Chael Sonnen: I’ll Have To Whip Rory’s A** Sooner Or Later
After scoring a decision victory over longtime rival Wanderlei Silva in the main event of Bellator: NYC last June at Madison Square Garden, Chael Sonnen called out all-time heavyweight great Fedor Emelianenko, who was knocked out by Matt Mitrione in the event’s co-main event.
Now months removed from that event, Sonnen still does not have his next fight set, but he recently said it’s ‘hard to imagine’ that he won’t fight Emelianenko at some point:
“I think it’s hard to imagine that that doesn’t happen. We’re only about 20 pounds apart,” Sonnen said in a recent interview with BJ Penn Radio. “I get up to about 216 pounds – maybe that’s a little heavy – but right in there, [around] 216. [Fedor has] weighed in pretty consistently at 236 for the last number of years. So, you’re only talking about 20 pounds.”
“I know some people say ‘don’t do that fight, he’s too big,’ but we’re only talking about 20 pounds,” he continued. “When I started this thing, we didn’t have weigh-ins. I’ve never cared what a guy weighed. I will acknowledge that there’s an advantage at a certain point to a certain size, but 20 pounds, man, that’s not very much.”
While Sonnen, who’s competed at middleweight and light heavyweight, would be willing to move up in weight to meet “The Last Emperor”, he also expressed interest in eventually fighting Rory MacDonald, who’s set to challenge for the Bellator welterweight title.
Apparently Sonnen and MacDonald have a bit of history, and “The American Gangster” said that he’s going to have ‘whip Rory’s a**’:
“I’m quite sure I’ll have to whip Rory’s ass sooner or later here. In fact, when I got into Bellator, that was the very first question I asked Scott Coker,” Sonnen said. “Before he even knew that I was looking to come over, that I had the ability to sign with him, I just sent him a text and said ‘me versus Rory, does that interest you?’ And he said ‘it sure does, why are you asking?’ So, yeah Rory was one of the first guys on my radar.”
“I think Rory and I are very likely to be matched up. That’s one thing I like about Bellator. I like guys shifting around [between weight classes]. You’re starting to see the UFC do that too.”
Who would you like to see Sonnen fight next?
