Former UFC title contender and host of the You’re Welcome podcast Chael Sonnen appeared recently on Submission Radio for a wide-ranging interview that covered Brock Lesnar, GSP, Fedor, CM Punk, and more.
The former UFC heavyweight champion Lesnar fights Mark Hunt at UFC 200 in July 9, and many feel that the wrestler will crush the striker, but Sonnen is not so sure.
He wasn’t a really good wrestler, he was an effective wrestler,” said Sonnen. “I’ll put this in perspective for you. In the NCAA when he won his national title, he was 265 pounds, which was the limit. In the finals, he had a guy that was 220 pounds and he had to go into double overtime with him. There’s not very many wrestlers alive, if any, that if they had a forty-five-pound weight advantage couldn’t put that guy away in about thirty seconds. So he was an effective wrestler, but you know, he had some size and he had a lot of other things to help him get his hand raised. It wasn’t skill and technique. He kept good position, he was a good competitor and he achieved some really great things.
“So I don’t think that a guy as short as Hunt is just gonna get bum-rushed and taken down. You gotta understand, Brock hasn’t been in the ring in five years, Hunt was the number one contender within the last calendar year. So no, you don’t have to be exactly an MMA expert to be able to see how this fight goes. Hunt’s gonna wreck him.
“But Brock’s still stepping in there, and he’s a once-in-a-lifetime attraction. If Brock’s fighting, you don’t want to miss it. And this truly will be his last fight. Anytime there’s speculation, ‘Is this gonna be the guy’s last fight?’ that helps to draw, that helps make you go ‘I don’t wanna miss it.’ For sure this is Brock’s last fight. So yeah man, people want to see it. I’m one of those people.
“Rousey was never the draw that she was advertised as. She never did the PPV numbers or the live gates that was advertised. It was always Conor by a lot, during that era when there was a debate between those two. Conor was the money guy. And why it was promoted and marketed differently, I don’t know, but it was just that. It was promotion and marketing. It was not reality.
“Lesnar crushes them both. They’re not even comparable. When you’re talking about the biggest UFC of all time and the biggest gate – you never bring up UFC 100. It was just such an anomaly. It’s like it’s taken off the board. You know, they did 1.755 million. So yes, Lesnar without a doubt is the biggest attraction the UFC has ever seen.
Another massive PPV draw may be returning to the Octagon – GSP.
I love it,” said Sonnen. “I wanna see Georges back in there. I didn’t think it would happen. When he turned down UFC 200 – particularly the way his contract and the threshold and the bonus structure works, he was looking at anywhere from twelve to fifteen million dollars. Now he’s gonna be looking more at four to 5.3 million dollars. So I was a little surprised that if he turned down two hundred, why or if he would ever come back – and I still don’t have the answer to that. I still think that the card to come back for was UFC 200, but he didn’t do it. So if he wants to come back, I’m all for it and if he wants a title shot against Bisping, he’s gonna get it.
“I think that GSP would win. And does it make sense? Sure it does. It’s a very rare thing. And again, it might be a one-off. I don’t know that he would defend that belt. I think that he likes the match up, he likes that opponent, he likes that it’s a world title fight in a different division. I think he likes those things. I don’t know that he wants to get in there with Rockhold and Jacare. I don’t know that he does. But he likes this. And history will reflect very well on it if he was to come out of retirement and win a world championship in a different weight class.
The UFC has yet another potential major draw in CM Punk, who, like Lesnar. is a former WWE heavyweight champion. Punk fights Mickey Gall at UFC 203.
I’d like to see Punk do really well,” said Sonnen. “I know this is a dream of his. He’s worked really hard, he scarified, he dedicated, he put into it. I’d like to see him do really well. But I think the same thing can be said for his opponent. And those guys will go out and have their match and we’ll see if it happens. I’m not ready to sign off that I believe that that’s going to happen, but I did read the article, and let’s see if does.
“We’ll see. There’s a lot of moving parts there. There’s been opportunities before and the match hasn’t happened. Let’s see. Let’s just see if it does.
Yet another fighter with major PPV potential is Fedor Emelianenko, who many, including the fighter himself, believe will be signed by the UFC>
“I think that Fedor is going to come over to the UFC,” said Sonnen. “There’s nobody on the roster that he could beat and I don’t think there’s anybody that he wants to fight. You know, he’s pretty clear on what his business plan is, which is to go out and fight the easiest guys possible and keep the mystique going. And it’s not a bad plan. That’s actually not meant to be a knock on him. He’s selling tickets and drawing attendance and getting away with it. But yeah, the UFC is a whole other deal. But if someone wants to see Fedor get beat up, you know, it is what it is.
Everything I tell you about Fedor, it’s not like I’m real negative on him. The reality is, I wanna see him fight. Cause I live in that bubble. I’d tune in to see him fight anyone of those guys. And I don’t make believe that he’s gonna beat them, but I think he brings something to the table. I think that he brings a presence, I wanna see him make that walk, get in the octagon, I wanna see him do the bit. So yeah, there’s no doubt I’d tune in to see him – against anybody. It wouldn’t just have to be Brock. You could throw out a hundred different names, I’m buying it.”
