Chael Sonnen, perhaps more than anyone else, has had his entire career built around a losing effort. That is not to diminish Sonnen’s accomplishments. He has wins over some of the best middleweights in MMA today.
But ever since beating Nate Marquardt at UFC 109 in February 2010, Chael Sonnen has been about one thing; he wants to destroy Anderson Silva in every possible way. His legacy, his person, his fame.
It is important to keep the roots of this rivalry in mind.
While Silva is as popular as ever, he was truly approaching pariah status in 2010. What seemed to be an absolute lack of effort or interest in fights against Patrick Cote, Thales Leites and Demian Maia had inspired a lot of hate from fans and fighters alike. Sonnen tried to capitalize on the growing anti-Silva sentiment by employing inordinate amounts of smack talk.
He called Silva names, said he was going to get fired and on and on. As much talk as possible. Non-stop.
That was all well and good. The thing was, and this surprised many, Sonnen backed up his talk when they fought at UFC 117.
Sonnen took Silva down at will.
He pounded him mercilessly, landing 289 hits according to Compustrike.
He out-grappled him with no effort, keeping Silva on his back for almost the entire fight.
Truly, he made Silva look like he had no clue what he was doing. Then, in the waning minutes of the last round, Sonnen lost by triangle choke.
Talk of an immediate rematch boomed, but was silenced when news hit that Sonnen had tested positive for an extremely abnormal T/E ratio (which, during appeals, was alleged to be due to self-administered but doctor-prescribed, TRT). The delay was lengthened after he was suspended further due to legal trouble in an alleged mortgage fraud case.
At this point, Sonnen brilliantly kept himself relevant in the MMA by constantly seeking the spotlight. He appeared on a variety of MMA news shows and used his new reporter gigs to deliver even more smack talk about a wider variety of fighters, but he always found time to take shots at the middleweight champion.
Eventually, Sonnen returned to fighting an even bigger personality than himself. His first fight back was a title eliminator against Brian Stann. Sonnen used his superior wrestling to dominate the fight; after being declared the winner, Sonnen delivered one of the most memorable post-fight interviews ever, calling Silva out to a match and saying that he must leave the division if he won, while Sonnen himself would leave the UFC if he lost.
At this point Silva had already reclaimed his former glory, with three fights separating him from his last yawn-inspiring bout against Demian Maia, courtesy of two knockouts (including the wildly popular front-kick KO of Vitor Belfort) on top of submitting Sonnen. He was no longer the magnet for controversy he had been, and those three ugly fights were officially a footnote in Silva’s history.
Talk of Silva vs. Sonnen II swirled, but quieted once again after Silva declared he needed surgery on an injured shoulder. Sonnen returned to name-calling and, as has become common in the fight game, claimed that Silva was faking and, once again, avoiding a fight with him.
Sonnen once again had to fight for the chance to face Silva, this time against Mark Munoz in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 2. Munoz had to withdraw from the bout after elbow surgery and was replaced with Michael Bisping. In the press events building up to the fight, Sonnen still focused on Silva more than his actual opponent.
Sonnen won a semi-controversial unanimous decision, but still offered another hilarious post-fight interview. He then changed his strategy when it came to smack-talking Silva, and began insisting that the fight was not going to take place while taking potshots at some of the Brazilian fighters that had taken issue with him like the Nogueira brothers and Lyoto Machida.
Still, everything he was doing was all about ensuring that rematch. That brings us to today, where Sonnen has now spent two full years of his life entirely dedicated to getting the chance to fight Anderson Silva.
With a date set, the question must be asked. What is Chael Sonnen going to do after fighting Anderson Silva?
He has not made many friends with his endless jawing, so if he wins that makes things easy.
He has plenty of prospective opponents. Mark Munoz and Vitor Belfort (assuming he beats Wanderlei Silva) both have the resumes to step into a title fight with Sonnen. There are also a few guys that could get into place for a title bout in the near future like Hector Lombard, Tim Boetsch and Alan Belcher. The possibility of an immediate rematch with Silva should also be mentioned.
If Sonnen loses, though, question marks start popping up. Will Sonnen really go gently into that good night? It is hard to imagine him fading back into the middleweight pack when he worked his way into becoming one of the best-known fighters in the UFC.
Will his ruthless mockery of Silva stay fresh and funny if he loses again? Will he even be able to be taken seriously if he talks smack, but loses in a more convincing fashion? What of the appearances he makes on ESPN’s MMA Hour and Fuel TV?
It is hard to say, but regardless of how the fight goes, it is hard to believe Sonnen will maintain the same level of stardom if he loses. Even if he brutalizes Silva en route to another late submission loss, there is no way Sonnen stays this popular if he does not come out on top.
This is do or die for him because if he loses, we are likely to see a lot less Chael Sonnen in the future. Obviously, he will not completely fall off the map. He will still be a top three middleweight.
Sonnen’s popularity is from his claims of being the best fighter in the world, though. Claiming he is one of the better guys in one division just does not hold the same appeal.
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