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Chael Sonnen burst out laughing when Andy Varela sunk in a flying rear-naked choke to defeat Sean Strickland at Submission Underground 29.
Following a devastating motorcycle accident in December 2018 that left him with numerous injuries, Strickland returned to the octagon and defeated Brendan Allen by TKO at UFC Fight Night: Felder vs. dos Anjos. His impressive showing earned him a Performance of the Night bonus.
Strickland has since defeated Krzysztof Jotko and Uriah Hall to become the No.7-ranked contender in the middleweight division. He was even nominated for "Comeback of the Year" at the 2021 World MMA Awards.
Strickland gave up his back during his Submission Underground bout with Varela, allowing the 10th Planet product to choke him out with ease. Sonnen, who was commentating, laughed and started making fun of Strickland following the 30-year-old's grievous error:
"Alright, he's done. He's done. Now, he's a fool. He's not going to get out of this position, I don't think... He [Strickland] turned his back and he [Varela] choked him out... What did he think was going to happen?"
Watch the video below:
Sonnen has a good relationship with Strickland and even called the middleweight contender one of his "favorite guys in the sport" in a clip posted to his YouTube channel.
"I thought we were wrestling!" - Sean Strickland reacts to his submission loss to Andy Varela
After his loss to Andy Varela, Sean Strickland took to Twitter to try and explain his bizarre actions.
"Lol!!!! You think I would of expected that but I thought we were wrestling! I guess I should of known from the name "SUBMISSION underground" lol!!!!" Strickland wrote.
Check out his tweet below:
Sean Strickland was expected to square off against former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold at UFC 269. However, Rockhold withdrew from the bout due to an injury. Strickland is now set to take on No.6-ranked Jack Hermansson at Fight Night 201 on February 5.
