Chael Sonnen Clarifies Calling Fedor’s Previous Fights ‘Fixed’
Chael Sonnen clarifies his comments made in the past about how Fedor Emelianenko had fixed fights while competing under the now-defunct PRIDE banner.
The former middleweight and light heavyweight title contender is well known for his trash talk. In the past, Sonnen has discredited Emelianenko’s resume and questioned the legitimacy of his career in the promotion.
Chael Sonnen Clarifies
However, that has all changed while promoting his scheduled fight which is a heavyweight grand prix semifinal at Bellator 208. Now, Sonnen is praising Fedor as the greatest heavyweight of all time.
“I’ll clarify it: PRIDE was fixed,” Sonnen told MMAjunkie. “That’s not to say his fights were fixed. PRIDE was so long ago I can’t believe people are still talking about it. PRIDE had fixed fights, and that’s the way it goes. If you fix one fight your whole organization is ruined. I think it’s one of the reasons that they’re off TV and they’re out of business and they’re not doing it anymore.”
Continues
Sonnen continued by stating that if Fedor did have fixed fights then he would need to go back and look at them.
“If Fedor had fixed fights – I’d have to go back and look. I don’t remember thinking Fedor was in fixed fights, I don’t remember thinking a number of those guys were in fixed fights. But they fixed fights. Period.”
The Event
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.
Bellator 208 is set to take place on Saturday, October 13, 2018 at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. The preliminary card will air online at 7:00 pm EST while the main card will air on Paramount Network at 9:00 PM EST.
