As Chael Sonnen announced his retirement, we are seeing all kinds of stories about Chael from things like Chael the Cheat to Chael the Racist and everything in between. There is one side of Chael that was really never covered by the media outside of a few interviews and something most fans, especially casual fans and even many of the hardcore fans never knew. Brendan Schaub recently did a podcast talking about Chael Sonnen being known as arguably the nicest, and kindest guy in MMA. Schaub talks about Sonnen giving money to a relatively unknown fighter and a fighter Chael barely new, a training partner of Schaub's, because he was out of a job. and this isn't the first time.
- King Mo, who loves to talk shit and entertain, says the only person he would never fight is Chael Sonnen because of what a man Chael was. When King Mo was down and out with staph, it was Chael who called up Mo and offered to pay his bills while he was out and as Mo stated, they had crossed paths but they never really knew each other well and were not close friends. As Mo said, Chael was the only one who offered to help him out and even though he declined, he says he will remember this for life. Here's what King Mo said about it in an interview:
“People help people, but when they do it’s like a feel-good story,” Lawal said. “Chael came out of the blue. And you know what the funny thing is? When it was all said and done, no one knew but me. And I put it out there, like ‘Chael did this for me.’ … He never said nothing. Still to this day, he don’t bring it up; I bring it up.”
- In 2012, during the weigh ins and staredown of the Silva/Sonnen 2 rematch, Anderson Silva gave Chael a shoulder strike right to the chin and NSAC was going to give Silva a 10% fine and it was old Chael who told them to give Silva a pass and that was the only reason Silva wasn't docked 10% of his pay. After losing, Chael could have easily been bitter and told NSAC he thought it was dirty (and it was dirty) and NSAC would have fined Anderson Silva but he didn't.
"Meanwhile, Kizer said that he spoke to both Sonnen and Silva about Silva's shoulder strike at Friday's weigh-ins following Saturday night's title fight. Kizer, who stated he was "very unhappy with Anderson" due to his actions, said that Sonnen told him and NSAC chairman Skip Avansino following the fight that he didn't believe Silva should be fined for the strike, and, after talking to Silva, Kizer said the commission took Sonnen's recommendation to heart and decided against fining Silva.
"Chael willing to forgive Anderson went a long way with me and the chairman," he said. "He was very honorable, perhaps more than he needed to be, towards Anderson.""
- In 2009, Chael Sonnen saw an interview where an amateur wrestler wanted to go wrestle and train in Russia but was lacking funds. Chael sent him $4K which paid for 4 months of his room and board in Russia and they kept in touch and Chael continued to help and paid for him so he could stay for an entire year. And Chael had only met him once when they wrestled against one another. Here's what the wrestler, Andy Hvorat said:
"I get an email from him (Chael Sonnen) saying 'Hey, I want to send you some money, it's going to be in an envelope that looks like junk mail, because it was from his bank, his bank just cut a check and sent it and they send them in unmarked envelopes so people don't steal the mail.
He sent me three or four thousand dollars, and for me every thousand dollars was a month's pay. Room and board were a thousand dollars a month....after the tournament where I won, he ended up sending me another 2 or 3 thousand dollars, he told me to enjoy myself over there."
- In 2011, Chael had just defeated Brian Stann was walking from the Octagon to the backstage area when he spots a little 11 year old decked out in TapOut Gear asking for an autograph. Chael talks to the dad and then lifts the 11 year old over the rails and takes the kid and the dad behind the scenes to meet and greet all the fighters. Chael even takes off his wraps and gloves and signs it and gives it to the kid. Chael initially refused to talk about the story until the father posted the story online and Chael has since told the story a few times on his podcast but always makes Frankie Edgar the highlight of his story for taking the time to give this little kid an autograph and a quick photo right before his main event with Gray Maynard. Here's the snippets of the story from Ty's dad right after it happened in 2011:
“After Chael’s victory, my son approached the security gate to get his autograph. Chael lifted my (11 year old) son over the gate and took him behind the scenes where the other fighters were either recovering from their fight or preparing for an upcoming battle. A security guard brought me back as well, and what followed is a father/son moment that we will both never forget.
“Chael took off his wraps and signed them for my son. There are professional photo sessions taken immediately after the fight, Chael included my son with him in the photos. He then took us to each locker room, introduced us to the fighters and had them sign Ty’s shirt, hat, and program. We then were allowed into Frankie Edgar’s locker room where he was warming up for his title fight. Frankie stopped his warm-up and spent time talking to my son and signing various items.
“We returned to our seats to watch the final two fights. Chael had the security people take us to a section where UFC fighters sat who were not fighting that evening. Each of them signed my son’s program.
“Chael was a gentleman and gave my son an experience that he will never forget. I will always be a Chael Sonnen fan after seeing his heart warming interaction with my son.”
Of course there's the ultimate bad guy and villan in Bisping who even heaped praise on Chael, saying the following:
"Chael has a reputation, and I’m gonna ruin it right now. He’s actually one of the nicest guys you’d ever meet. He really is. When we fought in Chicago, he was a gentleman. He really was. I was a little pissed off because I wanted to really talk some trash, you know. But I couldn’t do it because he’s such a nice guy."
Regardless of his antics and while his PEDs are all well known and definitely taint his complicated legacy as a competitor and fighter, the man behind the fighter definitely is top notch and I thought it was well worth the time to make a rare, but lengthy, post highlighting what many may not know.
- King Mo, who loves to talk shit and entertain, says the only person he would never fight is Chael Sonnen because of what a man Chael was. When King Mo was down and out with staph, it was Chael who called up Mo and offered to pay his bills while he was out and as Mo stated, they had crossed paths but they never really knew each other well and were not close friends. As Mo said, Chael was the only one who offered to help him out and even though he declined, he says he will remember this for life. Here's what King Mo said about it in an interview:
“People help people, but when they do it’s like a feel-good story,” Lawal said. “Chael came out of the blue. And you know what the funny thing is? When it was all said and done, no one knew but me. And I put it out there, like ‘Chael did this for me.’ … He never said nothing. Still to this day, he don’t bring it up; I bring it up.”
- In 2012, during the weigh ins and staredown of the Silva/Sonnen 2 rematch, Anderson Silva gave Chael a shoulder strike right to the chin and NSAC was going to give Silva a 10% fine and it was old Chael who told them to give Silva a pass and that was the only reason Silva wasn't docked 10% of his pay. After losing, Chael could have easily been bitter and told NSAC he thought it was dirty (and it was dirty) and NSAC would have fined Anderson Silva but he didn't.
"Meanwhile, Kizer said that he spoke to both Sonnen and Silva about Silva's shoulder strike at Friday's weigh-ins following Saturday night's title fight. Kizer, who stated he was "very unhappy with Anderson" due to his actions, said that Sonnen told him and NSAC chairman Skip Avansino following the fight that he didn't believe Silva should be fined for the strike, and, after talking to Silva, Kizer said the commission took Sonnen's recommendation to heart and decided against fining Silva.
"Chael willing to forgive Anderson went a long way with me and the chairman," he said. "He was very honorable, perhaps more than he needed to be, towards Anderson.""
- In 2009, Chael Sonnen saw an interview where an amateur wrestler wanted to go wrestle and train in Russia but was lacking funds. Chael sent him $4K which paid for 4 months of his room and board in Russia and they kept in touch and Chael continued to help and paid for him so he could stay for an entire year. And Chael had only met him once when they wrestled against one another. Here's what the wrestler, Andy Hvorat said:
"I get an email from him (Chael Sonnen) saying 'Hey, I want to send you some money, it's going to be in an envelope that looks like junk mail, because it was from his bank, his bank just cut a check and sent it and they send them in unmarked envelopes so people don't steal the mail.
He sent me three or four thousand dollars, and for me every thousand dollars was a month's pay. Room and board were a thousand dollars a month....after the tournament where I won, he ended up sending me another 2 or 3 thousand dollars, he told me to enjoy myself over there."
- In 2011, Chael had just defeated Brian Stann was walking from the Octagon to the backstage area when he spots a little 11 year old decked out in TapOut Gear asking for an autograph. Chael talks to the dad and then lifts the 11 year old over the rails and takes the kid and the dad behind the scenes to meet and greet all the fighters. Chael even takes off his wraps and gloves and signs it and gives it to the kid. Chael initially refused to talk about the story until the father posted the story online and Chael has since told the story a few times on his podcast but always makes Frankie Edgar the highlight of his story for taking the time to give this little kid an autograph and a quick photo right before his main event with Gray Maynard. Here's the snippets of the story from Ty's dad right after it happened in 2011:
“After Chael’s victory, my son approached the security gate to get his autograph. Chael lifted my (11 year old) son over the gate and took him behind the scenes where the other fighters were either recovering from their fight or preparing for an upcoming battle. A security guard brought me back as well, and what followed is a father/son moment that we will both never forget.
“Chael took off his wraps and signed them for my son. There are professional photo sessions taken immediately after the fight, Chael included my son with him in the photos. He then took us to each locker room, introduced us to the fighters and had them sign Ty’s shirt, hat, and program. We then were allowed into Frankie Edgar’s locker room where he was warming up for his title fight. Frankie stopped his warm-up and spent time talking to my son and signing various items.
“We returned to our seats to watch the final two fights. Chael had the security people take us to a section where UFC fighters sat who were not fighting that evening. Each of them signed my son’s program.
“Chael was a gentleman and gave my son an experience that he will never forget. I will always be a Chael Sonnen fan after seeing his heart warming interaction with my son.”
Of course there's the ultimate bad guy and villan in Bisping who even heaped praise on Chael, saying the following:
"Chael has a reputation, and I’m gonna ruin it right now. He’s actually one of the nicest guys you’d ever meet. He really is. When we fought in Chicago, he was a gentleman. He really was. I was a little pissed off because I wanted to really talk some trash, you know. But I couldn’t do it because he’s such a nice guy."
Regardless of his antics and while his PEDs are all well known and definitely taint his complicated legacy as a competitor and fighter, the man behind the fighter definitely is top notch and I thought it was well worth the time to make a rare, but lengthy, post highlighting what many may not know.
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