Fast facts
- Division: Middleweight and light heavyweight (challenged for the UFC title in both)
- Record: Retired. Turned pro in 1997 and last competed for Bellator MMA
- Nationality: American, born April 3, 1977, in Oregon
- Team/gym: Team Quest, Portland
- Notable wins: Nate Marquardt, Yushin Okami, Michael Bisping, Brian Stann, Paulo Filho
On October 8, UFC Europe dug up an old clip and posted it with a laughing emoji. It was 2011, and Chael Sonnen was looking into a camera and declaring, “Anderson Silva... you absolutely SUCK!” Fifteen years later the guy is still the reference point. When MMA Mania tried to describe the outside-the-cage act of unbeaten heavyweight Josh Hokit this month, it said he borrows from Sonnen, Conor McGregor and Colby Covington, then complained that Hokit has none of Sonnen’s charm or wit. That’s a compliment Sonnen earned the long way, and the long way is the interesting part.
The wrestler from West Linn
Sonnen grew up comfortable in Oregon. Sources split on whether he was born in Milwaukie or West Linn, and his father ran successful plumbing and real estate businesses. Wrestling ran through the family, so he started at age nine. As a teenager he got private coaching from Matt Lindland, who’d worked as a plumber’s assistant for the elder Sonnen and later won Olympic Greco-Roman silver. Sonnen even drew Lindland in the first round of the Sunkist International Open and got handled, by both men’s account.
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He placed second at state for West Linn High, started at BYU, then transferred to the University of Oregon when BYU looked like it might drop wrestling. In Eugene he became an NCAA Division I All-American, finished runner-up at the Pac-10 twice, took silver at the 2000 Greco-Roman World University Championships and graduated in 2001 with a sociology degree. He’d been picking up boxing and kickboxing since 1996 because the UFC was always the destination.
The slow build
He debuted at 19 in 1997, beating Ben Hailey in Vancouver, Washington, with his mother running the camcorder. He joined Team Quest, the Portland gym built by Randy Couture, Dan Henderson and Lindland, shortly after it opened in 2000. The early years were uneven. He beat Jason “Mayhem” Miller in 2002, then lost to Trevor Prangley and got triangled by Forrest Griffin in 2003.
The first UFC run was rough. Renato Sobral triangled him at UFC 55, he avenged the Prangley loss at Ultimate Fight Night 4, and then Jeremy Horn armbarred him at UFC 60 in their third meeting. He was cut. He rebuilt in Bodog Fight, where one of his wins was a 13-second D’arce choke on Tim McKenzie and another was a decision over Alexey Oleinik.
The WEC gave him the weirdest loss of his career. Fighting Paulo Filho for the middleweight belt in December 2007, he was ruled to have verbally submitted at 4:55 of Round 2. Sonnen said he kept yelling no. Nevada’s Keith Kizer said Sonnen’s protest came after the stoppage, and Dana White, sitting ringside, agreed with the referee. Sonnen got the rematch in November 2008 and swept all three rounds, but Filho came in almost seven pounds over the 185-pound limit, so it went down as a non-title fight. Filho then announced he’d mail Sonnen the belt.
The run that made him
Back in the UFC, Demian Maia triangled him at UFC 95. Then the wrestling took over. He beat Dan Miller at UFC 98 on 22 days’ notice after cutting 36 pounds, outwrestled Okami at UFC 104 and survived two deep guillotines to decision Marquardt at UFC 109. That made him the No. 1 contender.
UFC 117, August 7, 2010, is the fight people bring up first. Sonnen had promised to retire Silva, rocked him early and wrestled him for four rounds. He led 40-34, 40-36 and 40-35 going into the fifth. Then Silva locked up a triangle armbar and Sonnen tapped at 3:10 of Round 5. If you had a live ticket on Sonnen that night, you know a special kind of pain. Fight of the Night, and the World MMA Awards’ Fight of the Year.
The aftermath was ugly. Post-fight testing showed a testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio of 16.9:1, more than four times the allowed maximum. The California State Athletic Commission fined him $2,500 and suspended him for a year. On appeal he testified he’d been diagnosed with hypogonadism in 2008 and was on TRT, and claimed Kizer had personally approved it. CSAC cut the ban to six months. Kizer then said he’d “never talked to Chael Sonnen in [his] life,” and by Kizer’s account Sonnen eventually admitted the conversation was with his manager. Sonnen’s explanation: “I should have said ‘my’ instead of ‘I.’” CSAC later reimposed an indefinite suspension, citing his money laundering conviction and possibly false testimony, and voted 4-1 to keep it.
He returned in October 2011 and arm-triangled Brian Stann at UFC 136, then took a decision over Bisping at UFC on Fox 2. The Silva rematch at UFC 148 on July 7, 2012 was billed by many outlets as the most anticipated fight in UFC history. Sonnen won Round 1 so cleanly one judge scored it 10-8. In Round 2 he missed a spinning backfist, lost his balance, ate a knee to the body and got finished with punches. Personally I’d retire the spinning backfist from any wrestler’s playbook on that one data point alone.
Then he talked his way into a light heavyweight title shot against Jon Jones at UFC 159 on April 27, 2013, without a fight at 205 since moving back up. Other contenders grumbled. White’s defense was that Sonnen had offered to fly to Vegas and fight Jones the same day while Maurício Rua and Lyoto Machida passed. He never won a major title, which is why he keeps landing on lists of the best fighters who didn’t.
Where he is now
Sonnen joined ESPN as an analyst in 2014, launched Submission Underground in July 2016 and now calls the action as lead commentator for Real American Freestyle. And he’s back in the Hokit conversation.
Hokit is 10-0, 4-0 in the UFC, coming off a war with Curtis Blaydes and a first-round knockout of Derrick Lewis at UFC Freedom 250. He’s also drawn heat for bigoted comments, including calling former First Lady Michelle Obama a man on the UFC White House stage. Sonnen told MMA Junkie the title shot is deserved: “Josh Hokit is undefeated. Josh Hokit is ranked No. 4 in the world. Josh Hokit is the only guy that allows for some parity.” He also asked for patience. “He’s painting this masterpiece. Let him get it done and then pass judgement,” Sonnen said, adding that the story needs “probably another year.”
The books aren’t waiting a year. Gane is a -270 favorite, which implies roughly a 73% chance before the vig, and Alexander Volkov told Helen Yee that “we should probably bet on Gane.” That’s a fair price for a 14-2 champion against a guy making his sixth Octagon walk. Sonnen of all people knows a big mouth buys you a title fight and nothing past the opening bell. Gane vs. Hokit headlines UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden, listed for November 14 by MMA Junkie and November 24 by MMA Mania.
