As the dust continues to settle from UFC 148, we can now see the salaries each fighter was paid for their fight this past weekend.When taking a look at these numbers, please keep in mind that they do not reflect post fight bonuses (e.g. fight of the ni…
As the dust continues to settle from UFC 148, we can now see the salaries each fighter was paid for their fight this past weekend.
When taking a look at these numbers, please keep in mind that they do not reflect post fight bonuses (e.g. fight of the night, knockout/submission of the night) or other bonuses that are frequently handed out by the UFC.
The most glaring salary on this list is Chael Sonnen and the $50,000 he earned for his fight against Anderson Silva. In case you were concerned about Sonnen’s low salary, rest assured he will be given a substantial chunk of change for the pay-per-view revenue this generated.
In addition to pay-per-view buys, the “live gate” numbers for UFC 148 approached $7 million, and were the highest in MMA history.
Joe Chacon is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report and a staff writer for Operation Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeChacon.
Journeyman fighters don’t turn into top contenders over night. As Chael Sonnen has proven, it takes a special mix of showmanship and hard work to place your name in the main event of one of the biggest fights in mixed martial arts history.Prior t…
Journeyman fighters don’t turn into top contenders over night. As Chael Sonnen has proven, it takes a special mix of showmanship and hard work to place your name in the main event of one of the biggest fights in mixed martial arts history.
Prior to his epic series with Anderson Silva, Sonnen was a virtual unknown in the UFC’s middleweight division.
When their first meeting was scheduled over two years ago, nobody even thought Sonnen would have a shot against Silva. His resurgence in his second go-around in the UFC was title-shot worthy, but did little to change his underdog status.
That is, until Sonnen opened his mouth.
The self-proclaimed “American Gangster” became the talk of the MMA world for his constant barrage of all things Anderson Silva. His family, friends and country were all in his sights and Sonnen made sure his point was clear—I don’t like the man and I’m taking his belt.
What would have been just another card featuring the pound-for-pound champ then turned into one of the most talked about fights of all time. UFC 117 turned into a must see event thanks to all the hype generated by Sonnen.
Not to say that the fight didn’t merit views otherwise, as Sonnen was a solid challenger in his own right, mostly due to his world-class wrestling skills. But there’s no arguing that his out of the Octagon antics did wonders to sell the fight.
Sonnen didn’t only generate hype for the bout, but also gained legions of fans who started to take notice of Uncle Chael.
What happened next cemented this rivalry in the history books. Sonnen’s dominance in the first fight coupled with Silva’s last second submission seemed like a MMA version of Rocky.
Silva’s subsequent victory over Sonnen at UFC 148 was just the cherry on top of this legendary battle.
What’s funny is that while Sonnen pushed Silva further than any other previous opponent, he’s not even the most skilled foe that “the Spider” has ever faced.
That just goes to show just how important selling fights is. Without all the drama Sonnen provided, there probably wouldn’t have even been a rematch. His showmanship transformed this rivalry into a story of legends.
If the UFC truly wants to become the biggest name in sports, it needs more epic storylines like Silva vs. Sonnen, however, the promotion should be weary about trying to manufacture them for fear of looking disingenuous.
But when that next special rivalry does come along, it’s safe to say that the UFC will know how maximize the hype.
Strikeforce middleweight titlist Luke Rockhold has accused Anderson Silva of greasing and short grabbing in his UFC 148 championship title bout against Chael Sonnen. He wasn’t too happy with the knee to Sonnen’s chest either, citing bad int…
Strikeforce middleweight titlist Luke Rockhold has accused Anderson Silva of greasing and short grabbing in his UFC 148 championship title bout against Chael Sonnen. He wasn’t too happy with the knee to Sonnen’s chest either, citing bad intentions on the part of the Brazilian.
I call it like I see it and [the win] just looked dirty to me. [Silva] greased himself again. After the Vitor [Belfort] fight I saw him grease himself. I wasn’t very fond of that first one. He did it again, blatantly. And then the shorts grab. And then finally the knee, it ended up legal, but it looked like bad intentions. All that together, it just wasn’t very champion-like for me. I want to see a respectful champion out there. I know emotions might get high with all the crap talking, but you gotta keep those separate and gotta fight clean.
It was quite obvious that Silva tugged at Sonnen’s shorts, though, whether the grabbing and/or the alleged excessive grease had anything to do with the final result is debatable. Sonnen as of yet hasn’t made a brouhaha about said infractions.
Following several years of antagonism from the Oregon native, the Silva-Sonnen II saga ended with the Brazilian’s arm raised aloft in triumphant over his arch rival.
Up until that night “Uncle Chael” is and has been the only man to have come closest to unseating “The Spider.” However, those title aspirations eviscerated via triangle-armbar in their first encounter back at UFC 117.
Apropos greasing, under the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s guidelines for MMA, Section NAC 467.598 refers to the physical appearance of unarmed combatants, but rule No. 2 specifically makes reference to the use of greasing.
2. The excessive use of grease or any other foreign substance may not be used on the face or body of an unarmed combatant. The referees or the Commission’s representative in charge shall cause any excessive grease or foreign substance to be removed.
(Sonnen tries to remain calm while scanning for the nearest exit at the UFC 148 pre-fight press conference.)
How the high and mighty have fallen, Potato Nation.
Just a few days after coming up short (again) against Anderson Silva at UFC 148, the rumors and speculations of what lies in store for middleweight contender Chael Sonnen have already begun to take on a life of its own. And at the forefront of those rumors, is the possibility that we may never see perhaps the greatest fight-hyper in the biz in the octagon again. Now, we aren’t normally quick to buy into retirement rumors that come in the immediate aftermath of a fight, even when they are coming from the fighters themselves. Because, as was the case for B.J. Penn and Jamie Varner, these supposed “retirements” were more or less a way of coping with the frustration that comes with of a string of losses (or in Sonnen’s case, a particularly hard loss to swallow), and were over before most of us compile a “Best of” list for either man. The jury is still out on how long Nick Diaz will hold out, but we’re guessing it will likely coincide with his recent suspension.
But regardless of the semi-thesis statement we’ve just laid before you, the head grappling coach at Xtreme Couture, Neil Melanson, feels that we may have seen the last of Sonnen for now. Melanson took over Sonnen’s UFC 148 training camp after Scott McQuary, Sonnen’s longtime head coach, suffered a heart attack a couple months back, and recently sat down with the ironically-titled Verbal Submission Radio to discuss Sonnen’s future in the sport:
Any time you’re a part of training camp or you’re friends with somebody and they lose, you just worry about them like, how are they gonna handle it mentally? Are they gonna come back from this? You know, I don’t know what Chael’s plans are, but I got a feeling he’s done fighting. I don’t know. I’ve just got a feeling he’s done. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think he was serious when he said, ‘If you beat me, I will leave forever,’ and there’s a very good chance of that.
(Sonnen tries to remain calm while scanning for the nearest exit at the UFC 148 pre-fight press conference.)
How the high and mighty have fallen, Potato Nation.
Just a few days after coming up short (again) against Anderson Silva at UFC 148, the rumors and speculations of what lies in store for middleweight contender Chael Sonnen have already begun to take on a life of its own. And at the forefront of those rumors, is the possibility that we may never see perhaps the greatest fight-hyper in the biz in the octagon again. Now, we aren’t normally quick to buy into retirement rumors that come in the immediate aftermath of a fight, even when they are coming from the fighters themselves. Because, as was the case for B.J. Penn and Jamie Varner, these supposed “retirements” were more or less a way of coping with the frustration that comes with of a string of losses (or in Sonnen’s case, a particularly hard loss to swallow), and were over before most of us compile a “Best of” list for either man. The jury is still out on how long Nick Diaz will hold out, but we’re guessing it will likely coincide with his recent suspension.
But regardless of the semi-thesis statement we’ve just laid before you, the head grappling coach at Xtreme Couture, Neil Melanson, feels that we may have seen the last of Sonnen for now. Melanson took over Sonnen’s UFC 148 training camp after Scott McQuary, Sonnen’s longtime head coach, suffered a heart attack a couple months back, and recently sat down with the ironically-titled Verbal Submission Radio to discuss Sonnen’s future in the sport:
Any time you’re a part of training camp or you’re friends with somebody and they lose, you just worry about them like, how are they gonna handle it mentally? Are they gonna come back from this? You know, I don’t know what Chael’s plans are, but I got a feeling he’s done fighting. I don’t know. I’ve just got a feeling he’s done. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think he was serious when he said, ‘If you beat me, I will leave forever,’ and there’s a very good chance of that.
And as understandable as it is to imagine that Chael would be feeling rather hollow after failing to defeat Silva on two separate occasions, despite performing better than any other challenger has against the champ in the process, I would have to say that this would be a huge mistake on his part. Before any of you jump down my throat with claims that I am a “Sonnen nuthugger” or a “Silva hater” as you are apt to do, know this: I am a fan of both Sonnen and Silva, for entirely different reasons.
Yes, I wanted Silva to win on Saturday night, if only to end the smorgasbord of ridiculous claims that have constituted Sonnen’s career over the past two years, but there is no denying that the Gangster from Oregon is still a threat to everyone in the middleweight division. In both his fights with Silva, Sonnen dominated early and often, only to have a simple mental error lead to his undoing. Surely his spinning backfist attempt at UFC 148 was the more glaring of the two, but Sonnen’s presence in the middleweight division is almost a necessity. And besides, who else can cut a promo as awesome as this? No one, that’s who.
The fact remains that Silva has absolutely decimated all challengers to his throne, and, minus a couple of legit challenges he may face down the line (not you, Mr. Bisping), Sonnen was the only man to, as CrushCo so brilliantly stated, make us believe he could actually beat Silva. And to be fair, there’s a good chance that Sonnen could do so if he stuck to and never deviated from the takedown and GnP oriented offense that saw him dominate Silva in the first round of their fight last Saturday. I place a lot of emphasis on the if.
But according to Melanson, whether or not Sonnen will truly call it quits is a matter of his mental toughness when dealing with such a hard loss:
I never met anyone that had a scenario where it’s like, ‘If I don’t win this then I’m done,’ it never worked out positive for them because, just in my experience, you have to love the grind and if you love the grind, eventually you’ll get what you want because you give up what you need to give up. Apparently Chael had his limit like, ‘This is it, I’ve had enough. If I don’t win this then it’s all not worth it.’ Having lost that, yeah, there’s a very good chance he could pursue other things. He’s a very smart guy, very well spoken. I know, whether he’ll admit to it or not, he has a lot of passion to be a broadcaster of sorts. He seems to excel in any type of speaking arrangement. He loves doing interviews. He loves hyping fights and I’m sure he loves training. He’s a good fighter. He’s a great fighter and he’s an awesome athlete but he can’t fight forever and maybe he’s at a point he’d like to do something else. Maybe I’m wrong. I hope I’m wrong.
Well, if the comments made by the man himself are any indication, Melanson is most certainly wrong. When asked on this very subject by ESPN’s Franklin McNeil, Sonnen declared that:
It’s tough but, unfortunately, it’s not my first athletic defeat. You can’t get down. You can’t get depressed. Every single day you get up, you’ve got to make the most of it.You’ve got to man up sometimes.
Truer words have never been spoken. At least not by Chael P. Sonnen.
So what do you think, Potato Nation? Is Sonnen headed for retirement, destined to be the #2 man at middleweight forevermore, or simply biding his time for yet another run at the title?
Anderson “The Spider” Silva’s impressive beatdown of Chael Sonnen at UFC 148 Saturday night in Las Vegas sent a strong message to the rest of the mixed martial arts world. The Spider’s win signaled that he remains the best pound-for-pound fighter …
Anderson “The Spider” Silva‘s impressive beatdown of Chael Sonnen at UFC 148 Saturday night in Las Vegas sent a strong message to the rest of the mixed martial arts world.
The Spider’s win signaled that he remains the best pound-for-pound fighter in MMA and that he is here to stay.
Silva (32-4) ended Sonnen’s (27-12-1) hopes of avenging his heartbreaking loss to The Spider two summers ago when he landed a crushing knee to Sonnen’s chest in the second round. Silva would then pounce and end the fight via TKO.
It’s not so much that Silva won as it is about how Silva won this past weekend that sends the strongest message to future challengers. Sure, the 37-year-old extended his winning streak to 16 fights and remains a flawless 15-0 in the UFC, but it was his crippling execution against a scorching-hot Sonnen that proved most stunning.
Silva made Sonnen pay for his poorly-timed spinning backfist in the second round. He showed that possessing a powerful takedown game is absolutely crucial to surviving the UFC middleweight champion.
Despite his age and all of his bumps and bruises from years of competition, Silva remains arguably the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. He has matured superbly over the years and is capable of winning a fight in any fashion. Silva has 19 knockout wins, six submission victories and seven wins via decision.
It’s outright scary just how confident and versatile Silva is right now. He’s defended his title successfully 10 times in a row now and looks to be the class of the UFC. Even more impressive, though, not a single one of his victories have been clouded in controversy.
There is no denying how great Anderson Silva is and that what we are watching comes around once in a generation or so. Silva’s victory at UFC 148 sent a strong message to the rest of the mixed martial arts world, one that will be heard for some time.
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Watch carefully as Silva slips Sonnen’s jab (!), ducks the backfist (!!), then angles his knee in precisely the location where Sonnen would trip over it (!!?!!!). Was it intentional? Was Sonnen already heading to the floor when their legs made contact? Does it even matter? When it comes to fighting, Anderson is blessed. He’s a genius. He operates on a higher plane of humanity. Pair him up against a man who has made choking a habit (literally/figuratively), and the result will always be the same.
Sonnen fucked up because he always fucks up. Silva won because he always wins. And the often-repeated theory that Sonnen is the “worst possible matchup” for Silva is philosophically incorrect. Silva wins this matchup ten times out of ten. A hundred times out of a hundred. A billion times out of a billion. Anderson Silva is playing chess, and Chael Sonnen is playing checkers with half the pieces missing.
Watch carefully as Silva slips Sonnen’s jab (!), ducks the backfist (!!), then angles his knee in precisely the location where Sonnen would trip over it (!!?!!!). Was it intentional? Was Sonnen already heading to the floor when their legs made contact? Does it even matter? When it comes to fighting, Anderson is blessed. He’s a genius. He operates on a higher plane of humanity. Pair him up against a man who has made choking a habit (literally/figuratively), and the result will always be the same.
Sonnen fucked up because he always fucks up. Silva won because he always wins. And the often-repeated theory that Sonnen is the “worst possible matchup” for Silva is philosophically incorrect. Silva wins this matchup ten times out of ten. A hundred times out of a hundred. A billion times out of a billion. Anderson Silva is playing chess, and Chael Sonnen is playing checkers with half the pieces missing.
As the dust continues to settle from UFC 148, we can now see the salaries each fighter was paid for their fight this past weekend.
