How good was Chael Sonnen back in his heydays?

[Foghorn Leghorn]

He also tapped the ghost of Shogun.

Indeed, that's why I left it off because it was kind of an irrelevant fight. Certainly a cool and unexpected name for him to claim on his record, but I think everyone knows how that one plays out when both guys were at their best.

 

[Xanzito]

A solid fighter that posed issues to pretty much every opponent he faced - 8/10
His greatest talent was outside the ring where he was the clear, undisputed champion on the microphone.

Still think he has the best trash talk of them all. It's the perfect balance of funny to hype a fight, but fake and corny enough to not be trully offensive.

 

[Dr. Rose]

Indeed, that's why I left it off because it was kind of an irrelevant fight. Certainly a cool and unexpected name for him to claim on his record, but I think everyone knows how that one plays out when both guys were at their best.

I think what shocked me more was how it was won and the speed. Grinding out a decision seemed like his best option. But in all fairness to Chael, people did not realize Shogun's decline until that fight.

 

[HP_Nut]

There was probably a 2 yr period where he was probably the best MW aside from Anderson. On Sherdog, anyone who isn’t a GOAT contender is seen as “he was never any good”.

 

[TankAbbott4Eva]

Elite at getting big fights, his win rate wasn’t great though. Dude did well for very basic striking skills, great shit talker obviously

 

[fedoriswar37]

Best promoter in ufc history. Good fighter. Geeat grappling and pressure.

 

[pankrat]

The guy was average MW fighter.

Great on mic, love listening to his nonsense.

But as fighter he was basically a smaller version of Dan Severn. He wrestled to wins and periodically he'd get a submission or GNP someone to stoppage.

P.S. Jones not fighting Chael on short notice had zero to do with Chael's ability. That was just Jones not letting the UFC strong arm him.

Dude, you have 16K posts in a mma forum and seem to have the knowledge of a 5 year old :S

 

[pankrat]

His BJJ and striking evolved a lot through the years too. Most people just parrot clichés.

During his (juiced up) peak he was a formidable MW, and pretty well-rounded at that

 

[kingofthecans]

Good enough to need steroids.

 

[Bret 'The Hitman' Hart]

Good enough to dominate a prime Anderson Silva for 24 minutes 55 seconds

 

[JustforBROCK]

Not very. Certainly not as good as he'd like you to believe. A lot of mouth, and even that was only late in his career.

 

[Clark Rogers]

Depends on whether you're asking Chael or everyone else.

 

[Luffy]

How was Chael caught for juicing up pre USADA? Wouldn't it be kinda normal for fighters to juice up and not get caught due to the testing system being way softer?

 

[kingmob6]

this thrread is haram.
chael is undefeated, has no weakness.

 

[Bojka]

TRT Chael was probably the best MW wrestler before recently (Khamzat, Bo). Unless I'm just drawing a blank.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

In a way I feel bad for Shale. He almost became champion twice and really gave his best. He was obviously a good fighter but never great. Great on on the mic. But for some reason I remember him for his spinning back fist on Anderson and him going foetal when shit go real. That and becoming an incoherent clickbait shill over the last years on his podcast. Dude became a joke.

 

[RoseHDCovington]

"HE TRIED TO FEED A CARROT... TO A BUS!!"

 

[SuperNerd]

Everyone choked out Shogun in the first round after Sonnen, so it doesn't count.

He didnt have any good fights after Chael.

 

[BigOlJeet]

He did good, his competition weren’t cans like modern era fighters deal with.

 

[pankrat]

Everyone choked out Shogun in the first round after Sonnen, so it doesn't count.

He didnt have any good fights after Chael.

He dispatched Te Huna right after and was also beating Hendo until got caught in the 3rd round