Author: Kyle Symes

Chael Sonnen Calls Himself ‘Shady,’ Admits to Biting an Opponent

Anyone stepping up to challenge Chael Sonnen now knows they should watch their fingers carefully.
The polarizing former UFC competitor weighed in on the Luis Suarez biting incident. If you have been living under a rock for the past few days, Suarez was…

Anyone stepping up to challenge Chael Sonnen now knows they should watch their fingers carefully.

The polarizing former UFC competitor weighed in on the Luis Suarez biting incident. If you have been living under a rock for the past few days, Suarez was banned for nine games and four months for biting an opposing player during the 2014 World Cup.

Here’s what Sonnen had to say about it on Wednesday night’s Fox Sports Live (h/t MMA Fighting):

Lets start with what happened on the soccer field. To bite someone in the course of battle at least somehow makes some kind of sense. To walk up behind a guy and just bite into his shoulder is just a very weird thing to do.

I’ve never experienced it in the Octagon, but I have experienced it in wrestling matches. I’ll be quite honest, I’ve been on both sides of it. That’s right. I’m very shady.

Now, they stuck their finger in my mouth. He put his finger in my mouth and was trying to give me the old fishhook, so I gave him just a little, gentle bite to let him know, ‘I will chomp on this thing should you not remove your finger.’ Shady.

Fans of amateur wrestling shouldn’t be shocked by this, as a number of incidents that wouldn’t seem socially acceptable go down during a wrestling meet (the “oil check” is a common one that makes people gasp in horror and annoys the victim).

There’s definitely no shortage of horror stories that amateur wrestlers could share, as they’re often some of the most competitive athletes in all of sports.

What’s interesting outside of his anecdote is the fact that Sonnen openly admits to being a “shady” person despite trying to generate sympathy for a failed drug test only a few weeks prior.

Following the failed test, he announced his retirement from MMA, realizing that he couldn’t survive in a post-TRT world. Although the “gangster from West Linn” won’t be putting on a pair of four-ounce gloves anytime soon, that doesn’t mean he won’t be staying active.

Sonnen is slated to compete against former Strikeforce fighter Andre Galvao at Metamoris 4 on Aug. 9. The promotion features a card full of talented grapplers including familiar names like Josh Barnett, Dean Lister and Vinny Magalhaes.

The pay-per-view event will be streaming on Metamoris.com.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC: 5 Fighters That Will Have Successful Post-Fight Careers

For many MMA fighters, fighting is all they know. There is no life after hanging up the gloves for some guys.
The guys on this list don’t fall into that group of fighters.
That’s because whether it’s stepping into an announcer’s booth, sitting down beh…

For many MMA fighters, fighting is all they know. There is no life after hanging up the gloves for some guys.

The guys on this list don’t fall into that group of fighters.

That’s because whether it’s stepping into an announcer’s booth, sitting down behind a news desk or running classes in a gym, the fighters on this list will have successful post-fight careers. If anyone has been around enough fighters, you’ll know that some are made to be coaches or have the gift of gab and some simply don’t.

These guys have those qualities and then some. For them, fighting is fun, but they don’t have to ever worry about getting to the point of fighting for a paycheck because they know (or should know) that there will be a steady stream of money following their active careers.

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UFC: Junior Dos Santos, Urijah Faber and 5 Fighters Stuck in No Man’s Land

Every UFC fighter steps into the Octagon with the hope of elevating themselves to a UFC title shot. But what happens when there’s a major roadblock in the way?
That’s the situation in which guys like Junior dos Santos and Urijah Faber find themselves. …

Every UFC fighter steps into the Octagon with the hope of elevating themselves to a UFC title shot. But what happens when there’s a major roadblock in the way?

That’s the situation in which guys like Junior dos Santos and Urijah Faber find themselves. The end result of fighting is always to push up the rankings, but for these guys, there’s only so far they can go. The fighters on this list find themselves in a bit of limbo in that they can defeat nearly every contender thrown their way, but UFC gold is just outside their grasp.

There’s always hope for something drastic to change for them to be featured in another title fight, but that’s unlikely to happen unless the current champion in their division falters.

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MMA: Things Scott Coker Should Address as Bellator’s New Leader

Scott Coker already enjoyed great success while running Strikeforce, now the promoter has a new task ahead of him—transforming Bellator into a credible No. 2 promotion.
While it’s true the promotion has been thought of as a second-tier prom…

Scott Coker already enjoyed great success while running Strikeforce, now the promoter has a new task ahead of him—transforming Bellator into a credible No. 2 promotion.

While it’s true the promotion has been thought of as a second-tier promotion, it was more or less handed that title by default with Strikeforce closing up shop. Bellator has struggled to find an identity for itself outside of hosting tournaments, and it has come under fire through MMA media and fans on numerous occasions.

The promotion held a news conference but did little to answer questions that fans and analysts had. There’s a certain level of uncertainty mixed with intrigue in Coker taking the reins in Bellator.

With Viacom backing Coker as its man, the new head honcho would be wise to quickly address these issues.

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UFC: Why TUF 20 Can Save Us from the Horrible Season That Was TUF 19

Those of us who have been unfortunate enough to tune in every Wednesday for the past few weeks can all agree that The Ultimate Fighter 19 has been one of the most unwatchable shows in the history of cable TV.
When the president of the company says it’s…

Those of us who have been unfortunate enough to tune in every Wednesday for the past few weeks can all agree that The Ultimate Fighter 19 has been one of the most unwatchable shows in the history of cable TV.

When the president of the company says it’s the worst ever, you know things have been bad. Although Frankie Edgar and BJ Penn have a history, they haven’t made an attempt to take verbal jabs at each other, which has led to some bland coaching interactions.

People look forward to the fights during the season, but they’ve been mildly entertaining or downright awful. A number of fights were won thanks to a single takedown or punch because nothing else happened.

But as bad as TUF 19 has been, there’s hope for fans who are looking forward to the next season of The Ultimate Fighter.

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‘King Mo’ Lawal and Quinton Jackson Exchange Twitter Jabs After Rebney’s Exit

The topic of Bjorn Rebney being ousted at Bellator MMA has become a hot topic for fans in social media. Now fighters under Bellator’s umbrella are revealing their thoughts.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson discussed the possibility of retiring …

The topic of Bjorn Rebney being ousted at Bellator MMA has become a hot topic for fans in social media. Now fighters under Bellator‘s umbrella are revealing their thoughts.

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson discussed the possibility of retiring earlier today, and while it seemed typical of Jackson to critizise the sport he competes in, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal believes he knows why Jackson wants to hang up the gloves.

If you’ll recall, Lawal believed Rebney was a big fan of Jackson.

Jackson and Lawal fought one another on the first-ever Bellator pay-per-view last month in the light-heavyweight tournament finals. The fight was rather lackluster and Jackson would end up taking a unanimous decision over Lawal.

Normally tournament champions receive a title shot following their victories, but that doesn’t appear to be the case with Jackson. The current Bellator light-heavyweight champ, Emanuel Newton, is a training partner of Jackson’s, and Rampage has made it clear he doesn’t intend to fight his teammate.

Lawal has struggled thus far in his Bellator career, losing twice to Newton and failing to make the impact Bellator had hoped for when they brought him in.

With Jackson already owning victories over Lawal and his teammate the reigning champion, there aren’t that many options available for Rampage. He could bump up to heavyweight but could run into teammate and friend Cheick Kongo should he enter another tournament.

There’s a lot of uncertainty with Bellator right now, so Jackson would be wise to wait out the storm until the company finds a new direction.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com