Then Sonnen cites the first Anderson Silva fight, in which he had the upper hand against the Brazilian (at the time) UFC middleweight champion, dominating for four and a half rounds, on a thrilling night in Oakland one hundred moons ago.

"Boxing and standing up is not something I’ve ever really had to show because I’ve always tackled guys but the few times I have ended up on my feet I’ve never lost a stand up battle. I’ve fought 49 men and never been outstruck once. It’s the same situation," said Sonnen, recalling the Silva fight.

"I’ve got tools. I remember the days when people said Georges St Pierre couldn’t strike and that stopped the day he couldn’t take Matt Hughes down so knocked him out with a kick to the head. As fighters you always start with plan A. If that fails you go to Plan B. If you don’t need to show that, people assume plan B doesn’t exist."

I’ve just been around way too long. I had my first fight in 97. I’ve been around way too long to not have skills B C and D and if I need them I will turn to them. Rampage is a big guy. A lot of what I do, change in elevation and exploding on someone my size and knocking a man off his feet against his will… but when I train in the practice room those big guys are really hard to drag down at will. I imagine I’ll have to go to the well a couple more times but that’s fine with me."