Chael Sonnen ends MMA retirement to sign with Bellator, and talks wrestling and fighting to the press
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
The world knows Chael Sonnen as one of the most interesting and colorful personalities in Mixed Martial Arts, a guy who regularly make big news on and off the competition surface. The wrestling community knew Sonnen first, as an All-American wrestler for the University of Oregon, a Greco-Roman National Team member who trained at the Olympic Training Center. Before he ever put on the gloves and got into the ring, Sonnen was an excellent wrestler.
Sonnen went big-time in MMA and had retired from competition. He remains very visible as a network television commentator for Mixed Martial Arts. That was until Thursday, when Bellator MMA announced that they had signed Sonnen to return as a fighter, with a multi-year, multi-fight contract.
The media was invited to interview Sonnen on a teleconference, and he was at his entertaining best for almost a full hour. Sonnen has the unique ability to be outrageous and intelligent all at the same time. He jumps from one topic to the next seamlessly, a kind of stream of consciousness where you have to pay attention, and where you want to pay attention.
He talked about competing in three weight classes, or going “Gangster Weight,” as he calls it. He talked about drug testing. He talked about his broadcasting career. He talked about his thoughts about the UFC, where he was a big star for a long time. He talked about different opponents he planned to beat when he got back in the ring. The talked about his contract and money. He talked about being a big fan while also being an athlete. He talked about promotion and marketing.
The one theme coming from Sonnen is all he wants to do is compete, anytime, anywhere, at any weight, against anybody.
For sure, whether he was asked about it or not, Sonnen talked about wrestling. Here are some of his wrestling snippets…
About Bellator’s recent signings of elite college and international wrestlers
“I love it. You saw Joey Davis have success. You go back, we’ve got Joe Warren in there, King Mo, Phil Davis. I’ll tell you one right now. I’m attached to this one, so I am biased, but Tyrell Fortune is coming soon. I want on the same card as him if I can. I want to be there with him in the back. We came from the same wrestling club. We were workout partners. This guy, I thought he would be our Olympian this year. That was an uphill battle in that weight with Gwiz, Tervel and Rey. I thought he was going to come through. In front of everybody else, I am going to put up Tyrell. He is going to be a problem up and down the board. People better get used to that name.”
About the pride that wrestlers take in their success in Mixed Martial Arts
“With wrestling, it used to be technique. We used to have some techniques where we could put guys into position in an MMA competition and have good luck. Pretty soon, everybody started learning some wrestling. It got harder and harder. But, it’s the mindset, and the grit and the grind, above everything else the grind, the cutting of the weight, the two-a-days, needing to do something even when you don’t feel good, even when you don’t feel like doing it. That comes back to negotiations too. I am legitimately pissed off as a fan when I have to sit and read about guys who will only do this for X amount of money. Everybody needs to be bribed and they need a big carrot in front of their face. It goes back to the Olympics. It goes back to the Cadet World Championships and getting up every morning at 1 o’clock (a.m.) watching on Flowrestling. Do you want to do it or not? The right guy, the best guy, every time says yes. No. 3 and 4 and 5 can all do all these pity parties with all these reasons why they don’t want to jump in and fight. I am not one of those guys. I want to do it.”
On being a competitor, and his respect for the Olympic structure
“Not everybody has to have my mentality, not everybody is just a competitor at heart. Those guys aren’t wrong. But this is the side of the fence I sit on. We are not drafted. Nobody has to be here. This is a volunteer army. You either want to compete or you don’t. I love the Olympics. The Olympics just got over and I love them. I largely love them because of the purity, and I also love the architecture of a blind-draw bracket. You put guys in there, and whoever advances advances and you take on the next team or player, whatever the situation is. I love that purity. Nobody has to get begged. There has never been an Olympics, in the history of the Games, where somebody is sitting around in their living room with their buddies and a guy gets a gold medal, and they say, ‘I could have done that.’ It has never happened. The right guy steps forward every single time. With 2 and 3 and 5 and 7, no, sometimes it is not always the right guy. But the number one guy always steps forward, in every event and in every situation, every single time. You either want to be here or you don’t. It is as simple as that.”
About where he will fight next
“Let’s see what happens. I believe entertainment is a big part of this. I like to go out there and compete. It is the only sport I know. I was an amateur wrestler. I used to work out hard, two workouts a day, cutting weight, doing this whole thing while trying to go through school. We’d go compete and there would be nobody there but my mom and dad and my teammates’ mom and dad. Then I got into MMA and you are doing the same thing, with the hard work, but it is feeding your ego. People are watching. People are tuning in. That is a part that Bellator has embraced. You go look at the ratings and look at the numbers that are going through the roof.”
About fighting Tito Ortiz, someone he has known since college wrestling
“That makes a lot of sense. Tito’s a legend. Tito is great. He is a friend of mine. The bottom line is he has been around and I have been jealous for a long time. Jealousy is a hell of a thing. There’s a reason it is one of the deadly sins. When I was working out, trying to get my shot, Tito was on TV, having the crowd cheer, doing the appearances, doing all the things I fantasized and wanted to do. There was never an opportunity to go against him. We were in the same division in college, the same weight class, same conference. I would see him around at the events. I still see him around at the events. He looks at me the same way I look at him. I look at him like ‘Tito, you know I can whip your butt’ and Tito gives me the exact same look. Every time we are in the same room together, it is like this big Alpha Male contest. He knows it’s going on and I know it’s going on. So if the bad boy wants a piece of the bad guy, all you have to do is say my name. I’ve said his name. All he has to do is say mine.”
On whether he would like to fight in a Rizin tournament
“I love tournaments, particularly if it is in one night. They are harder and harder to see, but that is what I grew up on. I grew up on that as a wrestler. You have multiple guys in one day. I love that whole thing. I know they spread them out, however that works. The closer the plane flight the better, but if we have to go to Japan, we will go to Japan.”
On continuing to compete and train
“It’s fun. A big part of this is staying in shape. A lot of it is my social club. Some guys have hobbies. They go play golf and walk around on the beach. We don’t have those things in Oregon. We have a whole bunch of rain, and I don’t know how to play golf. I go to the gym every day, just because that is my chance to visit with guys and have friends and keep up on the loop.”
If you are interested in all of his more specific MMA comments, just Google his name and read about it in all the MMA media outlets. (This media teleconference was well-attended). One thing is for sure. Bellator got a whole lot more interesting by adding Chael Sonnen to its stable of stars.
In addition, you can always count on Chael Sonnen staying involved in wrestling, following the sport, attending wrestling events, talking about wrestling. He’s a wrestler, always a wrestler. Stay tuned.
Sonnen went big-time in MMA and had retired from competition. He remains very visible as a network television commentator for Mixed Martial Arts. That was until Thursday, when Bellator MMA announced that they had signed Sonnen to return as a fighter, with a multi-year, multi-fight contract.
The media was invited to interview Sonnen on a teleconference, and he was at his entertaining best for almost a full hour. Sonnen has the unique ability to be outrageous and intelligent all at the same time. He jumps from one topic to the next seamlessly, a kind of stream of consciousness where you have to pay attention, and where you want to pay attention.
He talked about competing in three weight classes, or going “Gangster Weight,” as he calls it. He talked about drug testing. He talked about his broadcasting career. He talked about his thoughts about the UFC, where he was a big star for a long time. He talked about different opponents he planned to beat when he got back in the ring. The talked about his contract and money. He talked about being a big fan while also being an athlete. He talked about promotion and marketing.
The one theme coming from Sonnen is all he wants to do is compete, anytime, anywhere, at any weight, against anybody.
For sure, whether he was asked about it or not, Sonnen talked about wrestling. Here are some of his wrestling snippets…
About Bellator’s recent signings of elite college and international wrestlers
“I love it. You saw Joey Davis have success. You go back, we’ve got Joe Warren in there, King Mo, Phil Davis. I’ll tell you one right now. I’m attached to this one, so I am biased, but Tyrell Fortune is coming soon. I want on the same card as him if I can. I want to be there with him in the back. We came from the same wrestling club. We were workout partners. This guy, I thought he would be our Olympian this year. That was an uphill battle in that weight with Gwiz, Tervel and Rey. I thought he was going to come through. In front of everybody else, I am going to put up Tyrell. He is going to be a problem up and down the board. People better get used to that name.”
About the pride that wrestlers take in their success in Mixed Martial Arts
“With wrestling, it used to be technique. We used to have some techniques where we could put guys into position in an MMA competition and have good luck. Pretty soon, everybody started learning some wrestling. It got harder and harder. But, it’s the mindset, and the grit and the grind, above everything else the grind, the cutting of the weight, the two-a-days, needing to do something even when you don’t feel good, even when you don’t feel like doing it. That comes back to negotiations too. I am legitimately pissed off as a fan when I have to sit and read about guys who will only do this for X amount of money. Everybody needs to be bribed and they need a big carrot in front of their face. It goes back to the Olympics. It goes back to the Cadet World Championships and getting up every morning at 1 o’clock (a.m.) watching on Flowrestling. Do you want to do it or not? The right guy, the best guy, every time says yes. No. 3 and 4 and 5 can all do all these pity parties with all these reasons why they don’t want to jump in and fight. I am not one of those guys. I want to do it.”
On being a competitor, and his respect for the Olympic structure
“Not everybody has to have my mentality, not everybody is just a competitor at heart. Those guys aren’t wrong. But this is the side of the fence I sit on. We are not drafted. Nobody has to be here. This is a volunteer army. You either want to compete or you don’t. I love the Olympics. The Olympics just got over and I love them. I largely love them because of the purity, and I also love the architecture of a blind-draw bracket. You put guys in there, and whoever advances advances and you take on the next team or player, whatever the situation is. I love that purity. Nobody has to get begged. There has never been an Olympics, in the history of the Games, where somebody is sitting around in their living room with their buddies and a guy gets a gold medal, and they say, ‘I could have done that.’ It has never happened. The right guy steps forward every single time. With 2 and 3 and 5 and 7, no, sometimes it is not always the right guy. But the number one guy always steps forward, in every event and in every situation, every single time. You either want to be here or you don’t. It is as simple as that.”
About where he will fight next
“Let’s see what happens. I believe entertainment is a big part of this. I like to go out there and compete. It is the only sport I know. I was an amateur wrestler. I used to work out hard, two workouts a day, cutting weight, doing this whole thing while trying to go through school. We’d go compete and there would be nobody there but my mom and dad and my teammates’ mom and dad. Then I got into MMA and you are doing the same thing, with the hard work, but it is feeding your ego. People are watching. People are tuning in. That is a part that Bellator has embraced. You go look at the ratings and look at the numbers that are going through the roof.”
About fighting Tito Ortiz, someone he has known since college wrestling
“That makes a lot of sense. Tito’s a legend. Tito is great. He is a friend of mine. The bottom line is he has been around and I have been jealous for a long time. Jealousy is a hell of a thing. There’s a reason it is one of the deadly sins. When I was working out, trying to get my shot, Tito was on TV, having the crowd cheer, doing the appearances, doing all the things I fantasized and wanted to do. There was never an opportunity to go against him. We were in the same division in college, the same weight class, same conference. I would see him around at the events. I still see him around at the events. He looks at me the same way I look at him. I look at him like ‘Tito, you know I can whip your butt’ and Tito gives me the exact same look. Every time we are in the same room together, it is like this big Alpha Male contest. He knows it’s going on and I know it’s going on. So if the bad boy wants a piece of the bad guy, all you have to do is say my name. I’ve said his name. All he has to do is say mine.”
On whether he would like to fight in a Rizin tournament
“I love tournaments, particularly if it is in one night. They are harder and harder to see, but that is what I grew up on. I grew up on that as a wrestler. You have multiple guys in one day. I love that whole thing. I know they spread them out, however that works. The closer the plane flight the better, but if we have to go to Japan, we will go to Japan.”
On continuing to compete and train
“It’s fun. A big part of this is staying in shape. A lot of it is my social club. Some guys have hobbies. They go play golf and walk around on the beach. We don’t have those things in Oregon. We have a whole bunch of rain, and I don’t know how to play golf. I go to the gym every day, just because that is my chance to visit with guys and have friends and keep up on the loop.”
If you are interested in all of his more specific MMA comments, just Google his name and read about it in all the MMA media outlets. (This media teleconference was well-attended). One thing is for sure. Bellator got a whole lot more interesting by adding Chael Sonnen to its stable of stars.
In addition, you can always count on Chael Sonnen staying involved in wrestling, following the sport, attending wrestling events, talking about wrestling. He’s a wrestler, always a wrestler. Stay tuned.
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