A few years back few would have thought of Chael Sonnen as Anderson Silva’s most dangerous foe and threat to his peerless legacy in the octagon. After all Sonnen’s MMA career has very much been a slow burner – he has fought in countless promotions and lost more fights than most top tier fighters. Since 2009 though he has really found his stride as a fighter and as a trash talker. It’s a combination that has taken him to the number two ranked middleweight fighter in the world.

Prior to 2009 the outspoken wrestler had fought in the UFC three times and lost two matches by submission. The first was to Renato Sobral via triangle choke at UFC 55, the second, to an armbar against Jeremy Horn at UFC 60. In between these two losses was a decision win over Trevor Prangley at Ultimate Fight Night 4. Not surprisingly he was cut from the organisation.

Sonnen started to rebuild his damaged reputation by enjoying success in Bodog Fight which saw him applying his trade in Costa Rica as well as Canada and the USA. He returned to something like mainstream MMA when he started fighting in WEC. His first match was against the then undefeated and highly touted Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner Paulo Filho, a former Pride stand-out. Once again Sonnen proved fallible against a submission specialist and lost via armbar.

After bouncing back and defeating Bryan Baker in the WEC Sonnen was given a rematch against Filho (WEC were struggling to find viable challengers for the Brazilian). Sonnen finally came good in the big one when he soundly defeated Filho by unanimous decision – although Filho didn’t make weight so the contest was a non-title affair.

Following the folding of the WEC’s middleweight division Sonnen was given a second shot in the UFC. Things didn’t get off to a good start though after he became the latest submission victim of Damian Maia – this time tapping to a triangle choke. Things certainly looked pretty bleak for Sonnen at this point. An MMA championship belt, which the decorated wrestler craved so much seemed light years away.

However Sonnen was given an unlikely chance to bounce back against quality opposition when he stepped in as a late replacement for Yushin Okami at UFC 98 and defeated Dan Miller. He had to lose 36 pounds in 22 days notice! Sonnen was rewarded for his gargantuan efforts with a match against the respected Okami at UFC 104 and, putting on something of a wrestling clinic, dominated his opponent on route to a unanimous victory.

In his next match he made perhaps his biggest statement in his career when he defeated the heavily favoured Nate Marquardt at UFC 109. Sonnen’s wrestling proved surprisingly dominant and he won a unanimous judges decision. If this performance raised a few fans’ eyebrows the wrestlers trash-talking, which went into overdrive upon being given a title shot against Silva, got their full-blooded attention. Whether it seemed contrived or not MMA had rarely, if ever, seen the level of verbal abuse Sonnen was throwing at the champion. With Sonnen’s outstanding takedowns and relentless pace he did look to have a good shot a dethroning Silva, whose only real question mark was his takedown defence.

The fight didn’t disappoint and Sonnen carried out to the letter what he said he was going to do… except in the dying seconds of the fifth round when, after utterly dominating Silva, he lost his concentration momentarily and good caught in a triangle choke and then an armbar. In one of the most thrilling ends to a title bout in octagon history Sonnen was forced to tap to his nemesis.

The obvious re-match that everyone craved was put on the back-burner when Sonnen failed a post-fight drugs test – he was shown to have elevated levels of testosterone in his body prior to his match with Silva. Sonnen appealed his suspension on the grounds that he had a medical reason for the high levels of testosterone. Ultimately his suspension was reduced. Other controversies followed for Sonnen when he pled guilty to money laundering in connection with mortgage fraud.

All of this meant that his first fight back since losing to Silva came at UFC 136 on October 8 against Brian Stann. Those who thought he might be a bit rusty were sorely mistaken – Sonnen looked awesome nailing takedown after takedown and ultimately disposed of Stann in the second round via an arm triangle choke. Sonnen, of course, called out Anderson Silva and proposed a re-match on Super Bowl weekend. If this match gets signed it would surely be one of the highest grossing PPV’s in the company’s history.

Love him or hate him Sonnen is one of MMA’s most durable fighters. He has been counted out so many times back both in and out of the cage but has always managed to claw his way back into recognition by sheer force of will more than anything else. As he well knows the only thing he’s missing is the big one, the middleweight title. As shown in their first bout, Sonnen certainly has the game to topple Silva it’s just getting to the finish line that’s the issue. If he does… what a victory speech that would be!

Matt Hyde

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