Chael Sonnen has made up his mind about his future with the UFC, and that future will be at the 205-pound weight limit. Sonnen’s first opponent at light heavyweight will be a familiar face, not only to fans of the UFC, but to Sonnen as well as he faced the man he will meet in the Octagon on December 29 once before.
On Tuesday night Sonnen, appearing on Fuel TV’s UFC Tonight announced that he would be meeting Forrest Griffin in Las Vegas. The fight does not have a venue as of yet.
In their first meeting the 7-1 Griffin moved to 8-1 when he submitted Sonnen by, you guessed it, a triangle choke. The loss dropped Sonnen’s record to 6-2-1. That loss took place on the September 6, 2003, IFC Global Domination card. That one-night tournament featured, in addition to Sonnen and Griffin, Jeremy Horn, Trevor Prangley, Mauricio Rua and the eventual winner of the tournament, Renato “Babalu” Sobral.
In addition to announcing his fight against Griffin on UFC Tonight, Sonnen made it clear who and what his ultimate goal is going to be once he begins fighting in the UFC’s light heavyweight division, Jon Jones and the belt he wears around his waist:
Sure I could go up to 205 and I could take Jon Jones’ belt away the same as I could take his candy on Halloween. He’s a little punk kid, I could snatch it away all I want, but there’s something to be said in sportsmanship for earning your shot, and on the 29th of December, I’m going to go through Forrest to do it.
Check out the video to see Griffin and Sonnen in their younger, pre-UFC days.
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