LAS VEGAS – If they would have darkened the room, given him a barstool and shone a spotlight on him, Chael Sonnen would have been no different than any of the comics trying to scratch out a living on the Strip.





The self-proclaimed "American Gangster" from West Linn, Ore., spent the better part of an hour Tuesday at the UFC 148 pre-fight news conference at the swanky Palazzo doing a standup routine.

Occasionally, he remembered he was fighting Anderson Silva for the middleweight title on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden, as he did when he was asked about Silva's angry outburst on a conference call.

"Listen, if you knew your funeral was coming up, you'd probably have some parting words, as well," Sonnen said. "It was nice to see the real Anderson come through. I don't mean funeral in a morbid way, but this is the funeral of a career, man. This is coming to an end on 7/7 at 7 p.m., 10 in the East. Only on pay-per-view, Chael Sonnen Promotions in conjunction with Zuffa LLC will bring to you Sonnen versus Silva II: The End. He will step aside and the man will walk through."

It sounded like a monster truck radio spot.

Later, Silva was asked about the fact that Sonnen dominated the previous fight with him even when they were standing, which is Silva's forte.

The Brazilian champion allowed his manager, Ed Soares, to interpret the question from English into his native Portuguese before answering.

"For him to be able to strike with me standing up, he has to be a magician," Silva said. "It's impossible for him to strike with me."

[Related: Watch UFC 148 live on Yahoo! Sports]

Sonnen was asked for his response, but he wanted none of it. He had a script and he was sticking to it.

"Why are you asking questions in English?" Sonnen said. "Anderson sits here like he doesn't understand you. Ed Soares interprets and we've got to hear it a second time. First off, he speaks English and secondly, we could replace Ed Soares with an app I could download for my phone for $9.99. What kind of a bizarro world are we in here? This is the strangest thing I've been a part of.

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"People asked me if I wanted to go to Brazil for the fight. Sure, it would be neutral territory. Anderson lives in a mansion in Beverly Hills. Las Vegas, Nevada, is closer to him than it is to West Linn, Oregon. He's got home-court advantage. What are we even doing here, guys? This is insanity. He comes here pretending he doesn't speak English? Come on! It's like pretending he's the world champion. The guy walks around with a fake belt."





On and on it went, Sonnen managing to keep a grin creasing the face of UFC president Dana White the entire time. It was Sonnen in full character.

Or, according to someone who knows him best, not in character.

Sonnen's mother, Claudia, arrived late to Tuesday's news conference, missing much of her son's masterful performance.

She didn't really miss much, though. Sonnen has been the same way, more or less, his whole life, she said. He's a little more polished now and slick with his presentation, but he was only three years old and was mugging for his Dad's camcorder, impersonating Mister T.





[Kevin Iole: Was Anderson Silva's uncharacteristic outburst a planned strategy?]

Claudia Sonnen calls her son "an exceptional human being," whom she said treats her like royalty and who willingly goes well out of his way to help anyone he loves.

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