Chael got to be a big name but was never good enough.

[tenniswhiz]

I think that if Chael had spent some time training karate, he could have been a champ.

 

[TSK]

True but he should have been WEC champ. I hated that back then before he was a big name and hate it now.

The idea of a champion missing weight, losing what was supposed to be a title fight, and then not having to surrender his title to the guy who beat him because he missed weight is all kinds of fucked up. Chael got screwed on that one.

 

[IcemanFan75]

Well he does have a win over the current reigning middleweight champion, Michael Bisping. I wouldn't favor Chael in a rematch as I think Michael is the more improved fighter since then and Chael is still knocking the rust off after a 3 year layoff. Still, even if he were back in the UFC, his problem would more so be with the guys in his way to get to Bisping. Rockhold, Weidman, Romero, Jacare...not good matchups for him.

 

[Dark One]

Nonsense. He was good enough to beat Anderson but got sloppy/lazy/tired at the end of the fight and got hail Mary subbed. He beat Filho but didn't officially get the belt because of a stupid loophole that has since been closed.

 

[Ying Li]

His mauling of Nate Marquardt was the most violent and bloodiest fights I remember seeing.

 

[phoenixikki]

Your wrong, chael WAS good enough but things never went his way. He was good enough to get a shot at anderson and he was good enough to dominate the entire fight, and then he got caught in a sub. Thats just the way the cards fell but fate could have flipped a coin that night and he would be the guy who completely destroyed the champ in an unbelievably dominant performance, like cody vs cruz or rda vs pettis

he also narrowly missed winning a belt from filho because of a technicality, where the fight was made non title due to filho missing weight

fighting is very chaotic and sometimes luck plays a factor. Chael was certainly good enough but he did have some bad luck along the way

How many times can someone be caught in a triangle and still claim he was caught?
Even if Chael had won that night, he still would be stripped

 

[gespenst]

He's capable and under "certain circumstances" he could have belts. He has legit wins.

Imagine what would have happened if AS wasn't able to pull triangle in the 5th. Chael would have defeated prime AS then, which is huge.

Imagine what would have happened if Chael had some balls on him in his Jon Jones fight. He wouldn't have covered in fetal position, he would do something and this would have been enough as Jones would pull out due to broken toe. Then Chael would have defeated (technically) prime JBJ. Which is, again, huge.

The guy doesn't have enough luck, that's it.

 

[Orochimaru 大蛇丸]

He was tough in his prime, weird mental issue obviously, but he still dominated PRIME Anderson for 4 and 1/2 rounds. They were BOTH on roids, who even cares about that shit when we're talking about fights from that time period... nearly everyone was on shit.

 

[in the liver]

How many times can someone be caught in a triangle and still claim he was caught?
Even if Chael had won that night, he still would be stripped

aw man, its just like sometimes i still get killed by this motherfucker right here

shit happens


lol at him getting stripped, did he pop after anderson 1? lmfao thats an excellent and amusing point. maybe the ufc wouldve pulled some strings if he won

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

Sonnen with submission defense would have been the GOAT.

 

[rad]

This is bullshit post he was #1 High level fighter in UfC

 

[7th]

his worst losses are outside of MW. He had no business fighting Jones, Rashad or Tito. Who is bellator's MW champ? that's who Chael should be gunning for.

 

[eddymotto]

his worst losses are outside of MW. He had no business fighting Jones, Rashad or Tito. Who is bellator's MW champ? that's who Chael should be gunning for.

I think you have answered your own questions. Sonnen can't justify his Bellator fighting against anyone who isn't already well known. Plus his performance on the weekend (which I did not see but read about) indicates that he is 50/50 at best against other washed up fighters. So he will try to grab some cash fighting Wandy and others in the seniors' competition. It doesn't do anything from a sporting perspective but it is the best strategy to make money.

 

[eddymotto]

Sonnen was a decent fighter who juiced and talked himself into some big fights, which he then lost.

That is his legacy right there.

The most surprising thing to me is that for a great talker, he seems to get caught a lot. Both for PED's and whatever real estate scam he ran way back when. I would have thought that he was smarter