Chael Sonnen will make his much-anticipated UFC return when he fights fellow top-level middleweight Brian Stann at UFC 136. The bout will take place on October 8, 2011—nearly 14 months to the day of his most recent fight against Anderson Silva at UFC 117.
The obvious concern with that long away from the cage is that there could be some “ring rust” that Sonnen will need to kick off in order to be successful. In fact, Sonnen himself even admitted that he was concerned about his physical conditioning going into UFC 136.
“I forgot what it’s like. I forgot what it’s like to be sore every day and tired every day and living life uncomfortable due to the training regiment,” he told ESPN. “You push as hard as you can, but look, ring rust is a real thing. It’s going to be a step back. I won’t be at my best on that night, and I’m not gonna lie to myself and make believe that I will be.”
The long layoff came after a post-fight drug test showed that Sonnen had elevated levels of testosterone due to admitted testosterone replacement therapy. The controversial situation, in addition to reports that Anderson Silva was injured going into the fight, have many questioning the legitimacy of Sonnen’s 23-minute dominance, before he got submitted, over Silva at UFC 117.
Was Chael Sonnen really as good as he looked that night? Or was it a combination of “juicing” and an abnormally inefficient Anderson Silva?
The world may never know the answer to that question, but we will know very soon whether his ring rust is real, or if it is just a cliché in an effort to discount a possible loss to Stann.
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans had his own bout with ring rust last month when he fought Tito Ortiz at UFC 133. Evans himself had spent about 14 months out of the Octagon, but appeared to be as good as we have ever seen him when he knocked out Ortiz in the second round of their contest.
The difference is that Evans missed a significant amount of time due to injury, while Sonnen has been healthy and, unfortunately, suspended from competition. He does have the advantage of being able to continue training, though, which is why the ring rust may not be as significant of an aspect to this fight as many believe it will be.
Certainly, an actual fight is different than training, but the biggest problems with ring rust seem to most typically happen when fighters take a significant amount of time off from training. Sonnen hasn’t done that. He has been actively training, even preparing Yushin Okami for his recent battle with Anderson Silva at UFC 134.
Sonnen could very well have a tough time against Stann, but it won’t be because of ring rust. It will be because he can’t get the former light heavyweight to the ground and ends up getting smacked around on his feet.
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