Chael Sonnen, Please Stop Talking
By Josh Stein on Mar 02, 2010
For the most part, I like Chael Sonnen (25-10-1 MMA, 4-3 UFC, #3 IWMMAR). He’s a nice guy, very fan-friendly and very charismatic. He trains with a great camp and has a good mind for MMA. But as he waits for a title shot, he should really, really stop talking.
In announcing (again) that he’s going to get a fight against the winner of Anderson Silva (25-4 MMA, 10-0 UFC, #1/#5 IWMMAR) and Demian Maia (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC, #6 IWMMAR) at UFC 112, Chael let this sound-bite out.
You hit it on the head, nobody has come close. [Anderson has] never fought a wrestler and I don’t just mean he’s never beat a wrestler, he’s never fought one. Not in the small shows, not in the big shows. Not ever has he locked up with a wrestler.
Someone should tell Dan Henderson (25-7 MMA, 5-2 UFC, #2/#9 IWMMAR) because either he’s not a wrestler or he didn’t fight Anderson Silva.
NOTE: Immediately after I posted this, a friend of mine commented that Chael should think before he opens his yap. Personally, I usually try and look for a reason why someone’s statements might make sense in their thought process, even if I think they’re wrong. My response was simply the reason why Chael’s comment is so obviously false that it’s hard to take him seriously.
It would be less bad if he were a better wrestler than Dan Henderson, or if Dan had fought Anderson a long time ago, or if Dan weren’t the #2 ranked middleweight in the world. But Dan’s a two-time Olympian, he fought Anderson two years ago today and, as I’ve already mentioned, he is the #2 ranked middleweight in the world. It’s not as though this is understandable. It’s just so obviously false that it’s hard to comprehend how he could say it with a straight face.
Anyway. Plenty of fighters say stupid things when they talk smack. Boxer James Toney talks regularly about fighting lightheavyweights like Chuck Liddell, despite the fact that he weighed in for his last fight at 240 pounds and hasn’t been below 219 since 2003. Usually, though, it’s understandable. It’s understandable why Toney would look to fight a puncher with sketchy technical boxing skills, like Liddell. It’s not understandable why Sonnen (who trains under the same team banner as Henderson) would forget that (exactly two years ago today) his teammate outwrestled Silva in the first round and then was promptly beaten and choked out.
With Sonnen running for political office, one hopes he will really start to choose his words more carefully.
With respect to the Independent World MMA Rankings numbers, some may notice that Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson have two numbers listed. The first number refers to their ranking in the middleweight division. The second refers to their ranking in the lightheavyweight division.
Filed Under: MMA
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I actually think Sonnen has better wrestling for MMA then Hendo. I don’t know if he uses it better or if its because he is bigger but it seems to me that Sonnen has a big advantage on Dan when it comes to wrestling for mma.
However I thought the same thing when he said it on mmalive. My thought process was “wait a minute he already fought Hendo, Im sure Chael knows that Dan is a wrestler, theyre both a part of Team Quest and Dan was on the goddamn olympic team.”
Anderson hasn’t fought a wrestler like Sonnen yet. Hendo has never been content holding a guy down an entire fight… Maybe that’s what it takes to beat Anderson.
Anderson has a much better guard than most, so I don’t see anyone holding him down and raining punches. He also throws good shots while standing and doesn’t get taken down often. I see Sonnen getting submitted once the fight goes down to the ground if he doesn’t get KO’d by a knee.
But first I’m excited to see Maia fight Silva…he’s got a great ground game and good pretty well standing with Miller.
I was trying to make the lay and pray argument for Sonnen. Trying to say he somehow has a chance (hoping really). The problem with my argument is that in a five round fight Anderson is bound to catch Sonnen. Unless my memory is wrong Hendo was trying to close the distance for a takedown when he got clipped, setting up the rnc.
I find Chael’s musings very entertaining. I don’t take half of what he’s saying seriously but his perspective is very straight forward. I find that very refreshing in MMA. You have to remember, MMA media outlets are putting a microphone in front of him. He’s playing the game like a seasoned pro.
Sonnen may be preparing for politics. Who cares if his statements are skewed and not completely factual. Besides, I’m sure Henderson isn’t losing sleep over these statements.
When Silva beat Henderson he did it on the ground not standing. Actually in the first round Henderson was winning in the stand up war, an area I do not think Chael would even have a chance. I also can’t see Chael holding Anderson down and doing what he wants.