Former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight title challenger Chael Sonnen is ready to make his return to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA), but this time he’ll be competing for rival promotion Bellator MMA who has made a habit of signing some of the UFC’s biggest names away in free agency. Sonnen’s return comes following serving
Former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight title challenger Chael Sonnen is ready to make his return to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA), but this time he’ll be competing for rival promotion Bellator MMA who has made a habit of signing some of the UFC’s biggest names away in free agency.
Sonnen’s return comes following serving a two-year suspension after failing a random drug test and testing positive for performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) in 2014. After repeatedly reiterating the fact that he has no plans to return to fighting throughout the course of his suspension, Sonnen flipped the script on everyone and terminated his contract with the UFC before signing over with Bellator.
‘The Bad Guy’ will return to fighting action when he steps into the cage with former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz, who Sonnen has a bit of history with stemming from their days in college wrestling.
On January 23, 1997, which just so happened to be Ortiz’s birthday, the two met in a college wrestling match in which Sonnen emerged victorious after pinning ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’. Since then the loss has left a sour taste in Ortiz’s mouth, and their bout at Bellator 170 gives the former UFC champ his shot at long-awaited redemption.
January 21st also presents a shot at redemption for Sonnen as well, however, but for a much different reason. Prior to his father’s passing Sonnen promised his father that he would defeat Ortiz in the UFC and become the 205-pound champion of the world; a promise that proved to be unsuccessful as ‘The Bad Guy’ never got the chance to square off with Ortiz during his run in the UFC:
“When my dad died the last thing I ever said to him – I said ‘I’m going to beat Tito Ortiz, and Ima win the world championship.’ That’s the only promise I never – it’s the only promise I never kept. But Ima make it right on January 21st. “
Having defeated Ortiz and witnessing him go on to become a champion in the UFC after dropping out of college, Sonnen continued his academic career while pondering the thought that he could beat his former wrestling foe inside the Octagon as well. Now Sonnen will get the opportunity to prove whether or not those thoughts were accurate when the two finally meet in MMA competition later this month.
Sonnen and Ortiz will meet in the main event of Bellator 170 live on Spike TV, from The Forum Arena in Inglewood, California on January 21, 2016.
You can check out Sonnen’s comments on the unkept promise to his father that he hopes to ‘make right’ here:
The 74th installment of the Golden Globes took place last night (Jan. 8, 2016) and surprisingly, mixed martial arts came up during actress Meryl Streep’s acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. During her speech, Streep proclaimed that MMA ‘is not the arts’. Check out what she had to say below: “Who
The 74th installment of the Golden Globes took place last night (Jan. 8, 2016) and surprisingly, mixed martial arts came up during actress Meryl Streep’s acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. During her speech, Streep proclaimed that MMA ‘is not the arts’.
Check out what she had to say below:
“Who are we, and what is Hollywood anyway? It’s just a bunch of people from other places,” proclaimed Streep during her acceptance speech. ” … So, Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners. And if we kick them all out, we’ll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts.”
In response to her comments, Bellator boss Scott Coker invited Streep to attend Bellator 170, which will take place on Jan. 21, 2016 at The Forum in Inglewood, California:
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title holder Tito Ortiz is set to retire following his bout with Chael Sonnen at Bellator 170. With 31 bouts in his professional career, Ortiz has amassed numerous injuries in between his success.
At a recent conference call, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” said he has gone under the knife too many times to continue fighting:
“This retirement is well due. Twenty years of competition has pretty much, I’d still be fighting if it wasn’t for my surgeries.”
Ortiz has enjoyed some unexpected success in Bellator. Going into the promotion, Ortiz had gone 1-7-1 in his last nine fights. He shocked the world of mixed martial arts (MMA) when he submitted then middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko in the first round of a non-title light heavyweight bout.
He went on to face rival Stephan Bonnar at Bellator 131. The event drew 1.8 million viewers and peaked at 2 million for Ortiz’ bout. Ortiz won the fight via split decision.
“The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” fought Liam McGeary for the light heavyweight championship. Ortiz tapped out in the first round from an inverted triangle choke.
Whether he wins or loses on Jan. 21, the once dominant 205-pound ruler appears to be done for good. Ortiz said he is ready to finally walk away from the sport that has been unforgiving on his body.
“My biggest enemy has been my surgeries. I’ve had an ACL replaced in my left knee, ACL replaced in my right knee, 50 percent of my meniscus taken out of my right knee, lower back fusion, C-6, C-7 fused in my neck, C-5, C-4 disk replacement, C-4, C-3 fused. I’ve had 26, 27 concussions, hundreds of stitches, I’ve been through the grinder. My biggest enemy has been my body.”
Bellator 170 will air live on Spike 9 p.m. ET. The event will take place from The Forum in Inglewood, California.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzHhVjsLddM
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title holder Tito Ortiz is set to retire following his bout with Chael Sonnen at Bellator 170. With 31 bouts in his professional career, Ortiz has amassed numerous injuries in between his success.
At a recent conference call, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” said he has gone under the knife too many times to continue fighting:
“This retirement is well due. Twenty years of competition has pretty much, I’d still be fighting if it wasn’t for my surgeries.”
Ortiz has enjoyed some unexpected success in Bellator. Going into the promotion, Ortiz had gone 1-7-1 in his last nine fights. He shocked the world of mixed martial arts (MMA) when he submitted then middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko in the first round of a non-title light heavyweight bout.
He went on to face rival Stephan Bonnar at Bellator 131. The event drew 1.8 million viewers and peaked at 2 million for Ortiz’ bout. Ortiz won the fight via split decision.
“The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” fought Liam McGeary for the light heavyweight championship. Ortiz tapped out in the first round from an inverted triangle choke.
Whether he wins or loses on Jan. 21, the once dominant 205-pound ruler appears to be done for good. Ortiz said he is ready to finally walk away from the sport that has been unforgiving on his body.
“My biggest enemy has been my surgeries. I’ve had an ACL replaced in my left knee, ACL replaced in my right knee, 50 percent of my meniscus taken out of my right knee, lower back fusion, C-6, C-7 fused in my neck, C-5, C-4 disk replacement, C-4, C-3 fused. I’ve had 26, 27 concussions, hundreds of stitches, I’ve been through the grinder. My biggest enemy has been my body.”
Bellator 170 will air live on Spike 9 p.m. ET. The event will take place from The Forum in Inglewood, California.
It’s pretty clear that there is no love lost between former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz and former UFC middleweight fighter and title contender Chael Sonnen, who will fight each other later this month at Bellator 170. While speaking with the media (quotes courtesy of MMA Junkie) on Tuesday during a conference call, Ortiz
It’s pretty clear that there is no love lost between former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz and former UFC middleweight fighter and title contender Chael Sonnen, who will fight each other later this month at Bellator 170.
While speaking with the media (quotes courtesy of MMA Junkie) on Tuesday during a conference call, Ortiz stated that this would be his final fight and that he wants to go out with a win. He noted that he put in a lengthy training camp to ensure that his hand gets raised come fight night.
“I’ve been training now for almost four months, and this is probably one of the longest camps I’ve had, and it’s time to showcase my skills,” Ortiz told reporters on Tuesday’s pre-event media call. “Chael says he’s fighting because he’s jealous, and that’s the wrong way to come into a fight. I’m going in to get redemption, and to me, Chael is my enemy. This is no game. This is nothing fun. This is what I do for a living. I train, and I go out to try and hurt my opponent.”
Both fighters are known for their ground and pound style. However, Sonnen does have good submission skills, which may play into a factor in this fight. For Ortiz, he has confidence that he is well capable of delivering a performance with which he can pridefully end his career.
“I know what I need to do,” Ortiz said. “I need to defend the takedown. I need to watch out for the punches. I need to watch out for the guillotine. I know all of the moves that Chael has done, and my job is to go in and destroy him. On Jan. 21, two days before my birthday, I want to get the fight of the night. I hope Chael’s in great shape because when I’m on top of him, he’s going to s**t himself. I’m going to throw my elbows through his face, and like I said, this is no joke.”
“This guy knows that he bit off a little more than he can chew,” Ortiz said. “I’ve been through 20 years of competition, won world titles, and stepped into that cage over and over again. The proof is in the pudding. I’m sitting here listening to the tone that Chael has, and it sounds like he’s drowning. And on Jan. 21, he’s going to be drowning in his own blood.”
Bellator 170 takes place on January 21st at The Forum in Inglewood, California. The main card will air live on Spike while the prelims air on Spike.com.
January 21st also presents a shot at redemption for Sonnen as well, however, but for a much different reason. Prior to his father’s passing Sonnen promised his father that he would defeat Ortiz in the UFC and become the 205-pound champion of the world; a promise that proved to be unsuccessful as ‘The Bad Guy’ never got the chance to square off with Ortiz during his run in the UFC:
