Chael Sonnen entered UFC 159 talking plenty of trash, but he wasn’t in any position to open his mouth following a first-round knockout from light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
Bones Jones landed several blows to Sonnen‘s face in the first round, leaving his face bloodied and leading to the total knockout.
The Sonnen-Jones matchup was one that was a long time coming, as the two had an opportunity to fight in August 2012 after Jones’ opponent at time, Dan Henderson, was forced to back out, leaving Sonnen as the fill-in. Jones declined to fight Sonnen, forcing UFC president Dana White to cancel an event for the first time ever.
Following the TKO by Jones, Sonnen hinted that his time in the fighting game may be up. According to John Morgan of USA Today, Sonnen said, “I’m not going to be one of the guys to hang around. If there’s not a road to the title, then this sport isn’t for me. I believe that was probably my last opportunity.”
The 36-year-old is still in excellent condition and clearly has the fighting skills to continue fighting, but success isn’t something that has followed Sonnen of late. He’s lost three of his last five UFC title fights, highlighted by two defeats to Anderson Silva.
You can knock Sonnen for his trash talking and loud mouth, but he certainly knows when he’s been outmatched and just flat out beat (h/t UFC).
So with all that said, what is next for Chael Sonnen if he does call it quits in the UFC?
Case Keefer of the Las Vegas Sun found that Sonnen could still be involved in the fighting game—only not in actual competition. Here’s what Sonnen had to say:
“I like to fight, but I love this business, and there are so many opportunities that are out there that weren’t here a few years ago. And broadcasting is one of them.”
So there you have it, folks.
I’m not 100 percent sold on Sonnen ending his fighting career just yet. I can see him giving it a go another couple of times before he finally calls it quits, but if he gets abused like he did versus Jones, it’ll be over for Sonnen.
Nonetheless, broadcasting seems like the perfect post-fight career for him. If you’ve ever seen him on ESPN or any other public appearance, you know he has one of the best personalities of any athlete in professional sports.
If there’s one thing we learned from Saturday’s UFC 159 event, it’s that very few can hang with Jon Jones, and it’s certainly not Chael Sonnen.
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