chael sonnen best win

[RonniePickering]

Shogun fight no doubt. Shogun was the BJJ black belt and Chael was known for having bad submission defense

 

[Aluminati]

16-0 Paulo Filho

This guy gets it.
Filho was the only actual champion that Sonnen ever beat, and he was undefeated to boot.
Nate was great, but he wasn't the MW champ, or undefeated.

 

[kiley_sean]

Luke Thomas

 

[TheJohnnyWalkerEra]

Have to go with Shogun

Most impressive fight was his first loss to Anderson

 

[WhuffieCollector]

Whatever, man.

I watched the fight too...

...still not convinced Chael didn't have money on Anderson and gave him that choke.

That would be even worse. He's already a cheater, adding fixer to his resume would pretty much make him human garbage...well, more than he already is.

 

[vgff]

with all the recent debate about chael sonnen's supposed greatness, let's get clear about his fighting achievements.
what was chael sonnen's best win?

i would say it was against Nate Marquardt at UFC 109 in 2010. chael won a dominant UD 30-27 x3
at the time, marquardt was the #2 middleweight in the world. he had a three fight win streak over demian maia (who was coming off a win over sonnen in his previous fight), wilson gouveia, and martin kampmann - all wins by stoppage.

some people might say it was his win over Bisping. Bisping would go on to be champion of the division many years later and at the time he had a four fight win streak. However, Bisping was ranked lower than Chael due to Bisping's victories over low ranked fighters (Mayhem Miller, Jorge Rivera, etc.). Plus, it was not a clear victory for Chael - many people scored it for Bisping.

some people even say Sonnen's best win was his submission victory over BJJ god and former UFC champ Shogun Rua. Shogun was coming off a loss (so was Chael) but he was still ranked top ten at LHW. Sonnen had never won at 205 in UFC and this would be his only victory at that weight class in the promotion

disclaimer: chael is a known and admitted PED cheat, so all his victories are tainted.

DISCUSS, MY BROTHERS

there is no real greatness with him, aside from his talking abilities. it's just the kind of stuff people say when a fighter retires

 

[WhuffieCollector]

You're arguing a point that not one person even mentioned, let alone disagreed with. Pretty sure this is just a discussion about an interesting personality in MMA. I don't think anyone is claiming he's one of the best, but he was certainly "great" at certain aspects of MMA.

The very first line of the OP is "with all the recent debate about chael sonnen's supposed greatness, let's get clear about his fighting achievements."

My post is directly addressing that.

 

[ExitLUPin]

Filho, then Marquardt by far

those are his only 2 dominant wins against legit top 3-5 guys during their purime. Filho was #1 or 2

he was a massive underdog against Nate. The odds for the Filho rematch were closer than i remember

 

[mjmj]

The very first line of the OP is "with all the recent debate about chael sonnen's supposed greatness, let's get clear about his fighting achievements."

My post is directly addressing that.

I understand, I guess I just didn't think he was saying he was one of the greatest. But I see where you're coming from now.

 

[HomeRun916]

Shogun Rua.

 

[Where you at Georges?]

For me it has too be Bisping
After that I' would say Okami because Chael had a much easier time with Okami then he did vs Marquardt. Also Okami beat Marquardt albeit that fight sucked.

I love Brian Stann but his list of wins doesn't impress me. Finished his career at with a 12-6 record. Shogun made a stupid mistake and got guillotined. He is not the first great fighter to get upset by a guillotine.

 

[Andreh]

Nothing to be discussed here, Luke Thomas already said the truths we all know: Chael is a good fighter and nothing else. The only difference is that I would put him 2 tiers below the greatest ones, not only 1 like Thomas did. That aside, a garbage person that no one cares about.

 

[PalmStrike]

That would be even worse. He's already a cheater, adding fixer to his resume would pretty much make him human garbage...well, more than he already is.

Yeah, no...I don't judge cage fighters.

I just want them to fuqq each other up while I watch.

 

[WHITE ANDERSON]

The very first line of the OP is "with all the recent debate about chael sonnen's supposed greatness, let's get clear about his fighting achievements."

My post is directly addressing that.

yes, I said that just because it's something that's topical due to chael's recent retirement
if we want to get clear on whether or not chael was a great fighter, we need to see assess his achievements in the cage

therefore i ask: what was his best win?
a lot of people seem to side with the shogun victory. i find their reasons to be good...but what does that say for chael? he moved up and beat a former LHW champ, albeit a past-prime version of that guy. and if these people are right, chael's best win is outside of the weightclass he was most relevant in.

either way, chael is by no means a top 5 MW GOAT and I would argue he is not top ten

here are some suggestions for a 10 MW GOATs list, arranged in no particular order:
-anderson silva, rich franklin, dan henderson, jake shields, chris weidman, luke rockhold, michael bisping, evan tanner

and then there are guys like robert whittaker who could be a GOAT depending on how he does in the future. yoel romero, mousasi, and jacare are all guys i would think of as rounding out the top ten

but i think chael's failure to win a major promotional title puts him out of a top ten

 

[Kneeuinthenutz]

Nate Marquardt was in his absolute prime and on a fucking incredible tear showcasing immense all around talent.

That was his best win.

I would says Filho but that was not the Paulo Filho that was so highly regarded in MMA.

 

[SKITZADACTYL]

prime marquardt and okami were very good wins at the time, bisping and shogun were solid wins too.

 

[capnlarge]

Rounds 1-4 against Silva.

 

[Kvothe_the_kingkiller]

In what parallel universe can you hit a man 300 times, he wraps his legs around your head for eight seconds and they call him the winner?

In what parallel universe can you hit a guy 300 times in the face and not cause a single bruise, scratch or cut?

That loss of Chael's was embarrassing on various levels and in many multiverses.

 

[Taric]

Nate Marquardt was in his absolute prime and on a fucking incredible tear showcasing immense all around talent.

I believe he was called Nate "Tekken Combo" Marquardt

 

[ermac88]

He beat Shogun within seconds
It was nuts