Chael Sonnen: Jon Jones “is surrounded by a bunch of yes men”

Chael Sonnen is at it again.

On the same day his boss said a December win won’t get him a title shot against light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, the two-time middleweight title challenger went right back to work on the champ.

This time, Sonnen employed a little classic reverse psychology, but followed it up as only he can.

Sonnen (28-12-1), while a guest on “UFC Tonight” on FUEL TV on Tuesday night, said his hope to one day fight Jones (16-1) is little more than a pipe dream. Sonnen moves to 205 pounds in December and will face former champ Forrest Griffin at UFC 155 in Las Vegas.

“I will never fight Jones,” Sonnen said. “He will never fight me. He is surrounded by a bunch of yes men. When he asks them, ‘Is Chael better than me?,’ they tell him, ‘Yes.’ When he asks, ‘Would Chael beat me?,’ they tell him, ‘Yes.’ When he asks, ‘Will Chael take my title away?,’ they tell him, ‘Yes.'”

Jones and Sonnen have engaged in a mild back-and-forth over the past week or so, which is odd considering Jones is getting ready to fight Dan Henderson next week at UFC 151.

The fact that Jones has paid Sonnen any attention at all is odd to Sonnen. But perhaps that’s part of his motivation for calling him out before he’s even had a fight in his return to the division. After all, Henderson is a Team Quest teammate of his.

“He has to worry about beating Dan Henderson, which he won’t do,” Sonnen said. “He’s got to worry about Dan Henderson’s right hand. I think the thing that surprises me the most is when he referred to it as motivation for him. Saying that I motivated him? OK, I guess. But what, exactly, is he paying his coaches for, then? … But he’s not going to be around much longer. The only thing we need to know from Jones is, which hospital should we send the flowers to?”

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