Chael Sonnen may call herself the “unbeaten, undisputed” champion of the UFC, but the garbage can have impressed the Octagon, even in the defeat.
Although he has never reached his goal of becoming world champion, Chael Sonnen became a fan favorite in the UFC with his loud mouth, creative insults and willingness to enter into the top fighters at any time.
He sold Pay-per-View battle completely on his mouth and made heated quarrels with some of the most dangerous men in the world to get the crowd behind him.
Here are five of the best fights from the career of Sonnen that every MMA fan has to see, including his fighting against Anderson Silva who broke the hearts of UFC fans.
Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
5. Chael Sonnen choked Brian Stann before he called Anderson Silva
A year after his loss against Anderson Silva in their first fight, Sonen returned to the Octagon to achieve an impressive victory over Brian Stann.
Sonnen surpassed Stann for the entire canvas for the most part of the fight, with the help of his wrestling skills to dominate his opponent.
Stann survived the first round, but was forced to tap a triangular choke of the bad guy in the second.
Although the fight was entertaining, the interview was UFC 136 must-watch after the fight. When he started his interview with Joe Rogan, the first words were from the mouth of Sonen “Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck!” While the crowd exploded in cheers.
The bad guy called the UFC Middleweight Champion and offered a new provision for their fight: if Sunen won, Silva would leave the middleweight division, but if Silva won, Sonen would leave the UFC forever.
4. Chael Sonnen stepped in at the last minute to challenge Jon Jones before the UFC Light Heavyweight Belt
UFC 151 was supposed to place UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jones against Dan Henderson, but an injury to the challenger saw a hectic search for a replacement.
Lyoto Machida turned the chance in the short term, before Sunen jumped in – and a weight class up – to take on the challenge in just a few days of cancellation period that Jones refused.
Bad blood between White and Jones saw the fight with Sonen sanctioned and booked for UFC 159, while the fans gathered behind the bad guy in his first game in light heavyweight.
While he was beaten in the first round in a TKO victory, the story behind Sonnen vs Jones makes this fight a must-watch for every MMA fan.
3. The rematch between Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva was an incredibly exciting fight
After his devastating defeat against Anderson Silva (more about it later) at UFC 117, Sonnen built himself back with victories over Stann and Michael Bisping to earn a rematch with the champion.
Their second fight on UFC 148 did not go as well for Sonen as the first fight, with the provision he added to the competition that clearly influenced him.
#Onhisday UFC 148 Silva vs. Sonnen 2 – Chael had almost dominated the whole of the first fight and wanted to see enough if he could complete the track this time. No, he wins RD1 and then throws the worst rotating fists ever seen in the second, Down Goes Sonnen (RD2 1:55) (4/4) pic.twitter.com/515Gnillc7
– Kuba MMA🇵🇱🇱🇹 (@osofrostymma) July 7, 2024
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Although he was still impressive with countless Takedowns on Silva, the Brazilian was much better than in the first game.
So much so that it took the champion only two rounds to bring down son's, to hit him with knees and fists to earn a TKO victory on the second round to end his hope to become UFC Middleweight Champion.
2. Rampage Jackson was beaten by Chael Sonnen years after their feud started for the first time
Rampage Jackson started his feud with Sonnen while both men were still in the UFC, but the subsequent fight would only take place in Bellator years later.
The A-Team star spoke about the claim of Sonen that he would leave the UFC after losing his second fight against Silva, who saw the villain clapping back with a brutal verb Beatdown.
It would be quiet up to six years later, when the couple collided with Sonnen's debut in heavyweight after leaving the UFC for Bellator.
The trash can Jackson dominated in three rounds, which shows that his bark is just as bad as his bite in what turned out to be the last victory of Sonen's career.
1. Chael Sonnen dominated Anderson Silva four rounds before he lost the title fight in a heartbreaking way
The greatest performances of Sonen should have ended that he lifted the UFC Middleweight title belt, if not for a temporary course.
The UFC legend dominated Silva for the first four rounds of their first fight, because the villain certainly leek away with the belt.
He constantly picked up the champion, surpasses him and raised little damage from one of the greatest central weights of all time.
Sonnen knew that he just had to survive the last round to achieve his lifelong goal to become world champion, but one mistake took that from him with minutes.
Despite dominating for the most part of the fight, an error Silva desperately saw a triangle -arm bar locking up, forcing it to tap in the most heartbreaking finish in the UFC history.