West Linn, Oregon native Chael Sonnen came from virtual obscurity four years ago to blaze a trail in MMA which will see his name remembered for years to come.
He took part in what many are calling the biggest UFC event in the promotion’s history and came closer to capturing the middleweight crown from Anderson Silva than any fighter ever has.
But it was a run full of controversy from the start.
No one can deny that it was Sonnen’s mouth that landed him his first title shot. After his victory over Damian Maia, there were few immediate candidates for Silva’s next title defence. Sonnen, on the other hand, had just won his third fight in a row against Nate Marquardt and immediately started his campaign.
He began insulting the fighter in a way that no MMA athlete had ever done. He openly and comically made fun of his skills, his training partners and his country.
He banged his drum loud and got the title shot.
Up until that point, Sonnen had been little more than a journeyman fighter, with early losses to Maia and Paulo Filho. He had not faced anyone of the caliber of Silva in the cage, but during their encounter in 2010, he backed up all his talk.
Despite losing the fight, he was victorious in the eyes of many. He had humbled the champion and was only seconds away from wearing the belt himself. This had never been done to Silva.
Perhaps the expectations were too high for their second encounter. Despite starting so strongly in the first round, it was clear that Sonnen was facing a much tougher Silva in the second. The Brazilian refused to fall despite all of Sonnen’s most heroic efforts, and the “gangster” from West Linn was broken.
Sonnen had come second again.
It’s been the story of his athletic career. Coming second in the 2000 Greco-Roman World University Championships, failing to make the US Olympic team at the last hurdle, losing his first UFC title challenge and now he’s lost his second match against Silva.
This one will be the hardest to recover from, and he can all but forget a third chance at the Brazilian.
What’s more, Silva’s victory was so decisive that Sonnen’s first performance will quickly be forgotten. It was already tainted with steroids, as well as Silva’s claimed rib injury. But now, we saw what a fired-up motivated Silva can do, and there is no question over his “greatest of all time” epithets.
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