Chael Sonnen

Chael Patrick Sonnen (born April 3, 1977) is an American submission grappling promoter, mixed martial arts (MMA) analyst, and retired mixed martial artist.

In 1996, Sonnen began training in boxing, with the hope of competing in the UFC upon graduating from high school.

After high school, Sonnen attended Brigham Young University before transferring to the University of Oregon in Eugene, when BYU began considering cutting their wrestling program.

Beginning his MMA career in 1997, Sonnen competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he became a top contender in both the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions and challenged for both the UFC Light Heavyweight and UFC Middleweight Championships.

Sonnen has also fought in World Extreme Cagefighting, Pancrase, and most recently for Bellator MMA.

Sonnen is often considered one of the best mixed martial artists never to have won a major MMA world championship and one of the sport's greatest trash-talkers.

Sonnen started his mixed martial arts career in 1997 at the age of 19, by defeating Ben Hailey in Vancouver, Washington.

He next defeated future ICON Sport Middleweight Champion and Strikeforce Middleweight contender Jason "Mayhem" Miller.

He won his first six fights, before losing to Trevor Prangley.

A lifelong fan, Sonnen had an interest in pursuing a career in professional wrestling, and he attended a try out for World Championship Wrestling at the WCW Power Plant in the summer of 1998.

At Oregon, Sonnen earned All-American honors, was a two-time PAC-10 runner-up, was a silver medalist at the 2000 Greco-Roman World University Championships, and was a two-time Dave Schultz Memorial International Greco-Roman winner.

He graduated from the University of Oregon in 2001, with a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology.

In late 2003, he was submitted by future Ultimate Fighter winner and UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin with a triangle choke submission maneuver.

Sonnen made his UFC debut in a Light Heavyweight bout against former IFC Light Heavyweight Champion Renato Sobral at UFC 55, submitting to a second-round triangle choke.

He then avenged his first loss, by winning a unanimous decision over Trevor Prangley at UFC Ultimate Fight Night 4.

At UFC 60, he fought Jeremy Horn for the third time and submitted to an armbar.

Shortly after, he was released from the UFC.

In May 2006, Sonnen debuted for Bodog Fight, defeating Tim Credeur via TKO.

He went on to win a unanimous decision over Alexey Oleinik, defeat Tim McKenzie in 13 seconds with a D'arce choke, and finish UFC and PRIDE veteran Amar Suloev via TKO.

After leaving Bodog, Sonnen defeated future Ultimate Fighter member Kyacey Uscola at SuperFight 20: Homecoming.

In December 2007, Sonnen fought Paulo Filho for the WEC Middleweight Championship.

Sonnen lost via a controversial submission at 4:55 of the second round.

Sonnen did not tap out but screamed in pain, which the referee interpreted as a verbal submission.

In his post-fight interview, Sonnen said he told the referee not to stop the fight, and continually said "No" when the referee asked if he wanted to submit.

Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, claimed Sonnen only yelled "No" after the referee stopped the fight.

Kizer and Dana White (who was watching ringside) both agreed with the call.

A rematch was scheduled for March 26, 2008, but was cancelled after Filho entered a drug rehabilitation program.

Sonnen instead faced undefeated contender Bryan Baker and dominated him for three rounds to win a unanimous decision (30–26, 30–25, and 30–25).

Sonnen and Filho eventually met again on November 5, 2008.

Filho appeared distracted throughout the bout, and Sonnen took advantage winning all three rounds to win the fight via unanimous decision.

Prior to the fight, Filho weighed in almost seven pounds over the 185-pound limit, so the bout was ruled a non-title match.

After Filho lost, he announced he would ship Sonnen the championship belt.

Following the dissolution of WEC's middleweight division, Sonnen returned to the UFC.

In his first fight for the promotion since UFC 60, he was submitted by jiu-jitsu ace Demian Maia via triangle choke submission at UFC 95.

At UFC 98 in May 2009, Sonnen defeated Dan Miller via unanimous decision.

He was a late replacement for Yushin Okami, who tore ligament while training.

He took the fight on 22 days' notice, and lost 36 lb in order to compete.

In 2014, Sonnen began working as a MMA analyst for ESPN and two years later, in July 2016, founded Submission Underground (SUG), his own submission grappling promotion.

Sonnen was born in either Milwaukie, Oregon, or West Linn, Oregon (sources differ), and began wrestling at the age of nine.

He attended West Linn High School, where he was a state runner-up.