Chael Sonnen Should Not Retire!
Last weekend at UFC 148, Chael Sonnen did almost everything he said he would do, for a while at least. He took middleweight champion, Anderson Silva down, controlled him, landed decent ground and pound and even passed all the way to the mount position. After the first five minutes it was all looking good for the ‘American Gangster’, but less than two minutes of fight time later the referee was standing over him and his world title dream was over.
Sonnen has for some time had a problem with converting a strong start into a victory when he fights the very best in the world. He easily dominates lower level middleweights and his tenacity is usually enough to carry him through against most of the world level competition. The question is will that be enough for a man who has repeatedly told us that there’s no point in fighting if you don’t think you can be a Champion? I honestly don’t know if it will. Of course now that he finds himself in this position he might feel differently. Letting go of a profession that has largely dominated your life for all those years is not an easy thing to do especially when there’s still money to be made. Right now no-one is really interested in seeing Silva and Sonnen fight for a third time but this time next year things might be different. Chael has talked a lot over the last two years and it’s fair to assume that his tongue was firmly in his cheek most of the time. That said there are moments when the real Chael Sonnen comes out and I really feel that when he said you shouldn’t fight if you aren’t trying to be the best he meant it.
So why should Chael Sonnen keep fighting? Well the most obvious reason is the interest that he brings to the sport. You may not like him, you may love him, you may love to hate him and you may even hate to love him but one way or another you have an opinion about him. Many people have asked if Chael’s antics are good for the image of the sport. What do these people think the image of the sport is exactly? They aren’t playing hop scotch in there you know. Let’s stop pretending that MMA is like any other sport because it’s not. These guys get in the Octagon to fight for our entertainment on Pay-Per-View and fans need a reason to care. Chael makes you care one way or another.
You only have to consider just how many fighters you don’t care about to realise the value of having a divisive personality. There’s a reason why guys like Jon Fitch don’t have huge fan bases, they don’t talk much and what they do say is all hype. When Jon Fitch promises you an exciting fight you either roll your eyes or laugh your head off. When Chael says it you can’t help but rub your hands together with glee because you know he’s telling the truth. He’s also an interesting character who makes you laugh every time he’s interviewed. If you haven’t seen it yet look for his appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast from a few weeks ago, it’s fascinating. I actually believe that he’s a great role model, no seriously he is. He’s the kind of guy who believes that hard work and dedication are most important assets a man can have and that’s a rare thing in our society. Perhaps his trash talk goes a little too far at times but it’s always fun to listen to and he always aims to back up his boasts.
There is also his standing within the division to consider. Yes I admit that his record is not the best; in fact it’s pretty average by all accounts. Currently he has twenty seven wins, twelve losses and a draw to his name. Sixteen of those wins are by decision and eight of the losses are by submission. His overall achievements are not that great in the grand scheme of things either. He has never held a title in any of the major MMA promotions he has fought in (although to be fair Paulo Filho missed weight for their rematch at WEC 31 which prevented Chael from winning that title).That said since his UFC 95 loss to Demain Maia he has been a different fighter. His determination and self-belief have significantly increased over the last few years resulting in greater consistency in the Octagon and more wins. His most recent victories came against top 10 level fighters like Yushin Okami, Nate Marquardt, Brian Stann and Michael Bisping. Prior to his recent loss to Silva many journalists rated him inside the top 10 of the pound for pound rankings.
He might not have enough to topple Silva but there are so many great Middleweights in the UFC these days that proving yourself to be second best is still an impressive achievement. More to the point Anderson Silva is not a young man and he could decline any day now. Now at 35 years old Chael isn’t exactly a young man himself but with the exception of Chris Weidman all of the top 5 Middleweights in the division are in their mid 30s. Also the wrestling style Sonnen uses seems to be built to last. His former team mate Randy Couture fought until he was 46 and Dan Henderson is still going at 41. Furthermore most of the division’s top fighters are wrestlers or strikers so Chael’s style is a challenge for any of them. So if Anderson was to lose the belt in the next few fights Chael would surely be high on the list of potential contenders. The Middleweight division is so stacked full of talent right now that even a fight to stay relevant is exciting these days. Chael is unlikely to face top level fighters like Weidman, Belfort or Lombard any time soon but there is a strong possibility we could see him face Wanderlai Silva later this year. Failing that how about a match with Rich Franklin or a rematch with Michael Bisping. He was scheduled to face Mark Munoz earlier this year so that’s a strong possibility as well.
If none of that sounds appealing then I guess he could try his luck as a Light-Heavyweight. He may not be big enough to make a run at Jon Jones but there are still plenty of interesting match ups for him. I recently wrote an article for MMAbay suggesting that most of the top Light-Heavyweights are a little overrated. One of my key arguments in that piece was that many of the top 5 Light-Heavyweights could probably make it down to Middleweight if they wanted to and I stand by that point. After all Evans, Hendo, Shogun and Machida are all smaller than Anderson Silva and none of them are as talented as the Middleweight Champion. If I am correct in this then Sonnen may not be at the same kind of size disadvantage that you might expect. He has a built in rivalry with Lyoto Machida to cash in on any time he wants. He probably wouldn’t fight Hendo but he matches up well with Shogun in what would definitely be a great fight. Also the prospect of all the trash talk from a fight between Sonnen and Evans is pretty interesting as well.
I really hope that Sonnen’s fans rally behind him now because I think there is a very strong possibility he will walk away. There are many things that set Chael apart from other fighters in his position; the main one being he has other ways of making a living. He may go on to be a full time analyst for ESPN or Fuel TV. Failing that there is always a return to politics or how about becoming a stand-up comedian (He’s already better than Russell Brand and he’s doing pretty well for himself). I’m not trying to suggest that a fighter walking away before he gets too old is a bad thing; I am saying that there is a worse alternative. Some fighters retire after a disappointing lose only to find several months or years later that they want to come back and add more to their legacy. The Randy Coutures of this world can make that work for them but the majority of guys who make comebacks later in their lives will find that they are not the fighters they once were. I would hate for that to happen to Chael because he has provided so much entertainment over the last few years. If he does choose to retire then I wouldn’t blame him, after all he is unlikely to be involved in a bigger fight than the one he was just in and I’m sure he has made plenty of money out of his rivalry with Anderson Silva. I just think that MMA is a better sport with Uncle Chael around that’s all.
By Rowan Wynne.
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