Famous UFC fan and former NBA All Star Charles Barkley thought Chael Sonnen was 'awesome' at UFC 136

Pan the crowd at last weekend's UFC 136 pay-per-view event and you might have seen some familiar faces: Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, Charles Barkley ...

Wait ... Charles Barkley?

Yep. The former NBA All Star and self-professed mixed martial arts fan was cageside for all the festivities at "Edgar vs. Maynard 3" on Oct. 8, 2011, which broadcasted live from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

And what about Chael Sonnen's pro-wrestling inspired call-out of "The Spider?" Barkley tells Cagewriter.com it was simply "awesome."

"You can't get in there messin' around. It takes a special person to handle that. They are the best-conditioned jocks in the world. It's always a chess match. You see the guys who are better boxers, and then you see the guys who want to grapple. That's always the interesting part of MMA. I think the fights this weekend were the best ones I went to personally. I've probably been to about 20, and have gotten another 20 on pay-per-view. The fights were exciting. Sonnen, how we went after Silva after the match, that was awesome. Also, Frankie Edgar, he was impressive."

Now word yet from "Sir Charles" on his take on Michael Spitsbing, who treated the corner of Jorge Rivera like a courtside toddler back at UFC 127.

Stay tuned.