In a very Chael Sonnen-esque creative justification for his actions, former UFC title contender Chael Sonnen believes he and PRIDE legend Wanderlei Silva were simply victims of circumstance in MMA's larger evolution.

After Sonnen and Silva were handed down a two-year and lifetime ban, respectively, by the Nevada Athletic Commission, the former says he 'was really disappointed how things shook out' for his Brazilian cohort.

"It was pretty easy for of us to justify some of our actions by going 'Ah I don't really like that rule.' That's the origin of all sins," Sonnen told Michael Stets of MMAmania.com. "All sin and all crime comes from the same thing, 'I decided. I decided this was okay.' Something is a little bit different here. If you go back to where he started, he didn't break any rules. It's different. The rules have changed and sport has changed and they have all changed for the better.

"They are right and we are completely wrong. But at the same time I get where his mindset was, 'Hey wait a minute, things have changed over time. This used to be allowed and now it's not.'"

After having their grudge match pushed back twice, Sonnen and Silva were finally booked to compete at UFC 175 on Jul. 5. Silva was later dropped from the bout following his refusal to comply with an NAC official collecting a sample for a random drug test. Vitor Belfort then stepped in to replace Silva, but Sonnen's own failed drug test sank the bout altogether.

"And the other thing is Wanderlei didn't do anything to anybody," said Sonnen. "Whatever he did or was getting ready to do to me -- I was the opponent in question -- and I forgive him. I forgive him. It's the same thing with me. I wasn't trying to pull something over on anybody other than Vitor. I was trying to get an advantage over Vitor. When it came down I called Vitor and Vitor forgave me. He said, 'I forgive you. We're good.'

5 MUST-READ STORIES

‘He f---ed up majorly in my fight.' Tim Kennedy blames 'stoolgate' on ref 'Big' John McCarthy. 'He got owned that night by a bunch of guys doing sh---y things. He got played by all three of them, and he just let it happen.'

Fortunes changed for five. Dave Meltzer explains how Demetrious Johnson, Donald Cerrone, Eddie Alvarez, Conor McGregor and Yoel Romero move forward following UFC 178.

Bank. Conor McGregor pockets $200K, or a little over $1,415 per second in purse winnings, for his first-round stoppage of Dustin Poirier.

Awful. After his younger brother was shot and killed in May, UFC lightweight Bobby Green just had another family member shot in what appears to be a gang related shooting.

Suspensions. Tim Kennedy, Cat Zingano and Stephen Thompson receive lengthy medical suspensions following UFC 178.

Watch The MMA Hour featuring Chris Weidman, Tim Kennedy, Renzo Gracie in studio, John Kavanagh, Sean McCorkle, Aisling Daly and Kenny Monday.

MEDIA STEW

UFC On The Fly - Niklas Backstrom.

Free Fight: Rory MacDonald vs. Demian Maia.

Highlights from Legacy 35.

Robin Black breaks down Gunnar Nelson's pressure ground game.

Miesha Tate doesn't give Cat Zingano much of a chance against Ronda Rousey.

Chael still cutting promos.

Long watches.

Knuckle Up #398: UFC 178, Cry Babies, HeadGames + Suddenly Your DNA Is Forever Changed... (MMA Nation)

...

Total Human Optimization Podcast with Danny Castillo

TWEETS

Chael fan.

Brutal.

This loss hurts more than words can explain. — The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) September 29, 2014

Ivory and Gold. I call it "The Vegas" pic.twitter.com/M02omCxmf1 — Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) September 29, 2014

Fight lined up?

Leaving Vegas headed home! Back to work!!! And sure did leave with some great news — Cowboy Cerrone (@Cowboycerrone) September 29, 2014

Ready.

It was nice to meet Bono :) http://t.co/AGDNd5MKnk pic.twitter.com/6unJpdC80w — Gunnar Nelson (@GunniNelson) September 29, 2014

Get well soon. (Warning - pretty damn graphic)

Green with envy?

Wow McGregor already making 75k + 75k per fight, seems messed up to me considering all the other vets in UFC making way less — John Alessio (@johnalessio79) September 29, 2014

$150k for McGregor 3 fights into the UFC, I need to up my sh*t talking! #UFC — Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunsonMMA) September 29, 2014

The fact that Connor makes more than cowboy is a joke. Yes Connor deserves that money but cowboy has done so much more and is paid less? Wtf — Cody Bollinger (@CodyBollinger) September 29, 2014

Congrats.

Now, he's made it.

Thank you to my #milkman for the continuous support :-) http://t.co/nHJPRdEVkq — Demetrious Johnson (@MightyMouseUFC) September 30, 2014

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Announced yesterday (Sept. 29 2014)

cancelled Beneil Dariush vs. Alan Patrick at UFC 179

Patrick Holohan vs. Chris Kelades at UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs. Saffiedine

Ray Borg out, Neil Seery vs. Richie Vaculik at UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Rockhold

FANPOST OF THE DAY

Today's Fanpost of the Day comes via 15Minutes2ADream.

In the Aftermath of the Feel Good Card of the Year.

The passing of UFC 178 marked a great deal of truly fulfilling moments for the fans, the long awaited returns of Dominick Cruz and Cat Zingano. The first top ten win for Conor McGregor, and the UFC debut of former Bellator Lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez. Amid controversies, smack talk, and good old fashioned ass whoopins we the fans walked away with an experience to remember. It simply felt well.. RIGHT, to be watching a card like this in the midst of some crazy goings on in the MMA world. Between fighter suspensions and match cancellations, well we got something very special indeed. Now, I've been slacking like crazy as far as fanposts go around here. But I was inspired by our own little community here to write a short little piece. As some of you might know, I joined the fantastic liveblogging during the event here on MMAFighting and had a blast commenting such a big event with you folks. I heard 178 called the heartwarming card of the year, and I had to agree with that concise description. It just felt damn good to see it all unfold. And that left me thinking to myself. What were some of my favorite "feel good" moments this year. I mean sure a lot of stuff has been botched, but we had a lot of moments that made me happy to be a fan. So I wanted to share a few. ...

Check out the rest of the post here.

Found something you'd like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we'll include it in tomorrow's column.