UFC Hall of Famer Chael Sonnen continued his war of words with Jorge Masvidal. 

Sonnen drew the ire of Masvidal after claiming he would never be fighting in the UFC again, despite what Masvidal himself had been claiming, and the pair have been going back-and-forth whenever the other’s name has been brought up in interviews. 

That continued earlier this week as Ariel Helwani asked Sonnen about his ongoing issues with Masvidal, and the Hall of Famer reiterated his belief that Masvidal will never fight for UFC again. Though he did have to offer some backhanded respect for one thing in particular.

“Jorge Masvidal did not respect his own career enough to stick a needle in his a** every now and then,” he said. “That’s a little bit of a let down. ‘I’ll do anything to win,’ well you didn’t do that Jorge.”

Helwani pushed back on that, asking how Sonnen knows that to be the case. But Sonnen continued to defend Masvidal as a clean fighter, even if he is a part of one of the ‘dirtiest gyms in sport.’ 

“Jorge is clean. Jorge is a really good fighter, I don’t love the heat with Jorge. Jorge is a really good fighter and I enjoyed all of Jorge’s career. But, no, he did it clean. He’s at one of the most dirty gyms in the history of sport. But he did it the right way, I’ve got to give him that. He never cheated.” 

In case one was under the illusion they were burying the hatchet, Sonnen still took the chance during the interview to rail on Masvidal as done with the UFC and greatly out of shape. 

“I don’t take Jorge as an equal,” he said of a potential fight with him. “He is claiming he is going to fight in the Octagon, and I don’t come to hurt his dreams, I come to him to get his life on track… I would never turn down a fight with Jorge Masvidal, but I would never seek a fight with Jorge Masvidal.”