Chael Sonnen Goes Off On UFC Star Over Retirement Talk
Chael Sonnen goes off on one UFC star for continuing to bring up talk about retirement from mixed martial arts. That star is rising contender Corey Anderson, who has put on quite the string of wins as of late. Despite this and having a bright future in the sport, he’s already eyeing the exit door.
It all started when Anderson came out and stated in an interview with ESPN that he had deadline for his retirement. Anderson is currently on a three-fight winning streak. He is coming off wins in back-to-back fights after suffering knockout losses to Jimi Manuwa and Ovince Saint Preux in 2017. Back in April, he was able to score a decision from Patrick Cummins. Moving along to July, he picked up a decision win over former title contender Glover Teixeira at UFC Hamburg. Most recently at UFC 232, he beat Ilir Latifi by unanimous decision.
Sonnen recent put out a video talking about how he thinks the fact Anderson making these statements are baffling to him.
Problems
“If you see a recipe out there that is working for somebody, that does not mean that you can just copy it,” Sonnen said (H/T to Bloody Elbow). “Daniel Cormier has made more headlines lately talking about his retirement than anything else that he has done in the cage. He is on top, because people do not want to see him retire.
“Corey Anderson coming out and talking about when he wants to retire is a sucker’s move on the highest of levels. First off, most people don’t know you’re fighting,” he said. “There are many guys who will be in this sport. They will go away and nobody’s gonna know the difference.”
Before he hangs up the gloves, he appears to have his next likely fight booked. Alexander Gustafsson just challenged him to a showdown at UFC on ESPN + 5. Sonnen continued by stating that the last thing fans or promoters want to hear is that a fighter wants out.
“The last thing a promoter is going to get behind, and put money behind. A marketing machine behind, and a favorable fight or two behind. Yes there are politics involved in this sport, is a guy who’s about to leave,” Sonnen said.
