Chael Sonnen is going to end his combat sports retirement.
To the surprise of everyone, it was announced yesterday that three-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title challenger, Sonnen, is set to box against his biggest rival, Anderson Silva. The match will officially be an exhibition and take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil next month (Sat., June 15, 2024).
Sonnen, 47, retired from mixed martial arts (MMA) after a second round technical knockout loss to Lyoto Machida at Bellator 222 in January 2019. The Silva trilogy will be his debut as a boxer and won’t be his last time in action.
“He offered to do MMA rules,” Sonnen said on Good Guy / Bad Guy. “According to them, Anderson said for Chael to pick the ruleset and it was just a situation where I’ve always wanted to box.
“I’ve got this thing coming up with Jorge Masvidal in October,” he continued. “That thing’s been coming up ever since ESPN sequestered me in Miami at [UFC] 299 to try to protect me from Jorge Masvidal. There was nothing that hurt my ego more than me being the one that’s being locked down. I’ve known this Masvidal thing was coming and then when do you let the cat out of the bag? Masvidal vs. [Nate] Diaz, I don’t want to step on Diaz’s toes, he’s got that fight, but allegedly they moved that fight closer to the [Jake] Paul [vs. Mike] Tyson fight.
“I got Jorge in my sights,” Sonnen concluded. “Anderson, as badly as I want to beat him and as much as I am going to go out there and beat him, it’s all a step in the process. When I get in there with Masvidal, it’s going to be eight rounds and they are going to have the 10 or the 12-ounce gloves, a little bit different situation.”
Sonnen and Masvidal have recently thrown verbal jabs at each other, catching the fight community somewhat off guard. Before they can have a boxing match as Sonnen alludes to, Masvidal will battle Diaz on July 7, 2024. Masvidal, 39, will also be ending his retirement when he takes on Diaz.