were scheduled to meet at UFC 175, but both fighters, as it turned out, flunked drug tests, which led to suspensions and the fight falling apart.

Bellator promoter Scott Coker, for his part, confirmed that Silva is under contract to Bellator. And while he had to pull out of a RIZIN date due to injury, Coker will try to put the fight together for sometime over the summer, after Silva’s three-year commission-enforced suspension is up.

“Wanderlei Silva is currently under contract with Bellator, so we have him for multiple years,” Coker said. “I think it’s just a matter of time, and hopefully we’ll be able to put that fight together.”