Chael Sonnen to Light Heavyweight?

[Turd Ferguson]

Last night, an unspeakable tragedy occurred as Chael Sonnen lost to Anderson Silva via TKO in the second round. As this was Chael's second attempt at fighting for the title and coming up short, this puts him in between a rock and a hard place.

Chael is absolutely the #2 in the division. And whoever you stick him up against, chances are he'd win, as his style is an absolute nightmare for anyone else in the division. However, Chael is too talented and too much of a personality to be in ho-hum, blah matchups against the likes of Mark Munoz and Tim Boetsch.

No matter how many wins he gets at this point, he's probably not going to be considered for a title shot in a while with how decisive last night's loss was. I mean, I guess he could fight Wanderlei and Belfort, two guys he constantly calls out and ridicules, but those fights won't get him any closer to his goal, a UFC Championship.

Which is why I propose he moves up to Light Heavyweight.

Chael's fought at Light Heavyweight before, with unsuccessful results. However, the Chael Sonnen of 2005 is not the Chael Sonnen of today. The Chael Sonnen of today is a damn good fighter, who knows how to sell a fight. And, there are a lot of Type A personalities in the Light Heavyweight division and interesting fights for him in the division that would make a jump up to 205 worthwhile for him.

Soon enough, Light Heavyweight is going to be a division cleaned out by Jon Jones. He will have effectively cleaned it out if he beats Dan Henderson, and more than likely Alexander Gustafsson would be next from there. As good as Gustafsson is, he'd likely get destroyed by Jones. Light Heavyweight is going to be looking for fighters who Jones hasn't beaten. There is definitely a huge opportunity for Chael to step up and be in contention for a title shot, potentially after two fights.

It's not like there's a shortage of un-promotable and un-winnable fights for Chael either. Chael vs. Rampage would have a hell of a buildup, especially with how Rampage complains about only fighting wrestlers, and I think Dana would be looking to "punish" Rampage if he's really going to leave when he completes the last fight on his contract. Who better to send Rampage out and embarrass him than Uncle Chael?

Chael has also called out Machida on numerous occasions, and you know he wants to find a way to get back at Black House after the loss to Silva. Sonnen vs. Machida would certainly be an interesting fight. So would Chael vs. Lil Nog. All you'd have to do to promote the fight is dig up those quotes about the Nogueiras feeding a carrot to a bus.

I think given the position he's in right now where he's still good enough to make a title shot, he needs to make a run at 205.

What do you guys think?

 

[ArcherCC]

I would LOVE to see Chael go to LHW, I would LOVE to see Chael fight JBJ, I would LOVE to see Chael get torn asunder by JBJ.

OK I got that out of my system.

At LHW there are some clearly winnable fights for Chael, Shogun, Rampage, Silva, Bader, I could list it for days. But at the same time I see some nasty fights that he wouldn't win. Fighters Machhida, Rashad, JBJ, Gustafsson, for one reason or another I just don't see Chael having the skill, nor the mindset to do so.

 

[jmt225]

To me, it all depends on what Anderson wants to do. If Anderson himself moves up to Light Heavyweight, or even if he decides to hang them up (which I would not complain about at all), then Chael should stick at Middleweight and try to get that strap, since I strongly feel there's no one else in the division at the moment who could beat him.

However, if Anderson stays at Middleweight, then Chael should absolutely move up. Not only is the cut obviously getting tougher for him as he's aging, but the fact is he should do quite well at Light Heavyweight, too. And quite frankly, if I'm Dana, I take Guy's advice and feed him Rampage, a guy Chael should easily be able to defeat, and then give him a title shot. Chael would have to avoid Machida and also Shogun IMO, but he would destroy Rampage. and that's more than enough to warrant him a title shot. Chael vs. Rampage and vs. Jones for the strap would be huge for that division, which let's face it won't have any true contenders or potential big fights once Jones kills Hendo.

So, yeah... let's see what Anderson decides to do and move from there. Whether at Middleweight or Light Heavyweight, I will root for Chael from this point on to win a championship (unless he's in there with Shogun, lol). I think if the UFC were smart they'd put him in a situation that will get him there sooner than later, since the numbers for UFC 148 should be incredible.

 

[GrandSword]

I was actually hoping for Anderson/Chael 3. Chael made a massive mistake, fell over and then got pounded which was a big dissapointemnt, because I wanted to see a more decisive victory. Anyhoo, someone needs to go up or even both. It doesn't look like anyone can beat Jones and I would love to see Silva Vs. Jones. Anderson has gone up to 205 before.. why hasn't he done it more often?

The thing is Silva's fight deal is coming to an end, so Dana needs to book him in big $$$ fights

 

[BaconBits]

No. Just no. Chael would get absolutely smoked by Bones and Rashad, and probably Davis, Machida (who'd avoid the takedown and pick him apart) and Teixeira (who'd sub him within a round) too. I'm not even sure he'd beat Rampage as you imply.

He was/is towards the top at 185 because it's a division with almost no wrestlers. His dominant wrestling wouldn't be nearly as dominant against bigger, stronger opponents with much, much better wrestling and anti wrestling. He'd be left as a marginal striker who'd get his ass beat.

He's better off as the top gatekeeper at 185 until Anderson retires, then moving towards the title. He wouldn't get lost in the shuffle that way.

 

[JWGunslinger]

I would be ok with this but I would much rather see him try staying at MW and see what happens before immediately going to 205. Chael can beat most of the guys at LHW but the guy was born to be a Middleweight, there he's at the perfect weight and speed with the power to do what he wants to anyone not named Anderson Silva. Speaking of which, Andy can't fight forever and I imagine him having a few more fights between now and retirement, personally I think it would've been a perfect time after 148 considering he polished off his most dangerous foe and ended their feud but the time still has to be drawing near. After that there is nobody who can stand in the way of Sonnen's rightful glory, he is meant to be the UFC Middleweight Champion, like he said they should have just scrapped 205 after Couture left.

I like jmt's point that he could beat Rampage and get a title shot with that, but with Rampage now set to fight Teixiera and his future uncertain after that I don't know what other match ups would be a good start. The one fight I'm not sure about is how he'd fare against JBJ and we'll have a better idea after Hendo faces him but still I would be more worried about Chael in that fight than against Anderson.

If it can be avoided and he can keep things going in the MW division then I believe that's what he needs to do but if necessary he can atleast be a top contender at 205.

 

[ITurnGirlsGay]

No. Just no. Chael would get absolutely smoked by Bones and Rashad, and probably Davis, Machida (who'd avoid the takedown and pick him apart) and Teixeira (who'd sub him within a round) too. I'm not even sure he'd beat Rampage as you imply.

He was/is towards the top at 185 because it's a division with almost no wrestlers. His dominant wrestling wouldn't be nearly as dominant against bigger, stronger opponents with much, much better wrestling and anti wrestling. He'd be left as a marginal striker who'd get his ass beat.

He's better off as the top gatekeeper at 185 until Anderson retires, then moving towards the title. He wouldn't get lost in the shuffle that way.

Correction, Chael HAS been smoked at LHW. Most of Chael's losses came at LHW. Additionally, it's not like we're talking about a guy who has so drastically altered his style that he could head back up to LHW as a reinvented fighter and find success.

People Chael could not beat: Jones, Rashad, Machida, Bader, Davis, Henderson, Forrest.

People Chael MIGHT beat: Gustafsson, Rua, Little Nog.

People Chael would probably beat: Matyushenko, Thiago Silva, Rampage, Bonnar, Vera.

If Chael can't take the Maybe's down, he's not going to beat them. Machida is almost impossible to take down and is definitely not Anderson Silva. Bader would out muscle him and is a younger, better wrestler. Same with Jones, Rashad, and Davis. Henderson is the only one on there that, for some odd reason, can be taken down fairly easily and doesn't wrestle as much these days.