It’s been over a decade since Rampage Jackson and Chael Sonnen first called out each other, but the bad blood still boils. The feud kicked off in 2012 when Sonnen took a trademark jab, saying, “A guy on the roster is ducking fights until his contract expires! For legal reasons, I can’t say his name, but it rhymes with Jenton Quackson!” What seemed like typical trash talk back then has clearly aged into genuine animosity. Both are legends in their own right, but even with their fighting days mostly behind them, it seems this grudge match never needed a cage to stay alive.
Both Chael Sonnen and Rampage Jackson have become influential voices in combat sports, promoting and sharing their perspectives on every major fight. While they have different styles of expression, audiences, and backgrounds, they share their deep connection to MMA. Recently, at the Jaxxon podcast, the host asked Jackson his opinion on why Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen are such loved individuals in the MMA world.
Responding to the question, the former UFC fighter emphasized, “I ain’t DC or your male crush, Sonnen.” The host further doubled down on his statement and asserted that Sonnen is probably the funniest guy on the internet. This phrase appeared to have irked Jackson, who said, ” He ain’t the best guy on the internet, bro. I ain’t going to lie, I tried to watch one of his interviews on TikTok with those funny glasses on. He is good at talking to the camera, doing the stuff by himself. But I’m the type of person—I have, like, a short attention span—and he wouldn’t get to the point. Yeah, yeah, f—that. That’s not my style.”
MMA: UFC 148-Silva vs Sonnen II Jul. 7, 2012 Las Vegas, NV, USA UFC fighter Chael Sonnen in the ring prior to his fight against Anderson Silva not pictured during a middleweight bout in UFC 148 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Las Vegas Nevada USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xMarkxJ.xRebilas-USAxTODAYxSportsx 6368330
Chael Sonnen is currently one of the most beloved voices in the sport. His YouTube channel has millions of subscribers, and he co-hosts a show with Daniel Cormier called Good Guy/Bad Guy under the ESPN banner. Sonnen had bad blood with Jackson that started with the X post. Soon enough, both of them had a backdoor altercation at a hotel lobby in Phoenix, Arizona, where they had to be separated by fellow fighter Michael Bisping.
The duo finally fought each other at Bellator 192 on January 20, 2018, and despite being the smaller fighter, Chael Sonnen navigated his way across Rampage Jackson and won the battle by unanimous decision. Well, ‘The American Gangster’ appeared to have let go of his rivalry with Jackson as he is focused on current affairs in the MMA world. Interestingly, in his latest escapade, Sonnen has questioned Islam Makhachev’s intent to dodge Ilia Topuria.
Chael Sonnen calls out Islam Makhachev for not clashing with Ilia Topuria
Ilia Topuria relinquished his featherweight title with the hopes that the UFC would book him against Islam Makhachev. However, Team Khabib has straight out denied any sort of lightweight title hopes to the Spanish-Georgian fighter. As per Khabib Nurmagomedov, Topuria will have to fight against any top lightweight before even dreaming about the 155-lb crown. In response to these comments, the former featherweight champion, in his statement, emphasized that Team Khabib is afraid of his advance.
Amidst the chaos, Chael Sonnen has come forward to give his two cents on the fiasco, “If you’re team Islam and you’re sitting around and waiting cause you believe you’re going to 170 lbs and get a title shot against Jack Della Maddalena…if you’re refusing Ilia Topuria as he hasn’t done anything in the weight class and I lose to him, it’s too big of a risk. We will take that same argument and sticking up your a– at 170, where you haven’t done anything.”
Team Khabib claims that Ilia Topuria hasn’t accomplished anything in the lightweight division and doesn’t deserve a title shot. However, they also argue that Islam Makhachev should get a welterweight title fight despite not competing in that division. According to Chael Sonnen, this argument reeks of hypocrisy.
‘The American Gangster’ wants equality between the champions, but will Team Khabib pay any heed to his statements? Time will tell. Given that, what are your thoughts on Chael Sonnen? State your opinion in the comments below.
The post “F— That”: UFC Legend Comes Clean on His Beef With Chael Sonnen appeared first on EssentiallySports.