While former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight title contender Chael Sonnen is still banned from the Octagon, he might just be poised to start appearing in the squared circle. Speaking on Off the Record with Michael Landsberg on TSN, “The American Gangster” spilled the beans that he would be meeting with representatives of the WWE at WrestleMania 31.
“I got a call. WWE said, ‘Look, we’ve got WrestleMania. We’ve got a Hall of Fame show coming up,'” he explained. “If you want to come out…come on out. We want to talk to you about some stuff.”
The kicker? According to Sonnen, his longtime rival Wanderlei Silva was also invited.
The development is not especially surprising. Sonnen has long utilized a professional wrestling playbook to advance his MMA career, most notably using public call-outs to generate excitement for his fights. He has also repeatedly stuck his toe into WWE waters, famously calling out Vince McMahon and at-the-time WWE champion (now a UFC fighter) CM Punk on Twitter.
Last year, Sonnen discussed on his “You’re Welcome” podcast that the WWE tried to lure him into professional wrestling and out of MMA, per MMAFighting.com, with a $5 million offer. Whether or not that was bluster, hyperbole or the stone-cold truth is unclear, but this is not the first time Sonnen has hinted at an interest in joining the WWE.
Sonnen was not clear about what he was expecting out of the meeting or what role he would expect to take in the company. However, a commentary, analysis or even manager position would be a great fit for the bombastic fighter.
Worth noting is that the main event of WrestleMania 31 is currently slated to be former UFC heavyweight champion (and current WWE world heavyweight champion) Brock Lesnar against controversial 2015 Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns. There has been a great deal of speculation that Lesnar is poised to leave the WWE in order to return to the UFC, which makes the timing quite interesting.
Check in with Bleacher Report in the coming months for updates as they come available.
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