NEW YORK – Chael Sonnen remembers the first time he he thought he was going to fight Lyoto Machida, back when the two competed in the UFC.

“I got a call around noon,” Sonnen recalled at Tuesday’s Bellator 222 press conference. “Later that night, I go into the gym, I’m thinking about Machida, we’re starting to come up with strategy. I remember it being a stressful night, going, ‘God, of anybody they could give me. That’s a whole different set of problems.’

“Because we don’t have anybody in my gym that trains like that,” Sonnen continued. “You really just have one crack to figure this guy out and it’s live, on TV, with your shirts off. And next day, I got up, I got a phone call, and the fight was off. And I remember saying, ‘Good, I’m glad that fight is off.’”

The bout never happened and eventually the two found themselves separated by weight class and promotions. But even last year, when it was announced Machida would join Sonnen in Bellator, Sonnen didn’t think the fight would materialize.

After all, Machida made his promotional debut in the 185-pound division. And, after a win over ex-champ Rafael Carvalho, Sonnen thought a rematch with current champ Gegard Mousasi would be on the horizon for the former UFC light heavyweight champion.

Yet, here they are. Set to meet at 205 pounds on June 14.

The bout between Machida (25-8 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) and Sonnen (30-16-1 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) will take place at Madison Square Garden. Bellator president Scott Coker said at Tuesday’s press conference that it is currently planned to serve as a headliner.

That stress Sonnen felt about the idea of facing Machida the first time around isn’t gone, Sonnen said. But he doesn’t mean negatively, or in a “cowardly” way, as there’s also intrigue motivation in attempting to crack the puzzle posed by Machida’s elusive style.

“It drives me nuts,” Sonnen said. “I’ve seen all of his fights. Nobody wants to fight wrestlers, you just fight them when you have to. He’s like the wrestler killer. You name it, to (Mark) Munoz, to (Ryan) Bader, to Rashad (Evans), and I don’t know why. I watched him 20 times. I stayed up until 3 in the morning watching him last night.

“I cannot figure out why nobody can close that distance and get their hands on him. It’s a hard one. He moves, constantly. Then you step in, he steps back. You can never close that distance, nobody can. I watched Jon Jones for nine minutes at it, it’s one of those really tough things. That’s the intrigue.”

You may have noticed a pattern: All the things Sonnen said about Machida were, well, pretty nice. And while it’s not surprising that the ever-zen “Dragon” isn’t engaging in trash talk, singing his opponent’s praises without at least a jab here and there isn’t exactly what we’ve come to see as Sonnen’s modus operandi.

That’s because Sonnen “wouldn’t manufacture any conflict” with Machida. After all, he’s known the Brazilian for years and he’s always been a gentleman toward him. If there’s any history here, Sonnen says, it’s not between the two, but with some of Sonnen’s teammates.

In February 2013, Machida won a split decision that kicked off a three-fight skid for Dan Henderson. A couple of years prior, in April 2011, Machida was the author of a front kick that sent Randy Couture down to the canvas and into retirement.

“Maybe that doesn’t upset Randy, but it upsets me,” Sonnen said. “It’s upset me for a number of years. And I always had my eye on Machida.”

Other than that, though?

“I really respect his career,” Sonnen said. “I know I’m building him up a little bit right now, but he’s a guy that I watched and just thought, ‘Wow, this guy has really done a lot.’ Particularly for the genesis of martial arts, which is karate, nobody put it on the map except for Machida.”

The respect was mutual throughout the press conference. Machida had only positive things to say about his foe and said he promptly jumped at the opportunity to finally make the fight happen after their near-miss back in the UFC days.

But, after years of watching Sonnen in and out of the cage, “The Dragon” is careful not to let himself get carried away by his praises.

“I’m so excited for this fight and Chael is so smart,” Machida said with a smile. “He gives me a lot of compliments. It’s part of his strategy. He can make me full of myself and I can relax too much and he (can) take advantage of everything. I’ve got to be careful.

“Definitely, Chael is one of the toughest opponents that I’m going to face. He’s a legend in this sport, on top of that. I don’t even need to know anything. He knows how to promote the fight. I’ve just got to be here. So I like this guy. He’s amazing, man.”

For more on Bellator 222, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.