How good was Chael Sonnen?

[JustOnce]

Now, for me, Chael Sonnen was a journeyman fighter who just happened to be at the right place at the right time, in the weakest division of all of UFC , if not MMA, with not a strong dominant wrestler present in the top echelon. From what I understand, he is a felon, a snitch, a proven cheater, tapping-to-strikes loud-mouth. I have never seen a professional athlete getting embraced such as he did after cheating, while spewing disgusting nonsense like if you don't cheat, you ain't trying, as if someone have had integrity to do it the hard way, he was not just trying as hard, the statement of which for me is not any more disgusting than a burgary suspect blaming the victims for their carelessness.

Shockingly however, he did end up beating Wanderlei, Shogun and Rampage, who in their primes in my opinion would have violated Chael Sonnen in the very depth of his soul. Yet, it just made me wonder, how good was Chael Sonnen? When he arrived in UFC, no one expected him to amount to anything, and that's why he's been underdog pretty much the whole way to title fight, and no one was surprised when he got thrown on his head and submitted under a minute or so by MAia.

So, what do you say?

 

[sirmorbach]

Chael is/was a great athlete, but this is kind of overlooked because of how good of a talker he is/was. It got him in a lot of big fights, but it also diminishes his qualities as a fighter in the eyes of the overall public.

He's a fantastic wrestler, and I don't think he deserves half of the criticism he gets for his standup game. He's not that bad of a boxer, believe it or not.

If only he had the submission defence he now has in the beginning/mid of his career, who knows? Perhaps he could have achieved a lot more.

But more than anything, for me, the legacy Chael really deserves is the one of a tough guy. Because regardless of how much he did or did not talk, he always lived up to the classic anyone, anytime, anywhere, any weight.

Spoiler

Ok, all that I said before was actually bullshit. If you really want to know the truth, the fact of the matter is but one: Chael Sonnen is the greatest fighter of all time, and that's the reason why he is still, to this day, undefeated and undisputed.

The man with the biggest arms, the greatest charm, and who does all the harm.

The man who never lost a single round in MMA.

The man who could wear the Golden Gate Bridge as a championship belt, who could walk in the sun and wouldn't even melt. The man who has the skills to make Superman run and hide like a little girl.

The real reason why Waldo is hiding.

Oh shit, my bad. That's Big Nog.

There it is. The People's Champion. The Gangster of West Linn, Oregon. The Bad Guy himself.

Chael P. Sonnen.

And the "P" stands for Perfection.

And for GOAT.

 

[kmelloh]

If he won that Anderson 1 fight he would’ve changed history. I think he’s known for his mouth more than fighting. Yeah he’s got wins over Brian Stann, Bisping, Shogun and made Tito say ”tap” in a minute. But I think that his mouth is his legacy.

 

[JustOnce]

Chael is/was a great athlete, but this is overlooked because of how good of a talker he is/was. It got him in a lot of big fights, but it also diminishes his qualities as a fighter in the eyes of the overall public.

But more than anything, for me, the legacy Chael really deserves is the one of a tough guy. Because regardless of how much he did or did not talk, he always lived up to the classic anyone, anytime, anywhere, any weight.

Anyone, anytime, anywhere, any weight...but tap to strikes.

 

[BROWNPRIDE]

He's a good dry humper with no stand up and has been popped plenty of times cheating.

 

[mb23100]

I still think his fight with Rashad was fixed. Hated him since

 

[Fatback96]

Everyone forgets how boring of a fighter he is because of his loud mouth.

 

[Thad Castle v2]

One dimensional but very good at it.

 

[AC1D1K]

i give him 4/5 rounds

 

[BuckNasty16]

 

[MRDOG]

He was elite and if it wasn't for bad luck he would be called a two division champion ...

Beats WEC champion but doesn't get the belt because the champion missed weight.

Beats the bricks off the then invincible Anderson Silvia only to get caught in a triangle the last part of the last round.

In his championship fight with Jones he gets stopped during the last seconds in the round. What most don't remember is Jones toe was almost ripped from his foot. If the ref seen that at any time the fight would have been stopped and Sonnen declared the winner.

Chael Sonnen the almost two division champion !

 

[ImNotSurpisedDonks!]

Chael is simultaneously the most over rated and under rasted fighter of all time. He is a headcase, who could beat anyone in the world if he was on his A game, focused, and then lose to CM Punk if he was off his game. If you have heard the rumors, apparently Chael was a beast in the practice room, would beat da fuq out of UFC HW champs in the practice room, but then would flop in the cage on fight night.

 

[MMA92585]

I still think his fight with Rashad was fixed. Hated him since

Trust me. It wasn't.

 

[Oj21]

Better than people give credit for. Beat bisping, Stann, wanderlei, shogun, and absolutely dominated silva for like 4.5 rounds. I'd also rank him with gsp and DC as the best mma wrestlers all time. In a way I actually give him credit for admitting to steroid use. Let's be real, at that time almost all time guys weee doing it, including jones and silva when he fought them. Yet chael just says yeah you caught me and admits that he took them while silva and juice jones and the rest aren't brave enough and come up with excuses

 

[Greco_Wiz]

The second best MW in the world for about 3 years. People forget the whipping he laid on Okami and Marquardt, both of whom were ranked top 5 in the world.

 

[prikoke]

But more than anything, for me, the legacy Chael really deserves is the one of a tough guy. Because regardless of how much he did or did not talk, he always lived up to the classic anyone, anytime, anywhere, any weight.

I actually think Chael wasn't very mentally tough compared to other fighters. He didn't look like he wanted to be in there with Jones, Rashad; even with Anderson one would argue that his will to win was weaker which is why he lost. Come to think of it, he looked like a bit of a front runner.

 

[My name is]

He was entertaining and a cheater amongst cheaters. He had his moments of greatness

 

[ElLunico]

Quitter. Dont rate him highly because he quit everytime he faced adversity

 

[JustOnce]

Oh boy Greg Jackson would be proud, lots of Chael fans on here. I guess they didn't watch or forgot that Bisping got ROBBED against Chael, who felt the same way immediately after the fight as well

 

[Les Vejtibals]

He was elite and if it wasn't for bad luck he would be called a two division champion ...

Beats WEC champion but doesn't get the belt because the champion missed weight.

Beats the bricks off the then invincible Anderson Silvia only to get caught in a triangle the last part of the last round.

In his championship fight with Jones he gets stopped during the last seconds in the round. What most don't remember is Jones toe was almost ripped from his foot. If the ref seen that at any time the fight would have been stopped and Sonnen declared the winner.

Chael Sonnen the almost two division champion !

Paulo sent him the belt.