On a Scale of 1-10, How Good Was Prime Sonnen's Wrestling?

[Gabe]

Compare him to other great wrestlers throughout MMA - GSP, Couture, Lesnar, Tito, etc. During his prime, which was likely from around the Dan Miller Fight to the Silva rematch, how good do you think Chael's wrestling was?

 

[ortizgnp]

He was like a fucking bulldozer. If he wanted to take you down, you were going down.

 

[Arm Barbarian]

His double leg and top pressure was really, really good.

I'd say he was a solid 9.

 

[CrimsonFan]

Hard to say. He was juiced to the gills and MW was pretty weak


Don't think it was any better than Weidmans

 

[thechoice2]

Overrated as hell. He was relentless with it so that made it look better than what it was, he was great at holding an opponent down once he got the takedown though.

I'd give him a solid 7

 

[Roca]

7.5

 

[cumafish]

he was pretty much taking MW's down at will, I'd give him an 8.5/10.
the PED discussion doesn't really need to be debated, he was on them(TRT) as were many others.

 

[mjmj]

Tough to gauge his overall wrestling game, because he didn't need to use a lot of it. His double leg and top control were so good the rest didn't matter.

 

[CJohnny]

Ben Askren like, maybe even a little better but with worse ground.

Those 2 go for TDs without using anything else. They look like true wrestlers fighting.

That's why when it doesn't work they look bad.

 

[Giovanefugazza]

Best power double in the game

 

[Lo Pan]

I'd say an honest 8/10. Maybe a bit higher. Certainly not lower.

 

[InsideLegKick]

You tell me.

 

[edco76]

I'd give it a solid @

 

[Flex Plexico]

yeah, I'd say an 8, all things considered. Tenacity and relentlessness was the name of the game. He definitely made it work.

I remember assuming Marquardt would fuck him up in their fight, only to witness 15 minutes of Nate being absolutely smothered.

Like other folks have said, MW wasn't full of wrestlers like WW, or modern MW, I guess, so Chael wasn't having to deal with Weidmans and Romeros.

 

[infamouz ice]

About 3 fiddy

 

[RealMadridMMA]

3.50

 

[trident]

Maia

Fucking search engines these days i cant find the gif to imbed.

 

[JohnMandick]

Nothing about Sonnen is "good". All hail the bad guy!

 

[TheWaxMurderer]

As good as any other MW at the time

 

[Prime Ang]

7. Looking back on it he really only looked like he had great wrestling against shit-tier wrestlers (Silva, Bisping, Stann, Marquardt)