UFC 148: Chael Sonnen Calls Out 'Charlatan' Dan LeBatard of ESPN

"The American Gangster" is at it again.

In the last few days leading up to his fight versus Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva at UFC 148 THIS Saturday night (July 7, 2012), Chael Sonnen has been in his element, as he continues to ride out the final wave of the press tour to hype his upcoming title fight.

Today's willing victim participant was Dan LeBatard of ESPN, who hosted Sonnen on his show, "Dan LeBatard Highly Questionable."

During the segment, LeBatard confronted Sonnen (as he's been known to do in their past visits) regarding some inflammatory statements Chael made in reference to Silva. Specifically, he wanted to know why Sonnen decided to make inappropriate comments about "The Spider's" wife, and what he hoped to gain by doing that.

Stop me if you've heard this one: Chael says he never said it:

"You know, you're the second person to ask me that, and, uh, I never said it. You'll never find that quote anywhere, you'll never replay it. It simply didn't happen."

The self-appointed "People's Champ" was just getting started. Check out what else he had to say during a humorous exchange with LeBatard, as well as the video of the whole segment, after the jump:

"I'm not kidding in any fashion. That absolutely didn't happen. You absolutely didn't see it, and if you did, then simply bring it up, right now. Prove to the world. You can laugh all you want. That's always your go-to when I trump you. Before you go and edit it, when I make you look stupid, like an amateur -- which is what you just were, you gave a quote that didn't happen -- now, you're sticking to your guns, claiming it happened. I'm challenging you to replay it, and your response is to simply...laugh."

LeBatard was a good sport, as usual, and played along, to an extent, going further to ask Sonnen why he thinks that he (LeBatard) would lie about something he (Sonnen) said.

The shenanigans continued:

You know, I just think that you're probably incompetent. I didn't say it. I absolutely didn't, and when you pull the footage, you'll see that I didn't, and you'll go, 'Well, it was close.' Well, that's now it works. You're an alleged reporter. You just absolutely lied about a quote. You're still continuing to lie. You'll never bring that footage forward, you'll never show your viewers, and you'll edit this clip out, because I just made you look like the charlatan that you are. I never said that, and you won't find it. I said something close, but close doesn't count. It's totally different. You will not find the quote that you say you found, and you won't even try, and you'll edit this out, because you're a charlatan.

Finally, a non-combatant exchange of words occurred, when LeBatard decided to hand the mic off to his dad, with whom Sonnen has been civil in the past.

LeBatard's father asked Sonnen about his own dad, and the promise he made to him, to become a UFC champion before his career was over:

"Absolutely, man. That was one of the last things I said to him. He was literally on his deathbed. I said two things to him, in my final moments, and that was one of them."

Check out the video of LeBatard's full interview with Sonnen:

Make sure to plan on heading over to MMAmania.com on Saturday night, to hang out with your favorite, fellow Maniacs, as we bring you LIVE coverage of all things UFC 148-related.