Chael Sonnen is a man of many hats. He’s dabbled in real estate, politics, amateur wrestling, and of course mixed martial arts (MMA). The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight challenger will make his Bellator debut on Jan. 21, 2017. He will meet former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz.
Despite preparing for his Bellator 170 showdown, Sonnen is still able to find time to perform his duties as an MMA analyst on ESPN. He joined UFC lightweight Gilbert Melendez and Scott Van Pelt to discuss Amanda Nunes’ thrashing of Ronda Rousey at UFC 207.
“We wondered early on, ‘would Ronda be able to get to the clinch?’ The relevance of the clinch is, she has to get through Amanda’s hands and feet, which she failed to do against Holly Holm. Would she be able to get in there, walk through the fire, get in that dangerous area and get to where she needs to be? The answer was no.”
When “Rowdy” stepped inside the Octagon against “The Lioness,” it was her first bout in over a year. Going into the fight, many wondered if ring rust could play a factor. Sonnen believed the layoff may have been a detriment to Rousey.
“She looked like a fighter with ring rust in all fairness. This is not to kick her while she’s down, but what I saw was a slow fighter with poor reactions that was hesitant. [She] was not ready to get into the clinch and do what needed to be done and she came in second.”
The future looks bright for Nunes, who became just the second fighter to successfully defend the UFC women’s bantamweight championship. As for Rousey, the future is unclear. Should she continue to compete, one would imagine big changes will need to be in place for the once dominant bantamweight to rise to prominence again.
