| Sign Up | Google+

Chael Sonnen's MMA legacy will be a 'colossal failure' without championship gold (Video)

Stay connected for news and updates

‬ ‪

"One night. One moment. Twelve pounds of gold‬. This will all be a colossal failure if I don't have that one night. I haven't had too many dark moments, but I'll tell you, in the beginning, trying to break in [to the sport] was so hard. You train the best that you can [this was 10 years ago] and you don't really know what that means -- there's not a lot of MMA gyms and there's almost no MMA coaches. Then I get a call and it's to fight a guy named Jeremy Horn. Now, Jeremy Horn is like the greatest fighter ever at this point -- he's ranked number one in the world, Anderson [Silva] is like six or seven. He's beaten every body. And they say that you have to fight him tomorrow, and if you beat him, we'll put you right in the UFC. I was like okay, send me a plane ticket, and before I know it, I'm flying to Iowa with no cornerman, going to fight in a Monte Cox show, which you might as well turn the lights off and run your head into the wall. So things like that happened to me. I don't know if those are dark moments, but those are some of the things that I remember. I look at today's athletes and sometimes I see them being prima donnas, or not wanting to do certain things, being ungrateful or complaining about their pay as they pull up in a new Ferrari and I think you guys don't know what it's like. This was a very risky business venture that a couple of crazy guys, who risked everything to make, and you're not owed this industry. You should be a little more grateful."

Former number one contender Chael Sonnen often talks about not needing a major mixed martial arts (MMA) world title to validate his existence as one of the best fighters to ever step inside the Octagon. He's the self-proclaimed "Peoples Champion," remember? However, it wasn't too long ago that Sonnen faced Paulo Filho in a championship rematch under the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) banner, which was eventually made into a three-round, non-title fight when the Brazilian space cadet tipped the scales seven pounds too heavy. Sonnen would go on to win that contest via unanimous decision in one of the oddest fights ever, but failed to honor a promise made to his late father that he would one day be a world champion. Sure, Filho promised to mail Sonnen the belt "out of respect," but that's not really the same as wearing the belt out of the cage and hanging it over the fireplace. Sonnen again missed out on honoring that promise when he tapped to an Anderson Silva submission (triangle choke) with less than two minutes to spare in a fight he was clearly winning on the judges scorecards. It's rather clear that Sonnen pines to be recognized as a legitimate MMA world champion, despite his outrageous claims to the contrary. Can he do it?

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Recent Posts

Stay connected for news and updates

The Next Read

There are 74 Comments. Load Now. Loading

Shortcuts to mastering the comment thread. Use wisely.

C - Next Comment
X - Mark as Read

R - Reply
Z - Mark Read & Next

Shift + C - Previous
Shift + A - Mark All Read

Comment Settings

Live comment alert: Hide it!

Comments for this post are closed.

tracking_pixel_5349_tracker tracking_pixel_5351_tracker