Trying to understand the demand for Sonnen??

[Pangi]

Chael has an exciting fight style he dosn't stall or LnP . He is always full force and constantly attacking . His promoting skills are awesome aswell which is why he would be one of the highest paid ufc fighters today . Yes his last few performances were not him he fought Rashad a former champ and after he had a surgery (unconfirmed) he fought JJ . Who hasn't been demolished by him really apart from Gus . And the second Anderson fight were he got hit in the solar plex and most of the keyboard warriors here wouldn't know what that's like . But he is a highly skilled fighter just at his natural weight class which is MW

 

[Wingkongexchang**]

I mean I can understand why he's marketable to the casual viewer, but here we are on sherdog where most people would be considered somewhat hardcore fans.

Ok, so here's a guy who's not very interesting as a fighter, certainly his style is not exciting, and he's not even a contender in any weight class at this point. He's funny I'll give him that, he's made me laugh plenty, but once I remind myself that I'm no longer a 9 year old watching Hulk Hogan threaten Macho Man, and that all the hype and trash talk we see in mma before a fight is totally meaningless, I ask myself why are people so interested to see this guy fight?

I know Wand dropping out of their fight was news for that day, but I couldn't get over how many threads were started over it. Really, a fight between a washed up legend and a mid-level fighter who's a top level trash talker had people that excited??

Now some are suggesting another title shot for Sonnen if he beats Vitor lol. Am I the only one who saw Sonnen fold like a yellow cur in his last 3 losses?? He talks such a good game, but then doesn't even put up a fight when the moment comes. He straight up rolled over and died against Rashad. He basically went in there just to collect a paycheck, didn't put on any kind of show for the fans, and just did about as well as I would do if it was me fighting in his place. Yet there's still this Sonnen cult following, people matching him up with all these top fighters, talking about title shots, etc.

To me he will always be the guy who talked his way into money, and I applaud him for it. I mean how many other B-level fighters who dont have an exciting personality or fighting style can say they're as well known as Chael. So this is in no way a thread bashing Chael, my hats off to him for maximizing his profit with the very little that he had. It's more of a question to his fanboys, what's interesting about this guy if he's not talking??

/yawn ufc

Chael one of the few guys who is entertaining. Id rather see Chael fight every card than see guys like Jones (as soon as Gus the Swede takes the belt, I hope i never even hear of Jones again) I hate Matt Serra, the same goes for his stooge, but even more. This guy isn't gonna be the MW champ. Who are all these guys that are so amazing? And why do you care who other people find interesting? Sounds like you are just being petty.

 

[Exel***]

He is awesome. Nuff said.

 

[Koro_11]

Cause Sonnen has balls, and jumps right in the face of fighters most other fighters run away from.

If you can't at least respect that aspect about him, you're probably a pussy that got picked on a lot.

"Oh ya bro, he's fearless because he fought this guy and that guy..."

Stfu meat head, they're fighters, it's their job and they're getting paid a lot of money to do it. Chael is not the only guy who fought killers, but he is one of the only guys I've seen give up so easily.

 

[MilesAbove]

Always accepts fights. Underrated talent by many. Isn't afraid to be the bad guy.


/discussion?

 

[8limbscientist]

I mean I can understand why he's marketable to the casual viewer, but here we are on sherdog where most people would be considered somewhat hardcore fans.

Ok, so here's a guy who's not very interesting as a fighter, certainly his style is not exciting, and he's not even a contender in any weight class at this point. He's funny I'll give him that, he's made me laugh plenty, but once I remind myself that I'm no longer a 9 year old watching Hulk Hogan threaten Macho Man, and that all the hype and trash talk we see in mma before a fight is totally meaningless, I ask myself why are people so interested to see this guy fight?

I know Wand dropping out of their fight was news for that day, but I couldn't get over how many threads were started over it. Really, a fight between a washed up legend and a mid-level fighter who's a top level trash talker had people that excited??

Now some are suggesting another title shot for Sonnen if he beats Vitor lol. Am I the only one who saw Sonnen fold like a yellow cur in his last 3 losses?? He talks such a good game, but then doesn't even put up a fight when the moment comes. He straight up rolled over and died against Rashad. He basically went in there just to collect a paycheck, didn't put on any kind of show for the fans, and just did about as well as I would do if it was me fighting in his place. Yet there's still this Sonnen cult following, people matching him up with all these top fighters, talking about title shots, etc.

To me he will always be the guy who talked his way into money, and I applaud him for it. I mean how many other B-level fighters who dont have an exciting personality or fighting style can say they're as well known as Chael. So this is in no way a thread bashing Chael, my hats off to him for maximizing his profit with the very little that he had. It's more of a question to his fanboys, what's interesting about this guy if he's not talking??

I totally agree with you. Personally I think Sonnen is a boring scumbag. I enjoy watching him get finished, it's happened allot. Wanderlei has been my hero since early high school. Seeing this play out this way is the most disappointed I have been in an extremely long time.

 

[smellmyfarts]

Sonnen is a favorite of the pro-wrestling crowd that came over when Brock started fighting. He's always been a guy that's talked his way into big fights that usually result in him proving he doesn't belong there (Rashad, Jones, etc)

I think he should have gone to WWE after the second Anderson fight.

 

[Koro_11]

Always accepts fights. Underrated talent by many. Isn't afraid to be the bad guy.


/discussion?

Are you guys all teenagers?

So you think him accepting to fight Jon Jones for a title is some act of bravery?

The entire LHW division is fighting each other to get a shot at Jones.

Chael is a pro fighter who gets paid big money to fight, even bigger money when it's against a Jones or a Silva.

He's no more or less brave than anyone else, he's just smart enough to market himself.

 

[8limbscientist]

/yawn ufc

Chael one of the few guys who is entertaining. Id rather see Chael fight every card than see guys like Jones (as soon as Gus the Swede takes the belt, I hope i never even hear of Jones again) I hate Matt Serra, the same goes for his stooge, but even more. This guy isn't gonna be the MW champ. Who are all these guys that are so amazing? And why do you care who other people find interesting? Sounds like you are just being petty.

Allot of fail in this post. Sonnen is not exciting, it's awfully strange he has fans with his style of stiff boxing/lay and pray.

 

[8limbscientist]

I think he should have gone to WWE after the second Anderson fight.

The best thing about that 2nd Andy fight was watching all the rage threads on this site

 

[DoctorNick]

Rashad lost his title to Machida, and was beat by a washed up Lil Nog... he's a good fighter, but let's not get carried away.

And I'm not saying Chael is a scrub, but he's grossly overated. The highlight of his career is "almost" beating Anderson, and even that's tarnished considering Anderson fought injured and Chael failed the drug test after.

Ya he got his ass handed to him by 2 GOATS, but he was just given the second Anderson shot because he wouldn't shut up, and the Jones fight was a complete joke which proved he didn't belong fighting for titles, yet some of his fanboys are still asking for him to get another shot. That's what I dont get, he didn't entertain anyone in any of those fights, he rolled over and quit in the first round and collected a big fat paycheck off the guppies who paid to see him fight, and they're willing to do it all over again lol.

I couldn't agree more with the bolded section. He is definitely not a can by any means, but he is also nowhere near contender/champ. His only wins in recent memory are Shogun (love him but he really should retire), and Bryan Stann (doesn't know how to wrestle). Chael can talk the talk, but he's proven multiple times he can't walk the walk.

 

[MilesAbove]

Are you guys all teenagers?

So you think him accepting to fight Jon Jones for a title is some act of bravery?

The entire LHW division is fighting each other to get a shot at Jones.

Chael is a pro fighter who gets paid big money to fight, even bigger money when it's against a Jones or a Silva.

He's no more or less brave than anyone else, he's just smart enough to market himself.

If you ever paid attention to MMA news you'd know how many people duck out of fights are refuse potential matchups. Chael doesn't do it. Just because you don't like him doesn't mean you have to pretend his positive qualities don't exist.


He was willing to fight Jones on short notice. He was willing to take the Cormier fight after Rashad fell out. He steps up to fight constantly, including Silva when nobody thought he could win but nobody else would take him on... then fights Jones and Rashad just cuz.

The guy is awesome, despite his personality being a bit obnoxious at times.

 

[Koro_11]

If you ever paid attention to MMA news you'd know how many people duck out of fights are refuse potential matchups. Chael doesn't do it. Just because you don't like him doesn't mean you have to pretend his positive qualities don't exist.


He was willing to fight Jones on short notice. He was willing to take the Cormier fight after Rashad fell out. He steps up to fight constantly, including Silva when nobody thought he could win but nobody else would take him on... then fights Jones and Rashad just cuz.

The guy is awesome, despite his personality being a bit obnoxious at times.

That could be because other fighters wanted a full training camp because their goal is to actually try to beat Jones, whereas Chael's goal was just to show up knowing whatever happens he collects a fat paycheck.

That's not bravery, that's greed and it's not that interesting now that we know he cant hang at the top, yet his fans are still willing to pay to see him try to do it.

 

[Free_MMAson]

He sold my home and got me a good price for it, so I am a fan for life

 

[rjmbrd]

We can all just suspend disbelief and pretend he didn't beat the brakes off Silva at a time when the world thought he was invincible (including dropping him with punches and 10-8 rounds) and that he summarily choked out Shogun in the first round to everyones disbelief.

The dude is a wildcard and an attention magnet. He's got plenty of holes in his game and just as many tricks. I can't imagine why people would say he wasn't interesting to watch, I'm tuning in whenever he fights.

He also beat Miller, Marquardt, Okami, Stann and Bisping when all of those opponents where meaningful in their division. He shouldn't be a #1 contender because of the past, but he didn't ask for a Belfort fight - they asked him.

If you beat the #1 contender who's been fantastically KO'ing everyone, I don't have a problem with you taking that spot.

 

[skombolis]

I thought him pulling guard to submit Rua or being a few minutes away from being the first guy to beat Silva and it would have been a 50-45 win was pretty exciting

If you were nine I would understand more how you wouldn't realize what you were seeing. But if you are an adult, hard-core fan this is pretty bizarre. He has pretty much beaten everyone after his first fight in the UFC that wasn't a dominant champ and potential GOAT, a former champ still in the top #3, and several of his losses to top tier guys also came at a higher weight class then the one best suited for him.

Then you have the fact that on top of normally being pretty funny, he calls things for what they are, is an intelligent guy who does a good job commentating, and still at this stage in his career will fight the top fighters on short notice. What else would it take for you and how does 90% of the UFC (especially predominately wrestler/grapplers) stack up better?

 

[thechoice2]

lol I'll never understand how someone that cuts more than 25 pounds can be considered a "Natural MW". He's one of the biggest weight-cutters out when he makes the MW limit, he's not a small LHW, he looked slightly bigger than Rashad when they fought.

 

[Koro_11]

I'd give him credit for the loss in the first Anderson fight if he didn't piss hot after, and if Anderson was healthy.

 

[grimballer]

If you ever paid attention to MMA news you'd know how many people duck out of fights are refuse potential matchups. Chael doesn't do it. Just because you don't like him doesn't mean you have to pretend his positive qualities don't exist.


He was willing to fight Jones on short notice. He was willing to take the Cormier fight after Rashad fell out. He steps up to fight constantly, including Silva when nobody thought he could win but nobody else would take him on... then fights Jones and Rashad just cuz.

The guy is awesome, despite his personality being a bit obnoxious at times.

Calling sonnen brave for taking those fights is like calling a failing student smart cause he took the exam without studying.

 

[skombolis]

I couldn't agree more with the bolded section. He is definitely not a can by any means, but he is also nowhere near contender/champ. His only wins in recent memory are Shogun (love him but he really should retire), and Bryan Stann (doesn't know how to wrestle). Chael can talk the talk, but he's proven multiple times he can't walk the walk.

So anybody who doesn't beat champions or the highest ranked contenders, normally above his natural weight class, can't walk the walk?

And you understand its in his financial interest to hype fights that he knows his chances aren't great in. He even said before the Shad fight he didn't know how he would beat him but he would try to find a way. So he also can be pretty straight about his chances but everyone knows he will get in against anyone and try. With Jones destroying his toe pushing back Sonnen's attempt to move him and sn arguably bad stoppage and Silva's late submission he was unbelievably close to having the belt in both divisions despite fighting guys way better than him. And has pretty much beat anyone not ranked #2-3 or higher. Do only belt-holders qualify as "walking the talk"?