Chael Patrick Sonnen was born on April 3, 1977. He is a submission grappling promoter, mixed martial arts (MMA) pundit, and retired MMA fighter from the United States. Sonnen began his MMA career in 1997 with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he rose through the ranks to become a top contender in both the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions, challenging for both the UFC Light Heavyweight and UFC Middleweight Championships.
Sonnen has also competed in World Extreme Cagefighting, Pancrase, and Bellator MMA. Sonnen is widely regarded as one of the finest MMA fighters never to have won a major MMA world championship, as well as one of the sport's greatest trash-talkers.
| Name | Chael Patrick Sonnen |
| D.O.B | April 3, 1977 |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight | 93 kg |
| Occupation | Analyst. Mixed Martial Artist |
| Professional Debut | 1997 |
| Wife | Brittany Smith |
| Nicknames | No Nicknames |
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Sonnen began wrestling at the age of nine in either Milwaukie, Oregon, or West Linn, Oregon. He went to West Linn High School and was a state runner-up. Sonnen began boxing training in 1996, with the goal of fighting in the UFC after graduating from high school. Sonnen attended Brigham Young University before moving to the University of Oregon in Eugene when BYU considered discontinuing its wrestling program.
Sonnen was a two-time PAC-10 runner-up, a silver medalist in the 2000 Greco-Roman World University Championships, and a two-time Dave Schultz Memorial International Greco-Roman champion at Oregon. He earned a Bachelor of Science in sociology from the University of Oregon in 2001.
Chael Sonnen began his career as a wrestler at an early age and began boxing training in 1996. Since then, he has been aspiring to join the UFC as a competitive fighter as soon as he graduates. In addition to his accolades at the University of Oregon, Sonnen won All-American recognition and finished second twice in the Pac-10. At the age of 19, he began his professional MMA career in 1997. Before ultimately falling to Trevor Prangley, he won his first six fights.
In 2005, Chael Sonnen joined the UFC, where he competed in three bouts in two years. After two defeats, he eventually left the organization and joined BogdogFight before making a run for the WEC. He eventually made a comeback to the UFC in 2008, where he performed well. He overcame Michael Bisping, but he was never able to secure THE huge victory he sought. He left the business once more after suffering defeats to Anderson Silva, Demian Maia, Jon Jones, and Tito Ortiz.
Sonnen reportedly agreed to a multi-fight deal with Bellator MMA on September 15, 2016. On January 21, 2017, the main event of Bellator 170 featured Sonnen’s professional debut in a light heavyweight contest against former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and UFC Hall-of-Famer Tito Ortiz. In the opening round, he was submitted and lost the bout.
In the main event of Bellator NYC on June 24, 2017, he fought Wanderlei Silva in his second professional encounter. He prevailed by unanimous judgment in the match. On January 20, 2018, at Bellator 192, Sonnen competed against Quinton Jackson in the Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix Tournament. He prevailed by unanimous decision.
At Bellator 208 on October 13, 2018, Sonnen went up against Fedor Emelianenko in the semifinals of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix competition. He was defeated in the opening round by TKO. Bellator 222, the company’s return to Madison Square Garden, will take place on June 14, 2019, and it was revealed on April 4 that Sonnen will compete against Lyoto Machida there. He was defeated in the second round by TKO. In the post-fight interview, Sonnen declared his retirement from mixed martial arts.
Amateur wrestling
Mixed martial arts
| 49 matches | 31 wins | 17 losses |
| By knockout | 8 | 7 |
| By submission | 4 | 9 |
| By decision | 19 | 1 |
| Draws | 1 | |
