Chael Sonnen says move up to Light Heavyweight, eventual fight with Jon Jones, are possible

When asked bluntly about what the next steps will be for his career (a question he's been asked many times within the last few days), Sonnen stuck to his original guns, in that he still feels he needs time to clear his head a bit before he makes any major decisions.

But this time, Chael made an inference that is sure to raise some eyebrows:

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I love this sport and I would never want to retire. My coach Clayton will be the one that retires me based on my results and productivity in practice. I could have easily defeated him, physically I'm fine, mentally im fine. Give me a couple of weeks to settle in and when you get in the spot that I am in, we will see. Anderson could retire any day now. And there is simply an option to start over by changing weight class. My mentors have done it and it could happen. I would go up to 205. Jon Jones. There are some great guys at 185, but traditionally and historically it is a good way to get a fresh start and start over.

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I just don't see Chael having the size to be a real threat to Jones.

Definitely would like to see Chael try out LHW, he can beat up most guys at MW but as long as Silva is the champ I don't think we'll see him getting a tit;e shot very soon. Chael v Bader, Machida,or Evans would all be great fights imo

Could be a good move. We have seen guys lieke Hendo and Couture have success late in their careers by moving up weight.

Oh good.
The LHW's won't let themselves be smothered by Sonnen's 'heavy petting' and will beat on him, maybe we will finally see him KO'ed.

Trooper

He could try out the weight class with a fight against Bonnar. This would give Bonnar a top name so he wont retire and it give Chael a known name, top ten gatekeeper to test the waters. A win would be good for both fighters (a win over a named/ranked opponent), but a loss wouldnt hurt either one that much. Bonnar loses, he lost to the #2 middleweight so not too much damage. If Chael lost, he loses in a higher weight class, so not too much damage.

He's gotta go the rich Franklin route

Too bad Tito's done

He wouldn't have the same success at LHW.

I see Chael as a mid to top LHW. Machida, Rua and Lil Nog would all be fun to see.

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Posted by prophecy033

I see Chael as a mid to top LHW. Machida, Rua and Lil Nog would all be fun to see.

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I think he'd have problems with Machida, tbh. I'd favor him against Rua and Lil Nog.

Personally If I were him I would stay at MW and keep collecting Show and win money. He wins almost every fight at 185 so just keep depositing checks IMO

A lot of excellent matches for Chael at lightheavy

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Posted by shaneTpain

A lot of excellent matches for Chael at lightheavy

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agreed

For the record I gotta say while he may be competetive against some of the top tier guys, Jones would completely merk sonnen. and I dislike Jones just as much as I dislike Sonnen when he gets in trash talk mode

Is everyone forgetting that Chael did this once already and wasn't successful at it? Bad move.

7 yrs ago? Seriously?

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Posted by Shawn91111

7 yrs ago? Seriously?

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Uh yeah. Chael is a wrestler. It's not like he's undergone a complete transformation. He's a wrestler. He couldn't muscle around guys then. Why would you think that a 35 year old Chael could do it now?

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Posted by BlueSkiesBurn

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Posted by Shawn91111

7 yrs ago? Seriously?

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Uh yeah. Chael is a wrestler. It's not like he's undergone a complete transformation. He's a wrestler. He couldn't muscle around guys then. Why would you think that a 35 year old Chael could do it now?

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Well he's a wrestler that ends that

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Posted by Shawn91111

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Posted by BlueSkiesBurn

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Posted by Shawn91111

7 yrs ago? Seriously?

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Uh yeah. Chael is a wrestler. It's not like he's undergone a complete transformation. He's a wrestler. He couldn't muscle around guys then. Why would you think that a 35 year old Chael could do it now?

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Well he's a wrestler that ends that

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Look, let me try a different approach with you. We never seem to get anywhere between the two of us because of how we interact. Let me try something different.

You don't think that his previous trip to LHW will be the same this time around. I am curious why you think that.

From my perspective, not much has evolved in Chael's game. I think he will get outstruck by guys like Machida, Evans, Shogun, & the like. I don't think he could outwrestle guys like Phil Davis, Rashad, or Jones. Compared to his current status as the #2 MW in the world, I can't see how a move to LHW where he would be in the bottom-half of the Top 10 is better for him.

I'm open to hearing why you think it will be different.

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Posted by BlueSkiesBurn

Is everyone forgetting that Chael did this once already and wasn't successful at it? Bad move.

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I'm with you on this stay at MW hope Anderson moves on or loses soon and keep making coin

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Posted by BlueSkiesBurn

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Posted by Shawn91111

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Posted by BlueSkiesBurn

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Posted by Shawn91111

7 yrs ago? Seriously?

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Uh yeah. Chael is a wrestler. It's not like he's undergone a complete transformation. He's a wrestler. He couldn't muscle around guys then. Why would you think that a 35 year old Chael could do it now?

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Well he's a wrestler that ends that

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Look, let me try a different approach with you. We never seem to get anywhere between the two of us because of how we interact. Let me try something different.

You don't think that his previous trip to LHW will be the same this time around. I am curious why you think that.

From my perspective, not much has evolved in Chael's game. I think he will get outstruck by guys like Machida, Evans, Shogun, & the like. I don't think he could outwrestle guys like Phil Davis, Rashad, or Jones. Compared to his current status as the #2 MW in the world, I can't see how a move to LHW where he would be in the bottom-half of the Top 10 is better for him.

I'm open to hearing why you think it will be different.

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Chael Sonnen's problem when he was a light heavyweight was not that he could not land the takedown or wrestle effectively. The problem he had was that he would get submitted when he did.

I think that part of his game has improved. But overall I agree with you; I don't think he's going to find as much success at light heavyweight because the top of the division is a bunch of guys that can probably make it harder for him to impose his gameplan like he does at middleweight.

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Posted by BlueSkiesBurn

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Posted by Shawn91111

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Posted by BlueSkiesBurn

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Posted by Shawn91111

7 yrs ago? Seriously?

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Uh yeah. Chael is a wrestler. It's not like he's undergone a complete transformation. He's a wrestler. He couldn't muscle around guys then. Why would you think that a 35 year old Chael could do it now?

---

Well he's a wrestler that ends that

---

Look, let me try a different approach with you. We never seem to get anywhere between the two of us because of how we interact. Let me try something different.

You don't think that his previous trip to LHW will be the same this time around. I am curious why you think that.

From my perspective, not much has evolved in Chael's game. I think he will get outstruck by guys like Machida, Evans, Shogun, & the like. I don't think he could outwrestle guys like Phil Davis, Rashad, or Jones. Compared to his current status as the #2 MW in the world, I can't see how a move to LHW where he would be in the bottom-half of the Top 10 is better for him.

I'm open to hearing why you think it will be different.

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Take whatever approach you want. Never did I say he wouldnt be outstruck by the guys you listed. I do think he can beat some of the guys you listed such as Davis, Shogun and I think Evans would be a very good fight.

He lost twice to the current champ and right now is still in the top 2-3 MW fighters but its a question is to whether he is in limbo at his division. Its probably the same question Rashad is facing in the lhw division

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Posted by lohmann

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Posted by BlueSkiesBurn

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Posted by Shawn91111

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Posted by BlueSkiesBurn

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Posted by Shawn91111

7 yrs ago? Seriously?

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Uh yeah. Chael is a wrestler. It's not like he's undergone a complete transformation. He's a wrestler. He couldn't muscle around guys then. Why would you think that a 35 year old Chael could do it now?

---

Well he's a wrestler that ends that

---

Look, let me try a different approach with you. We never seem to get anywhere between the two of us because of how we interact. Let me try something different.

You don't think that his previous trip to LHW will be the same this time around. I am curious why you think that.

From my perspective, not much has evolved in Chael's game. I think he will get outstruck by guys like Machida, Evans, Shogun, & the like. I don't think he could outwrestle guys like Phil Davis, Rashad, or Jones. Compared to his current status as the #2 MW in the world, I can't see how a move to LHW where he would be in the bottom-half of the Top 10 is better for him.

I'm open to hearing why you think it will be different.

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Chael Sonnen's problem when he was a light heavyweight was not that he could not land the takedown or wrestle effectively. The problem he had was that he would get submitted when he did.

I think that part of his game has improved.

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Chael also wasn't wrestling with Jones, Bader, Machida, Evans, and Davis when he fought at LHW.

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Posted by BlueSkiesBurn

Chael also wasn't wrestling with Jones, Bader, Machida, Evans, and Davis when he fought at LHW.

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This I agree with. I edited my last post (I guess too late) to reflect that I do not think Sonnen is going to be able to cut through takedown defenses like butter at light heavyweight.

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Posted by Shawn91111


Take whatever approach you want. Never did I say he wouldnt be outstruck by the guys you listed. I do think he can beat some of the guys you listed such as Davis, Shogun and I think Evans would be a very good fight.

He lost twice to the current champ and right now is still in the top 2-3 MW fighters but its a question is to whether he is in limbo at his division. Its probably the same question Rashad is facing in the lhw division

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Who knows with Shogun right now. Davis might be a winnable fight, too. Given how Davis was worked over by Rashad, it's certainly possible.

I think Rashad would be a very one-sided fight. Rashad is definitely good enough to keep the fight on the fight. I think he's a more diverse striker than Chael and I think he's definitely got more power.

This is the same Chael that barely beat Bisping. Even he admits that is a fight he wants again. Bisping was apparently hard for him to beat. I'm not convinced that a 35 year old man, who struggled beating the MW's best, would fare better at a higher weight class with better grapplers and powerful strikers.

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Posted by BlueSkiesBurn

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Posted by Shawn91111


Take whatever approach you want. Never did I say he wouldnt be outstruck by the guys you listed. I do think he can beat some of the guys you listed such as Davis, Shogun and I think Evans would be a very good fight.

He lost twice to the current champ and right now is still in the top 2-3 MW fighters but its a question is to whether he is in limbo at his division. Its probably the same question Rashad is facing in the lhw division

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Who knows with Shogun right now. Davis might be a winnable fight, too. Given how Davis was worked over by Rashad, it's certainly possible.

I think Rashad would be a very one-sided fight. Rashad is definitely good enough to keep the fight on the fight. I think he's a more diverse striker than Chael and I think he's definitely got more power.

This is the same Chael that barely beat Bisping. Even he admits that is a fight he wants again. Bisping was apparently hard for him to beat. I'm not convinced that a 35 year old man, who struggled beating the MW's best, would fare better at a higher weight class with better grapplers and powerful strikers.

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The drained Chael that took on Bisping where he had to cut a huge amount of weight before the weigh ins? Well Bisping took Evans to a SD....but wait that was years ago

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Posted by Shawn91111

The drained Chael that took on Bisping where he had to cut a huge amount of weight before the weigh ins? Well Bisping took Evans to a SD....but wait that was years ago

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MMAth? Chael and Bisping are not the same fighter. I guess we will find out how good Chael will do at 205.

I think that Chael would get wrecked by just about anyone in the top 10-15 at LHW.

He's got crappy striking and terrible sub defense. He's a wrestler with not other tricks.

At MW he can bully a lot of people. He won't be able to do that against bigger stronger fighters. LHW is a shark tank and Chael would get totally chewed up.