Chael Sonnen News

Tom Taylor - February 28, 2018

Over the weekend, UFC President Dana White shared a picture of himself and former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar on social media. Given that Lesnar’s WWE contract is winding down, this post created immediate speculation that maybe, just maybe, he was plotting a return to the UFC. 😃 pic.twitter.com/2AVR6HmAjR

Tom Taylor - February 27, 2018

Ahead of their Bellator 192 Heavyweight Grand Prix opening round battle, MMA legends Chael Sonnen and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson agreed to a pretty interesting bet. The deal, they decided, was that Rampage would award Sonnen $10,000 for every takedown he completed, while Sonnen would cash out $500 for every jab Rampage landed. In the end, Sonnen completed three takedowns, which meant Rampage owed him $30,000. For a moment, there was some question as to whether Rampage would sign this massive check. Sonnen assured that if he did receive a check, he wouldn’t cash it.

Justin Golightly - February 27, 2018

The idea of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz fighting again brings out a lot of mixed options. Both men seem to be down for it, but the time and place is what could be a massive hold-up on the trilogy. Bellator president Scott Coker said he’s interested but may not be able to promote it due to Liddell’s contract with the UFC, which prompted Ortiz to talk to the UFC about it. This led to company man Chael Sonnen to blast the former opponent for lack of loyalty. “Tito [Ortiz], after all Scott Coker did for you – I mean they ran you around, you were the face of the company, you were main-eventing, you were making a bunch of money – that’s your response? You’re gonna come out of retirement, and you’re gonna fight Chuck [Liddell] in the UFC? You don’t give that to Coker? You’re gonna do it in the UFC? You finished your career at Bellator. You got treated great at Bellator. You come to the Bellator shows.”

Drake Riggs - February 23, 2018

Fetching content “Chuck Liddell has been saying, ‘hey I wanna come back and fight’. And he’s in the gym and I do believe him. I’ve gone back and forth on that, right? I do believe he wants to do that. Whether that happens, we’ll see. But Tito [Ortiz]…has now responded. And said, ‘I would do the trilogy fight with Chuck in the UFC’. You don’t give that to [Bellator President, Scott] Coker?! You don’t give Coker the opportunity? You’re going to do it in the UFC?! You finished your career at Bellator… You got treated great at Bellator. You come to the Bellator shows!

Drake Riggs - February 1, 2018

Floyd Mayweather in a cage? He's seeking attention for one reason… #beyondthefight pic.twitter.com/iib6iEU8vE — Chael Sonnen (@ChaelSonnen) February 1, 2018

Drake Riggs - January 30, 2018

UFC Light Heavyweight champion, Daniel Cormier is no stranger to a good ol’ Heavyweight tournament. Prior to Cormier’s current Light Heavyweight run, he was an undefeated Heavyweight and a Grand Prix champion himself as he won the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix as an alternate in 2012. Cormier defeated the likes of Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Josh Barnett to win the tournament.

Tom Taylor - January 22, 2018

Leading up to their Bellator 192 battle, Heavyweight Grand Prix competitors Chael Sonnen and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson agreed to a pretty interesting bet. The stakes? Rampage said he’d give Sonnen $10,000 for every takedown he completed. @rampage4real offers me a bet… @bellatormma #beyondthefight #fourpackrevolution

Tom Taylor - January 20, 2018

Last night, in the main event of the stacked Bellator 192, three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen advanced to the second round of Bellator’s exciting heavyweight Grand Prix with a unanimous decision win over former UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Here’s how the MMA community reacted to Sonnen’s impressive defeat of Rampage.

Justin Golightly - January 9, 2018

The wait is finally over. Bellator is going to kick off their big heavyweight grand prix before this month ends and Chael Sonnen will face off with Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson. They’ll be throwing down for the chance to advance in the tournament, which will finally crown a Bellator heavyweight champion by the end of this year. MMA is prizefighting, so it makes sense to have a reward. The two are adding the stakes to their upcoming fight with a side-bet using their own cash. “Let’s do it right here, right now. Let’s do it right here.  I will give you $10K for every takedown you get on me. It’s 10 grand per takedown, $500 per jab. […] You won’t take me down not one time. Hey, I’m giving up $10K per takedown, don’t be a wuss. $500 per jab.” — Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson on the ESPN LA radio show.

Tom Taylor - January 9, 2018

On January 20, in the co-main event of UFC 220, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will put his strap on the line opposite surging Swiss knockout artist Volkan Oezdemir. Ahead of this fight, pretty much everyone has an opinion on it. One of the more interesting opinions on the fight comes from Chael Sonnen, who is wondering just how much of a role Cormier’s longtime training partner Luke Rockhold is playing Volkan Oezdemir’s training camp. Rockhold and Oezdemir, of course, both train at Combat Club in Lantana, Florida, and have even apparently done a few rounds of sparring together. “Why is nobody talking about the elephant in the room on this one?” Sonnen queried in a recent episode of Beyond the Fight. “There is some insider baseball here. Luke Rockhold, Daniel Cormier’s longest standing teammate, is now a new teammate of Volkan. They’re training together, every day. I saw a sparring video myself on the internet. What’s Rockhold saying? He’s not just saying ‘oh I’ll stay out of this one.’ You can’t just stay out of this one. Your buddy calls you and says ‘what are you going to do? Are you this guy’s teammate, or aren’t you? Do you belong to this gym or do you belong to that one?’ So what’s the insider baseball there. What’s the insider guy saying. What’s the guy that’s done a hundred rounds with DC saying to the guy he’s done thirty rounds with in Volkan. I find that interesting. I find both of these guys to be very confident, and makes me wonder who’s giving them that confidence?”

Tom Taylor - January 8, 2018

Arguably the biggest fight on the horizon at present will occur in the main event of UFC 220 on January 20, when Stipe Miocic attempts a record-breaking third-straight defense of the UFC heavyweight title opposite Francis Ngannou, a true force of destruction widely regarded as the next big thing in MMA. While Miocic stands to become the most dominant heavyweight champion in UFC history on this card, he’s actually been pegged as the underdog against the ferocious Ngannou. In the opinion of MMA analyst and Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix contestant Chael Sonnen, however, this is a mistake.

Chris Taylor - January 7, 2018

After being knocked down by Wanderlei Silva, Chael Sonnen details game plan for Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Former three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen will return to the cage on January 20 where he will square off with Quinton Jackson in the first-round of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament.

Justin Golightly - December 26, 2017

Welterweight is absolutely insane right now, with Tyron Woodley as the undisputed king and Colby Covington causing chaos at every turn. Former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos upset former welterweight belt holder Robbie Lawler, supposedly earning a title shot. However, that’s not the direction the UFC is going in according to Chael Sonnen. It looks like the report of Woodley possibly coaching the newest season of The Ultimate Fighter along with Covington is still going around, giving Covington the shot he’s rallied for relentlessly.

Chris Taylor - December 23, 2017

Rampage Jackson and Chael Sonnen will square off at Bellator 192 on January 20 in the first-round of the promotions heavyweight world grand prix. The former UFC light heavyweight champion, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (37-12 MMA), has not competed since suffering a unanimous decision loss in his rematch with Muhammed Lawal at Bellator 175 on March 31, 2017.

Drake Riggs - December 15, 2017

Two former UFC stars, Chael Sonnen and Rampage Jackson are now with Bellator and booked to compete against one another at Bellator 192 on January 20. This fight will be the very first fight to kick things off for the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix where the winner will be crowned Bellator’s new Heavyweight champion. This will be Sonnen’s first fight at Heavyweight and Rampage’s third. Each fighter has one loss in the promotion but Rampage has four times as many wins as Sonnen. It’s well known what type of fighter that Sonnen is. He’s one of the best and strongest pressure wrestlers that the Middleweight division has ever seen. Rampage, however, is known for his tremendous punch knockouts and ability to entertain on the feet. So it’s clear what each will want to do in this matchup and they have even admitted it after now appearing to place a rather interesting bet on their fight.

Tom Taylor - December 4, 2017

Last month, in the lead-up to the UFC’s latest stop in Sydney, Australia, former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum had a run-in with surging welterweight contender Colby Covington, during which Werdum ultimately threw a boomerang at Covington. Shortly thereafter, news surfaced that Covington planned to press charges against Werdum. Unsurprisingly, Werdum – and many members of the testosterone soaked MMA community – felt that Covington had violated some kind of unspoken code by going to the police. In the opinion of Chael Sonnen, however, it was Werdum, not Covington, that violated a code.

Tom Taylor - November 30, 2017

Do not count Chael Sonnen among Colby Covington’s haters. No, “The Bad Guy” has actually become a big fan of his fellow Oregonian, and thinks that other fighters should be taking notes when Covington does his thing. “I think people can learn from Colby,” Sonnen said on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “He’s going to be in that pool by himself, because all these crybabies can’t stand to hear anybody boo them. He’s just being himself and it’s what all fighters should do. We’ll see these fighters come out. They want to act like some religious angel or they’re the world’s nicest guy, when they’re nothing more than a dirty rotten cage fighter.”

Tom Taylor - November 30, 2017

Back in early November, Michael Bisping surrendered the UFC middleweight title to Georges St-Pierre, succumbing to a rear-naked choke after absorbing quite a bit of punishment. In an effort to bounce back from this loss as quickly as possible, Bisping then accepted a short notice fight with the cinderblock-fisted Kelvin Gastelum, replacing former champion Anderson Silva. While some people applauded Bisping for this get-up-and-go attitude, others scolded him (and the UFC) for booking the fight so soon after his concussive loss to St-Pierre. If you’re one of the people who criticized Bisping for taking this risk, Chael Sonnen has a message for you. He gave his take on the situation on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio.