"It's getting harder and harder to deny that (Anderson Silva) shouldn't be shown that appreciation. He ducked Okami for years but he did finally go in there and he made it look easy so I think you've got to look at that. If you're asking if I would ever conceive that Anderson's better than me, no. I would simply refer you to the tape. I think he and I's skills are vastly different. I think I could come down a lot and still be ahead of him. I also thinks he ducks and dodges opponents constantly but listen, his wins and losses speak for themselves and the fact of the matter whether I'd like to admit it or not is he's done a better job than anybody, he's done a better job than me and he is the champion. That doesn't mean that I'm gonna quit poking my finger in his chest but at some point I think fairness needs to kick in too and I think you need to look at what he's done and tip your hat to him a little bit."

It looks like somebody has an appetite for humble pie. Former title challenger Chael Sonnen has been all over the news with his trash talk of UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, a man he was minutes away from defeating before succumbing to a fifth round triangle choke at UFC 117. But during today's conference call for next Saturday night's (Oct. 8) UFC 136: "Edgar vs. Maynard 3" event alongside his upcoming opponent Brian Stann, Sonnen was noticeably tame. He heaped praise upon his opponent and actually toned down his rhetoric on "The Spider." Perhaps Silva's two round obliteration of Sonnen's friend and teammate Yushin Okami had something to do with it. Do you think this change in attitude will stick if Sonnen is able to defeat Stann and earn another shot at the belt?