Chael Sonnen retires at 37; WWE a possible destination?

Chael Sonnen

One of the biggest names in the world of Mixed Martial Arts has called it a day. After being in the MMA industry for more than 17 years, Chael Sonnen announced his retirement earlier in the day. Sonnen is known as one of the most controversial figures in MMA history, and the former UFC Middleweight/Lightweight fighter never backed down from any fight – both physical and verbal. His legendary feud with Anderson “Spider” Silva garnered attention and admiration from MMA fans all over the world, and Sonnen, unlike his counterparts, made a name for himself on the microphone. Although Sonnen was undoubtedly a great fighter, he was hands – down the greatest talker in the history of UFC, and also arguably in MMA.

Sonnen’s announcement came after he was pulled from the UFC 175 card by the UFC for testing positive to two banned substances. Earlier in March, the Nevada State Athletic Commission had banned Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT), which some of the fighters weren’t thrilled about. If you’ve never heard about TRT, it is a synthetic testosterone which is injected into the body to make up for abnormally low levels of testosterone – keyword being “abnormally low”. However, it can also be seen for what it is, a performance enhancing drug. Some of the UFC fighters were using TRT, and Sonnen was one of them, and as one can expect, he wasn’t too happy about the verdict.

According to the statement he had given during his announcement last night, he said that due to TRT being banned, he had to supplement it with other substances which resulted in him testing positive for banned substances during a recent random drug test. Sonnen, who was then pulled off the UFC 175 card, lashed out at the subsequent events, and made it clear that given the option of choosing his family or his MMA career, he would only choose his family. Sonnen then announced his retirement on UFC Tonight, and made it clear that he was retiring from the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, and would never compete inside the Octagon again.

While there is a possibility of Sonnen returning to the Octagon at a later time, the “American Gangster” has the option of taking up the next big challenge, which is a career in professional wrestling. Some of you might not be aware of the fact that Sonnen is friends with CM Punk, and Punk came very close to walking Chael Sonnen out couple of years ago, until Vince McMahon pulled the plug in the very last minute. Besides, Chael Sonnen’s verbal skills are second to none. It can also be argued that Sonnen provided the “entertainment” factor in MMA, and he always promoted his fights. His rivalry with Anderson Silva propelled Sonnen’s career from obscurity to being one of the most talked about fighters on the planet!

UFC fighters making a switch to professional wrestling isn’t unheard of. We can take the example of Brock Lesnar, who returned to the WWE after having a successful UFC career, winning the UFC Heavyweight title during his tenure with the company. Ken Shamrock made a similar transition from UFC to the then WWF, and was given the title of ‘World’s most dangerous man’. Vince McMahon is primarily a businessman, and if Sonnen doesn’t have any contractual obligations with UFC or any other direct competitors of the WWE, then it makes all the sense in the world for Sonnen to sign a contract with the WWE, not as an active performer, but as a manager or a mouth piece.

Sonnen, much like Lesnar will bring legitimacy to the WWE even if he doesn’t compete inside the ring. You’ve had people like Mike Tyson and Floyd “Money” Mayweather getting involved in storylines, and someone like Sonnen will bring extra eyeballs and interest to the current product. It will be a win – win situation for both the parties involved if Sonnen does express his interest in joining the WWE, and one can feel that it isn’t quite as farfetched, especially with Sonnen expressing frustrations over how the rules have changed in MMA. We can only speculate where Sonnen goes from here, but if Sonnen signs with the WWE, the world will witness a talker equivalent to the likes of Paul Heyman, and the real winners will be the WWE fans.