Feb-17-2009

Chael Sonnen – MMA’s Honest Man

UFC 107: Penn v. Sanchez DVD Related Products UFC 104/105 UFC 106: Ortiz v. Griffin 2 DVD Hoodie Zipper Fleece - Kelly Green PRIDE: CRITICAL COUNTDOWN ABSOLUTE DVD Related News James Te Huna: Last pick becomes a wanted man UFC 109 Musings Ladies and gentlemen: The quotable Chael Sonnen Better Late Than Never, as Couture Submits Coleman in UFC 109 Main Chael Storm – Sonnen Earns Shot at The Belt Headlines James Te Huna: Last pick becomes a wanted man UFC 109 Musings Better Late Than Never, as Couture Submits Coleman in UFC 109 Main Chael Storm – Sonnen Earns Shot at The Belt Danzig’s Back with A Win; Davis Impressive in Debut

By Thomas Gerbasi

Blind bravado never won a prize fight. Neither has trash talk, no matter how creative. But honesty? Now that can be the difference between winning and losing, especially when it comes to the work you put in while in training camp.

Chael Sonnen – who returns to the UFC for the first time since 2006 this Saturday to take on submission ace Demian Maia – is perhaps the most honest fighter in mixed martial arts today. You may not agree with what he has to say, and he may not always be right, but you can rest assured that when the middleweight contender opens his mouth, what comes out is coming from a place that is free of hyperbole, fluff, or anything resembling pre-fight hype.

So while conventional wisdom when fighting an unbeaten Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with almost all of his wins coming by submission says to test his chin and stand up with him while avoiding the mat at all costs, Sonnen takes a different approach to Saturday’s bout.

“Initially, that was my thought,” he admits. “When you’re driving around town visualizing and thinking about the fight, I thought that would be a pretty appropriate plan. After I finally saw his videos though, I kinda threw that plan out. He’s the only guy that I’ve seen that’s willing to take the bottom position. I know guys fight there when they end up there, but I’ve never seen anyone grab a hold of an opponent and then drag them to the ground, with the offensive guy the one electing to be on the bottom. A guy that’s willing to do that, I’m not gonna be able to keep him off the ground. This is a brand new area to me, so I’ve kinda done away with the let’s test him on the feet theory, and I’ve more accepted that we’re gonna end up on the ground and I need to be prepared to go from there. I’m also not fooled into believing that he has no standup. I know some guys who have worked out with him in the gym, and they say he knows how to punch and kick as well, but he just doesn’t use it because he doesn’t have to in fights.”

Maia has had little difficulty getting opponents to the ground and eventually submitting them, especially in the UFC, where he has beaten Ryan Jensen, Ed Herman, Jason MacDonald, and Nate Quarry since entering the Octagon for the first time in October of 2007. If some of those names sound familiar to Sonnen fans, it’s because Jensen, Herman, and Quarry have all been training partners of his at various times over the years. In fact, Sonnen was sometimes placed in the role of being Demian Maia in the gym when helping his teammates prepare for him.

“I never got to study Maia, I never got to see any of his fights until a week and a half ago,” said Sonnen last week. “But I was aware of him and guys would come in and talk about him. My teammates were getting ready for him and they would tell me ‘hey, I’m fighting this guy, here’s what he does,’ and then ask me to try and simulate him. So I did my best to pretend to fight like him in the past, and if it isn’t helpful, it’s certainly not a retractor.”

And Sonnen admits that given a choice, he’s rather fight on the ground anyway, so he’s not getting hung up on taking Maia out of his comfort zone on fight night. As long as he’s comfortable where the fight goes, everything else will work itself out.

“You’ll even hear veterans in that old mind frame saying ‘I want to take him where he’s not comfortable.’ I’m more of the strategy of ‘I don’t work on my weaknesses, I work on my strengths.’ So I don’t know where he’s comfortable or where he’s not – I know I don’t mind fighting on the ground, and I prefer it. So if he wants to be there and I want to be there, I don’t see why we’re reinventing the wheel.”

If Sonnen sounds remarkably calm before his big return to the UFC, he’s got good reason to be. Since his loss to Jeremy Horn at UFC 60 in May of 2006, the 31-year old has won seven of eight bouts, with early victories over Tim Credeur, Tim McKenzie, and Amar Suloev dotting his ledger. The real impact for Sonnen though came during his three fight stint in the WEC from 2007-2008. It was there that he re-built his rep as one of the best 185-pounders in the world with a two-fight series with WEC middleweight boss Paulo Filho. Their first fight saw Sonnen dominating until getting controversially submitted in the second round, and after an interim win over Bryan Baker, Sonnen decisioned Filho last November in a bout that turned into a non-title affair after the Brazilian failed to make weight. But the point was made, and now Sonnen returns to a division that looks a lot different from when he left it almost three years ago.

“There’s the addition of Anderson Silva, who’s come in and just destroyed the division, and it’s pretty hard to overlook that factor,” said Sonnen. “Another huge brick wall that nobody was able to get through is Rich Franklin, who’s now taken himself out of the division. There’s a lot of new faces and new blood, but the sport’s the same. Everybody tries to get a little better – some guys are successful at that and some guys aren’t, but it’s really the same sport. You can’t deal with your opponents, you’ve just got to worry about yourself.”

And as far as Sonnen is concerned, coming back to the UFC was always in the plan.

“UFC’s got the tradition, and when I was a young man and went to bed at night, it was the UFC I was dreaming about,” he said. “You always want to be satisfied and happy with your situation, and I always was, but in the back of the head, there’s no way to deny or pretend that this isn’t exactly what I was hoping to happen.”

Now he’s in a weight class filled with intriguing matchups and ruled by a seemingly unstoppable force in Silva. Sonnen’s just happy to be here, and you can hear it in his voice. He’s not worried about where the next paycheck is coming from or what young killer is around the corner waiting to knock him out or submit him – he’s enjoying the ride.

“I don’t know what the secret is, but I sure am,” he said. “I think I’m in it for different reasons than most guys. I’m not in this for the money or the fame – I’m after the accomplishment. I’m in this purely to win the world championship. There are plenty of other things I can do to contribute to society and give back to this world; I’m not in this sport for any reason other than the accomplishment, and I do think it’s an enjoyable process. Dana White and Zuffa have made this very interesting, they’ve brought a lot of attention to it, and it’s fun. I’m enjoying every bit of it, I’m looking forward to the competition, and just being part of Zuffa.”