Chael: Guys in MMA have to be loved too much
Chael Sonnen: “Just do it. Let the rest of us figure it out. But these guys in MMA have to be loved so much, they can’t stand even the smallest time of not being loved.”
Retired UFC middleweight, ESPN fight analyst, You’re Welcome! With Chael Sonnen podcaster, and Gangster from Oregon Chael Sonnen appeared recently on MMAjunkie Radio and offered fighters some advice on what to say and what not to say in the cage post win.
Sometimes, I think the guys aren’t even paying attention, said Sonnen, as transcribed by Steven Marrocco for MMAjunkie. Nobody wants to hear less after a guy wins a fight that he’ll fight whoever Joe Silva and Dana White want him to. It’s definitely the single worst answer out there, and Dana White has told people that in the back, at fighter meetings, after weigh-ins, before we go out there. He’ll say, ‘Listen, when the fight is over, the people want to hear who you want to fight next. They don’t want to hear about your sponsors and your god and your political beliefs. Tell them who you want to fight next.’
It doesn’t matter how many times you tell them. The fighter comes out, looks right at Dana and says, ‘Whoever Dana wants me to.’ That’s not a good answer. No boss wants to hear that answer.
The moment one fight ends, the marketing for the next fight begins, and you have no better opportunity. This is your market; the audience watching that pay-per-view are the ones you need to speak to more than anybody else, and there’s your chance.
Bosses love it when you do their job for them. Joe Silva loves it when you come to him with an idea. ‘Great, you just did my job for me.’ And somewhere that most basic concept is lost. Here we are on MMAjunkie, the biggest radio show in our sport, and guys still aren’t going to get the message. They’re still going to come out next week. They’re going to look through the fence, as though there were some sort of adoration he’s going to feel for them that they want to be his puppet. He doesn’t want puppets.
Feel free to do Dana’s job for him. Feel free to make your case and say who you want to fight, and guys just don’t do it. Even Rothwell – Rothwell came out of his shell, he did a crazy interview, but God bless him, we were all talking about the interview. So there is an effectiveness there.
The downside is when they ask him why he did the interview and he says, ‘To get attention.’ To do something for attention, don’t let the curtain down and show everybody that you did it for attention. It takes away from the attention. Just do it. Let the rest of us figure it out. But these guys in MMA have to be loved so much, they can’t stand even the smallest time of not being loved. They can’t stand one negative comment on Twitter, so they try to unfry that egg constantly. Just come out, say your piece, and walk away. Whatever the result is, the result is. But don’t backtrack, ever.
Ronda’s numbers are starting to change, he said. She’s been called the biggest draw in the sport. That isn’t true, but I think it will be. I think over time, I think that she’s got the right appeal and that she’s definitely won a lot of people over. As far as Conor goes, he’s got some naysayers, man, but they’re not near as loud as the people that support him. They’ve done a $7.1 million gate and his figh is almost two weeks away. I think that speaks volumes.
Those are two more people that were a lot like me. They said a lot of stuff, but they show up, and they fight anybody, and they don’t pull out of fights.
I had a rule: I would say whatever I wanted, however, I would fight any man out there, and I will never, ever pull out of a fight for any reason. Point being, I’ll say it, but then I will give you the chance to make me answer for it.