Chael Sonnen victim of shock pen prank and 'aggressive' reporters in Brazil

What's the buzz on Dana White's recent trip to Brazil?

According to the Las Vegas fight boss, when Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight number one contender Chael Sonnen flew to Rio earlier this week for a special UFC 148 press conference, you could feel the electricity in the air.

Literally.

That's because the trash-talking wrestler, who spent the better part of two years trashing Brazilian legends like Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort, Jose Aldo and Wanderlei Silva, was the victim of a shock pen prank after escaping a scrum populated by "aggressive" reporters.

Hearing the "shocking" account from White (via Orange County Register) after the jump.

"We had proper security with us. We had like seven guys with us. These are guys that mapped out the whole route. We literally landed at the airport in Rio, a shuttle took us through customs, jumped on helicopters and the helicopters took us right to the hotel. I came through the front door. We put him (Sonnen) through a side door. We had him in a holding room. We went down to the press conference and he had a scrum. The reporters were getting really aggressive with him at the scrum. Somebody got him with shock pen and all kinds of stuff like that. He went out the side door. I went out the front door. Helicopters took us back. We got on a plane and got him out of there. I wanted to make sure we got in and out and got him safe. I’m still getting texts, ‘Did you and Sonnen get out of Brazil alive last night? I haven’t heard from you. Give me an update.’ I made him (Sonnen) ride in a different car than me."

Apparently his top secret disguise didn't work.

Earlier this week, White revealed during their press conference that the rematch between Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen had been relocated from South America to Las Vegas, Nevada, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on July 7, 2012, because the world's leading mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion could not secure a suitable venue for UFC 147.

But the show must go on.

While the world's largest fight promotion continues to search for a suitable host in Brazil, Jose Aldo vs. Erik Koch has been rumored to fill the UFC 147 main event slot vacated by Silva and Sonnen.

To see how it all unfolded check out the UFC 148 pre-fight press conference updates and live blog here.