Chael Sonnen On A Possible Comeback: “I Am Done Fighting”
Former UFC title contender and now working as an analyst for ESPN, Chael Sonnen was at one point one of the most popular UFC fighters that they’ve had in years.
Many would say he got the fights he got because of his mouth and not his fighting abilities. Sonnen posted a 29-14-1 pro-MMA record and fought Anderson Silva twice for the UFC middleweight championship as well as Jon Jones once for the UFC light heavyweight championship.
However, in his last five MMA bouts, he went 3-2 and lost his last bout to Rashad Evans back at UFC 167 by first-round TKO.
If you remember, Sonnen retired from Mixed Martial Arts in June of 2014 after he had failed a random drug test. That marked the third failed drug test throughout his MMA career because of the presence of human growth hormone (HGH), recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO), anastrozole, and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG).
Barely over one year later, rumors of a possible comeback for the fighter has emerged.
The rumors came about after Mike Roberts, who is apart of Sonnen’s management team, hinted at a possible comeback for Sonnen.
Sonnen appeared on yesterday’s episode of the MMA Hour to clear up those rumors.
“Yeah, [Roberts] is wrong about that,” Sonnen said. “He’s told me that before, too. He’s told me, ‘I don’t think you’re done. I think that there’s more.’ So, that is his opinion. He wasn’t just talking out of school on that one. But I am not going to fight again, if that’s what you’re asking. I am done fighting.”
When talking about his career, Sonnen reflected back on it during the online show.
“As far as legacy goes, there was a time in my career where I would get asked that and I’d get red hot. There was a time in my career where everything pissed me off. Any question you asked me was going to set me off one way or another, but that one specifically, because I never got it. I had to deal with these other guys sitting around talking about their goddamn legacies, like anyone should give a damn about them. I graduated high school. I loved high school. I donate to my old high school. I coach at my (old high school). I’d do anything for my old high school. But the last thing I’m going to do is wear a goddamn letterman’s jacket around when I’m out of high school. And there’s guys who do it.”
Sonnen had a clear vision for his fight career, but more importantly than that was how he lived his personal life. Sonnen felt that it didn’t matter what he did three times in a octagon, but what he did as a human being. Being a husband and as father was more important to him than anything.
“These guys who cling to it and want to be remembered for something they did in a kid’s world, in a kid’s sport, that’s a weird thing for me. I never wanted to get trapped in that. I thought, I’m going to be a fighter for a very limited amount of time and then I’m going to have to move on and do real things in life. Be a father, be a husband, be a member of the community, and do these things that really matter. Not some sport that I go do in a steel cage three times a year. And I was very defiant that I do not want to hear about somebody else’s alleged legacy, because I compare it to the guy out of high school, riding around in his Trans-Am, with his old letterman’s jacket on. I don’t want to be one of those guys.”
Finally, Sonnen believes that he will be remembered as a guy who would fight anyone, at anytime, anywhere and that’s what he is most proud of during his time fighting.
“Your message is very clear. You’re saying, I beat you, and had I been healthy, I would’ve beaten you even easier. So as far as legacy goes, the one thing that I’m proud of was that I would always compete. I was looking to compete. I was never a bully, I would take on everybody at anytime. Whether that was the No. 1 guy in the world or whether that was the No. 100 guy in the world, it didn’t make any bit of different. If somebody wanted to fight, I would show up and fight.”
