Chael Sonnen Won't Be In Brazil for UFC 134

Chael Sonnen photo via Sherdog.com
MMAJunkie.com: Sonnen: UFC 134 trip to support Okami canceled due to sponsor intervention, police threat
by Steven Marrocco on Aug 24, 2011 at 1:40 pm ET

TUALATIN, Ore. – Chael Sonnen wanted to be in Yushin Okami's corner for UFC 134, and he still has a plane ticket to Rio de Janeiro.

It's Brazil that doesn't want him there.

Sonnen said a major sponsor of Okami's requested he not attend the pay-per-view event, which takes place Saturday at Rio's HSBC Arena.

A source with knowledge of the situation told MMAjunkie.com that Praetorian, a Brazil-based MMA brand, threatened to pull the Japanese fighter's sponsorship if Sonnen attended.

"There's a line of people that want to kick his ass," the source said.

And that could be the least of problems for the expert trash-talker. Sonnen said friends in the country forwarded him a local-media report in which a police chief threatened to arrest him on sight if he showed. The official cited a law that makes disparaging the national identity a crime.

"You don't have freedom of speech in Brazil; put it like that," Sonnen told MMAjunkie.com after a workout at Team Quest Tualatin.

The source said Sonnen's claim is untrue. But the fighter's bombastic interviews have created quite a stir.

In several highly circulated clips and on Twitter, Sonnen has maligned the South American country and several of its most popular fighters. Former light-heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida has been a favorite target, as have national icons and brothers Antonio Rodrigo and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

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