In One Way Or Another Reality Will Set In At UFC 148 For The American Gangster

By Raphael Garcia

Love him or hate him, there’s one thing you always have to admire about Chael Sonnen: he always has a plan. While he has had his brushes with questionable behavior in the past, Sonnen has always found a way to come out clean and end up exactly where he wants to be. In just a few days we will see the man who calls himself the “American Gangster” step into the Octagon once again with the man who has sat on the middleweight throne for the last five years. Sonnen’s mouth has done its job up to this point, and now it’s time to see if his abilities have progressed far enough in two years to back it up.

For 23 minutes and ten seconds, Sonnen looked like the best fighter in the world. As the crowd cheered him, on he dominated Anderson Silva all across the Octagon, and made the man who many consider the best to ever perform in MMA look like a mere ghost of his former self. Then he made the costly mistake of leaning too far into the guard of a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, and he became just another name on the list of people who have had to watch the middleweight title belt get strapped around Silva’s waist.

While moral victories are never the talking point in sports, Sonnen had to take something from the fact that he had done what no other fighter under the Zuffa banner had been able to. Those final few moments of the contest must replay in Sonnen’s head over and over again, but as with any other type of athlete, he has to put that fight behind him and focus on what’s coming July 7th. And what is in front of him is more than he’s ever had to face in his career.

At 27-11, Sonnen doesn’t have the record that many people would expect from a top contender in mixed martial arts. Looking across his resume, you will find career-defining wins over fighters such as Nate Marquardt, Yushin Okami, and Michael Bisping alongside less than desirable names like Terry Martin and Trevor Prangley. Sonnen could have potentially been an afterthought in the world of mixed martial arts, but something happened in 2010 that placed Sonnen in the position that he is today. He opened his mouth.

There isn’t a doubt in the world that Sonnen’s personality is the thing that carries the rivalry with Silva outside the cage. As soon as a microphone or camera is placed anywhere close to the former politician, he immediately goes into his “act,” which should be included in the training videos for upcoming professional wrestlers. It’s become almost comedic the way Sonnen tries to one-up himself with each rant. While Silva’s known for his highlight reel knockouts, he’s never been one to speak up too much to promote a fight. Sonnen completely took the promotional baton on his own, and has spewed a vitriol that is almost becoming the main reason why people watch him compete; they want to see what he will say next.

He’s done such a great job promoting both of these fights that other fighters are beginning to buy into his strategy and are doing the same thing — Ronda Rousey, for example. Without him, ESPN wouldn’t be dedicating talk time to the fight more than a week ahead of the event. Without Sonnen, cable companies wouldn’t mail out postcards with his and Silva’s likenesses plastered on them, reminding them to order the fight on the seventh. While there are not any exact figures as to how many fans or enemies Sonnen’s mouth has made him during the last 23 months, there’s no doubt it has made him a lot of money.

At 35 years of age, there’s no telling how much time Sonnen has left in the sport. At the same time, that doesn’t really matter. If he found a way to defeat Silva and then lost the title in his very first defense, that wouldn’t stop him from declaring himself the greatest middleweight champion to ever hold the crown. That is what makes Sonnen so appealing to so many different people. Win, lose or draw, he has done this sport a great service by teaching fighters the value of the gift of gab. Don’t be mistaken, he’s not the first person to ever do it, but right now there isn’t a better fighter in the world at promoting a contest. His skills on the microphone have paid off, and in just over a week, we will see if his skills in the cage can pay off as well.