“I have been in there with Anderson [Silva]. I have been in there with Jon Jones, I have been in there with Fedor Emelianenko.
Fedor…was the strongest of them. He was the most powerful. He was the biggest so that probably doesn’t surprise you, but he had a real explosion as far as an athlete goes. He was a very good athlete. You could feel the speed combined with the explosiveness to equal power. You could really feel that.
Jon Jones was the most dynamic. He was the guy that was gonna kick you in the leg, punch you in the mouth then try to take you down in the process. But Anderson Silva…without question… Not even a moment of question – is the smartest.”
Love him or hate him, Chael Sonnen has proven to be one of MMA’s most fearless fighters as he’s done battle with three of the very best to ever compete.
When discussing the topic of ‘greatest MMA fighter of all-time’, the likes of Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, and Fedor Emelianenko all will more often than not get a mention. Sonnen happens to have fought all three and is the only man to ever do so.
The first of the three that the West Linn, Oregon native encountered was Silva who he ended up having one of the sports’ all-time greatest rivalries with after pushing the longtime champion to his limits in their first encounter in 2010. Their highly anticipated rematch came in 2012.
Directly after that rematch, Sonnen found himself challenging the light heavyweight king, Jones for his crown. Having succumbed to a first-round TKO, crazy enough, if Sonnen would have lasted 27 more seconds to close out the round he would have become the new champion due to Jones gruesomely breaking his toe mid-round.
Then as for Emelianenko, this was Sonnen’s most recent bout as the two fought to decide who would go to the finals of the Bellator heavyweight Grand Prix at Bellator 208 last month.
