Chael Sonnen Addresses Potential Retirement After Bellator 208 Loss

Chael Sonnen addresses the speculation that he could be close to potentially making the call to retire from the sport of MMA. As seen in the main event of Bellator 208 on Saturday night (October 13, 2018) at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York on the Paramount Network, Fedor Emelianenko was able to score a first round TKO win over Sonnen.

Sonnen was able to pick up a decision win over former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson at Bellator 192 at The Forum in Inglewood, California in January to move forward in the tournament. However, his time in the tournament to crown a new heavyweight champion is over.

What Went Wrong

Following the fight, Sonnen spoke with the media about it and how he thought that the MMA Legend used up all of his energy. Thus, he believed that this would allow him a chance to make a comeback. Obviously, that didn’t happen.

“I thought there was opportunity there,” Sonnen told reporters, including MMAjunkie. “I was covering up, and I thought he was slowing down. Whether that’s accurate, I thought he was slowing down a bit, and the referee warned me. He said, ‘If you don’t move, I’m going to stop this fight.’”

Sonnen even admitted that he was trying to have a rope-a-dope moment in the fight that backfired.

“I didn’t think he would because they were going into my hands. I thought I was blocking them. I thought I was having a rope-a-dope moment. I thought I was luring him in. That was a bad strategy, it turns out. That was a bad plan.”

The former title contender praised Fedor for still having some serious power and being explosive despite being past his prime.

“Explosive – I would call him explosive. With his punches, there wasn’t a ton of setups; they just came, and they came hard. And even on the ground, I had some good positions on him, and he would just explode. It wasn’t necessarily technique-based, but it was impressive. He’s an impressive athlete. I don’t think I’ve ever been ground-and-pounded like that.”

What’s Next?

Sonnen also talked about what’s next for him after competing in MMA for more than 21 years. This led to him making it clear that he is looking forward to what’s next.

“I have some other goals I would like to achieve,” Sonnen said. “I really looked up to what Randy (Couture) was able to do to extend his career; I would like to extend mine. But it won’t be my choice. It was never my choice. Eventually coach Clayton (Hires) will come up and say, ‘We’re done.’ Then we’re done.”