Wanderlei Silva's fellow Brazilian countryman, Vitor Belfort, is "embarrassed" by the brawl between "The Axe Murderer" and Chael Sonnen that aired on Sunday's episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3.
Monday, Belfort wrote a Facebook post in Portuguese that said Sonnen and Silva acted inappropriately for two athletes who are supposed to be role models. MMA Fighting has since provided the English translation:
"The brawl between Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen at TUF Brazil embarrassed me. First, because MMA is not violence, it is a fight between two guys that are prepared for it and inside an Octagon. That's what I do. I don't brawl, I fight. Second, there's no room for this kind of behavior in a sport like MMA in a time that the sport has its rules inside and outside the Octagon. Third and most importantly, MMA can't influence this behavior that ends in assault as if it were the appropriate model of behavior. Millions of young kids suffer with violence inside and outside their schools, and the television can't be driving this behavior, so the athletes need to represent control no matter what."
Belfort is no stranger to Silva, as they coached the inaugural season of TUF Brazil just over two years ago.
He also defeated his fellow Brazilian slugger via blistering knockout at UFC Brazil all the way back in October 1998.
"The Phenom" has never met Sonnen inside the cage, but the two have traded plenty of verbal shots in recent memory. For now, a grudge match has never come to fruition.
While videos of the now infamous TUF brawl are coming and going at a rapid pace, here is the latest version available—courtesy of MMA Mania.
"The American Gangster" and Silva are scheduled to finally settle their differences at UFC 175 on July 5, though Sonnen doesn't seem to believe his rival will make it to the summer showdown so he is already angling for a matchup with Rich Franklin.
Belfort is awaiting his next fight after becoming the first man to knock out Dan Henderson at UFC Fight Night 32 in November—avenging an October 2006 decision loss to "Hendo."
Does Belfort make a valid point in his Facebook post or is he blowing the TUF scrap between Sonnen and Silva out of proportion?
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
