Chael Sonnen Attempts To Fulfill Promise To Dying Father At Bellator 170
Former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight title challenger Chael Sonnen is ready to make his return to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA), but this time he’ll be competing for rival promotion Bellator MMA who has made a habit of signing some of the UFC’s biggest names away in free agency.
Sonnen’s return comes following serving a two-year suspension after failing a random drug test and testing positive for performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) in 2014. After repeatedly reiterating the fact that he has no plans to return to fighting throughout the course of his suspension, Sonnen flipped the script on everyone and terminated his contract with the UFC before signing over with Bellator.
”The Bad Guy’ will return to fighting action when he steps into the cage with former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz, who Sonnen has a bit of history with stemming from their days in college wrestling.
On January 23, 1997, which just so happened to be Ortiz’s birthday, the two met in a college wrestling match in which Sonnen emerged victorious after pinning ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’. Since then the loss has left a sour taste in Ortiz’s mouth, and their bout at Bellator 170 gives the former UFC champ his shot at long-awaited redemption.
January 21st also presents a shot at redemption for Sonnen as well, however, but for a much different reason. Prior to his father’s passing Sonnen promised his father that he would defeat Ortiz in the UFC and become the 205-pound champion of the world; a promise that proved to be unsuccessful as ‘The Bad Guy’ never got the chance to square off with Ortiz during his run in the UFC:
“When my dad died the last thing I ever said to him – I said ‘I’m going to beat Tito Ortiz, and Ima win the world championship.’ That’s the only promise I never – it’s the only promise I never kept. But Ima make it right on January 21st. “
Having defeated Ortiz and witnessing him go on to become a champion in the UFC after dropping out of college, Sonnen continued his academic career while pondering the thought that he could beat his former wrestling foe inside the Octagon as well. Now Sonnen will get the opportunity to prove whether or not those thoughts were accurate when the two finally meet in MMA competition later this month.
Sonnen and Ortiz will meet in the main event of Bellator 170 live on Spike TV, from The Forum Arena in Inglewood, California on January 21, 2016.
You can check out Sonnen’s comments on the unkept promise to his father that he hopes to ‘make right’ here:
