While Chael Sonnen has achieved amazing things in his career, ‘The American Gangster’ has conceded that another loss to Anderson Silva would leave a huge spider-sized stain on his legacy.
The popular sportsman will travel to São Paulo, Brazil, with the intention of defeating his nemesis in front of the very same fans he profusely mocked during the build-ups to the pair’s previous two collisions.
Chael Sonnen worries fans will remember him as a ‘Miserable fail’ if he loses to Anderson Silva again
Renowned for his awe-inspiring charisma on the microphone, fans remember Chael Sonnen as the confident and quirky personality that paved the way for the likes of Conor McGregor to verbally tear into any man who dared even look at him the wrong way.
However, behind all the insults and witty one-liners, stands a human, capable of experiencing the same feelings of anxiety that all mixed martial artists go through before a major bout.
In 2012, the Oregon native delivered one of the greatest post-fight interviews of all time. Staring directly into the camera, he scremed: “Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck.”
The powerful speech set the wheels in motion for the UFC to make the biggest rematch in the history of the promotion. Alas, while he was ever so close to dethroning the icon the first time around, in their second collision, Sonnen succumbed to the pressure of ‘The Spider’, losing via second-round TKO.
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The devastating result left Sonnen with a desperation to right the wrong. And now, he has his chance. But should he lose again, the world will remember him as a man who stepped up to the plate three times, and was left wanting on every single occasion.
During an episode of The Good Guy & Bad Guy, he explained: “There is nothing about this where I go ‘boxing is not quite my style’. I’m going out there to beat this man, to fix my life, or I am going to go the rest of my days looking at my career as a miserable fail.”
While on paper, the 47-year-old doesn’t have the striking skills to emerge victorious in a boxing bout with Silva, in a testament to his unwavering powers of self-belief, he’s heading to Brazil with the goal of settling the rivalry once and for all.
He asserted: “To be the one to get to sign off and close out his career, there is a certain appreciation. But, before I go too ‘nice guy’, on you, the rule starting with number one is we damage each other. I know people like to be friendly and like to say we’ve made up; they love to use the word ‘respect’, I will adhere to it. It seems like the gentlemanly thing to do, but I’m going to damage him because that’s what I agreed to do. I’m going to put my body in there because he asked, he could have gotten any opponent he wanted but he apparently still wants to do damage to me. So, to act like everything is behind us is insincere.”
However, while the UFC legend is undeniably optimistic regarding his chances, a fellow MMA icon isn’t too convinced that he has what it takes to pull off the upset.
Ben Askren fears Chael Sonnen may have bitten off more than he can chew against Anderson Silva
Having scaled the heights of Bellator and One Championship, Ben Askren has proven his mixed martial arts credentials beyond doubt. Thus, if he’s concerned for Sonnen, perhaps the fans should be as well.
From his own personal experience, he’s very aware that the sport in which both his countryman and he excelled is very different from the ‘sweet science’.
Despite possessing the requisite skill set to annihilate Jake Paul in a real fight, when Askren set foot inside the squared circle with the controversial YouTuber, it took less than a round for the former Olympian to have to pick himself up off the canvas.
And with Silva having already amassed an impressive 3-2 boxing record, Askren is terrified that Sonnen is in for a rude awakening on Saturday night. He gave his extensive breakdown of the highly-anticipated collision during an episode of his podcast, ‘Funky and The Champ’.
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