There is no denying that Chael Sonnen is the undisputed king of MMA smack magniloquence and he uses every opportunity to let us know.
To some he might come across as a funny and intellectually astute guy, to others, he goes beyond what is morally and ethically acceptable; and in doing so, has exasperated quite a few people along the way with his excoriating comments, none more so than Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva and the Nogueira brothers—Antonio Rodrigo and Antonio Rogerio.
Most recently he found himself in hot water after being reproached by a Brazilian reporter. Even that wasn’t enough to curtail the motor mouth that is Chael Sonnen; he was unrelenting and unapologetic.
So what’s behind the trash talk from the self-styled “American Gangster”? One can only surmise that he craves the publicity that for so long has evaded him or maybe he just likes the sound of his own voice?
Either way, Sonnen is a master publicist. Where other MMA fighters might fail in their oratory skills or lack thereof, Chael shines like a beacon. His WWE style of smack-talking inevitably puts bums on seats and I’m sure this hasn’t gone unnoticed by the UFC hierarchy.
Sonnen, in all honesty, is a talented enough fighter. That was proven when he threw down with arguably the best mixed martial artist in the world: Anderson Silva.
He was seconds away from being crowned the new middleweight champion of the world when “The Spider” spun his web in the guise of a triangle choke, and Chael had no alternative but to tap out. But prior to that, he had controlled the fight in its entirety and in doing so had given Silva one of, if not, the worst beating/s of his MMA career.
Chael’s mixed martial arts record reads: 25 wins, 11 losses and one draw. Of those 25 wins, he has amassed 15 decision wins, most notably against the likes of Yushin Okami, Nate Marquardt and Jason Miller.
Almost entirely, his losses have been more akin to one glaring error; his inability or lack thereof, defending submissions. Submissions being more or less his Achilles heel have lead to eight of his 11 defeats, which have come by way of triangle choke, arm bar and one guillotine choke.
That being said, he has been rated by Sherdog as the No. 2 middleweight in the world, that must count for something or does it? Nevertheless, he is due to take on ex-marine Brian Stann at UFC 136.
So would Chael be better served as a rhetorician for the UFC or MMA in general? Or should he just stick to fighting?
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