Chael Sonnen Proves Controversial Self-Marketing Persists Despite Detractors
by Leland Roling on Feb 9, 2010 3:56 PM EST
in MMA News
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Ask any hardcore mixed martial arts fan whether or not they believed Chael Sonnen had a shot against Nate Marquardt in the week leading up to UFC 109? More than likely, you'd be enlightened with answers that didn't convey a positive opinion of the outcome for Sonnen. Some fans believed Sonnen's wrestling could be the ultimate deterrent to Marquardt's style, and to those fans -- I salute you.
To many fans, out picking the experts and shaming us in our theories as to how the fight was going to play out was a bittersweet victory on a Sunday morning. Fighters, on the other hand, find comfort in knowing that they've not only beat the odds, beat the experts, and beat the consensus opinion, but they've also lined their pockets with some hard earned cash as well.
Chael Sonnen has also done something that we haven't seen masterfully done since the days in which Tito Ortiz was considered to be in his prime. He's mastered the ability to sell himself as a 'heel', but instead of coming up short -- he delivered on the promise that he would win on Saturday night and put himself in a position to potentially battle current champion Anderson Silva.
Instead of talking down his opponent, Sonnen referred to him as a "decent human being". He saved his most vile comments for Silva, bashing him for his earrings, pink t-shirts, and sideways hat. But it didn't end there. He scrutinized the notion that Silva was the top fighter in the world, and stated he would "expose him" because he's "no more real than the Loch Ness Monster". Pretty colorful, huh?
Not surprisingly, this has caused a divide in the MMA fanbase. Some fans aren't buying into Sonnen's antics as a legitimate part of his personality, and they can see that he's trying to sell himself as controversial. Those fans, however, can appreciate what Sonnen is trying to do -- he's trying to build hype around a fight in order to amass a bigger payday.
The significant difference between Chael's campaign against Silva and past antics from other athletes is that Sonnen's dominating performance against Nate Marquardt proved the long-time cliche -- if you talk the talk, you better walk the walk. His actions spoke louder than his words, but his words have spawned some unique opportunities for him.
Now, there are fans that will tune in because of their love-hate relationship with the newly-minted UFC middleweight contender. Should we really be upset that Sonnen used a proven marketing campaign to improve the excitement surrounding a Silva vs. Sonnen showdown?
We could argue for months as to the effects of such vile comments to fans who want to see this sport grow, but the UFC isn't stopping it. In fact, the UFC is rewarding those fighters who have the ability to garner interest from comments. Dan Hardy, Tito Ortiz, and now... Chael Sonnen. I doubt they'll be "disciplining" Nick Diaz if he finds his way into the UFC either.
And I don't believe it's truly retarding its growth. Even if you believe it's hurting this sport, get used to it. As Chael Sonnen has already stated, "If Anderson ever signed to fight me, which is highly unlikely, he’ll be getting a verbal beating like you’ve never seen."
Obviously his campaign has worked wonders for his career, and be sure that there are plenty of other colorful personalities out there taking notes. Creating two distinct groups of fans, one who loves you and another that hates your guts, is a foolproof way to go straight to the top. Now, if only Chael Sonnen can convince Don Frye to become his manager... then Ed Soares and Anderson Silva would have their hands full.
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Yeah I can’t quite tell if Chael knows what he’s doing for marketing or if it’s just the natural extension of himself or a little combination of both.
But I can’t believe we’ve got another story on the guy. Wowza, not since Machida beat Rashad have we talked about a guy so much.
I think the UFC really needed CHael. It’s been interesting to watch.
I don't know if the UFC really needs him
But the MMA press has gotta be wetting it’s collective pants in expectation of the monsoon of trash talk leading up to this title bout. Now that I think about it, so am I.
Pee-pee money is not an employment history.
There always seems to be a hint of irony to his comments
But the things he says are so amusing that I don’t care if he’s serious or just smack-talking.
That said, all the trash he was talking during the week leading up to the fight added a total air of disbelief to the way he worked over Marquardt. I have to say that I completely bought into the idea that, since the loss to Silva and the training with GSP, Nate had become a middleweight wrecking machine that was going to plow right through Sonnen.
I, for one, could not believe what I saw happen.
Get rid of the ramp!
Before Chael got so godamn chatty over the last few weeks I didnt give a crap about him, now I will gladly pay 50 bucks to see Anderson or Vitor kick the shit out of him. So I guess what he’s been doing has worked…
"He will lie between resentment and regret. He shed his grace. As certain as a snake sheds its skin. Laid waste to a wealth of talent--his curse being blessed with treasures that just were not gold enough"
by ProfessorBLove on Feb 9, 2010 3:28 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Don Frye managing Sonnen NEEDS to happen.
"It would appear that the strain was more than he could bear".- Doc Holliday
The Internet would explode. But it would be funny as hell.
by dancingChicken on Feb 9, 2010 3:37 PM EST up reply actions
Love the Sonnen
Dude’s got it figured out, Sonnen is brilliantly marketing himself. The edge here is that he comes off calm and reasonably intelligent. Can he beat Silva? Sure, i thought no way could he take Marquardt so bring it on.
To the point of it taking away from the sport that’s totally absurd. Ali was the best trash talker ever, ask Joe Frazier, and it did nothing but help boxing.
so close yet so far away
As one of the few who picked the chael upset I was very pleased only to have my hopes dashed. You see I also picked a mark coleman upset so now I can’t brag or else be reminded of the time I picked against capt america
by ohiomma on Feb 9, 2010 3:42 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Anderson does not have boobs
Walking the line between intelligence and ignorance since 1985
@deowade
He wears pink shirts and earrings. Same thing.
- Chael
by MMAInFeRioRiTy on Feb 9, 2010 4:37 PM EST up reply actions
Whether I believe what Chael is saying or not, I still think it is clever and funny. The stuff he said about using not liking the guard because he was a republican made me crack up. I take most of what he says as satire. I do think he believes that his style of fighting can beat Silva. I know his record isn’t stellar but I think recently a lot of the high end wrestlers are starting to really figure out how to GnP without getting caught in a submission. Even wrestlers that aren’t top caliber are beginning to use the same techniques and the only real factor for the wrestler is the ability to get close enough to shoot for the takedown. That only becomes a factor when facing someone who also has a good wrestling base.
Bottom line, comedy is not easy to pull off and I think Chael is doing a good job of it. I think he’s staying on the line of the Ali style smack talking without sounding like some scripted WWE performer. Yeah he’s not PC but I don’t think he’s entirely vulgar in his humor.
I hate Chael Sonnen at first
but now he is growing on him and I can’t help it.
It is crazy how he went from a nobody to a star. Imagine if he beats Anderson Silva. He could be doing talk shows on Fox News as the UFC MW champion.
Its funny how I was really looking forward to Silva destroying Sonnen to shut him up but now I am really looking forward to it to shut these idiots who really think Sonnen has a prayer up.
by b2tharad on Feb 9, 2010 4:01 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Since the days of Tito Ortiz?????
Frank Mir would like to have a word, screw that, 10 conversations with you.
I don’t like the guy, but man, he’s good at making sure we know who he is and staying in the conversation. He took a fight with Cheik Kongo, for goodness sake, and made me want to buy that PPV on the hope Cheik would take him out. Didn’t happen, but UFC got my $55 for it. (Can’t do PPV in SD, people. It’s bad for ya).
Frank Mir is the pre-eminent trash talker of our time in MMA, and good for him. And when he fights Lesnar again, I’ll buy it again. Win or lose, and I hope he loses, UFC will get another $55 from me. Good for him.
Chonnen can only aspire to the level of trash-talking Frank Mir has provided thus far.
"The moment you stop thinking you're the best, it's time for you to get out the game." -'King' Mo Lawal
Sorry for the misspell on Sonnen
my typing = teh suck
"The moment you stop thinking you're the best, it's time for you to get out the game." -'King' Mo Lawal
If he beats Silva he'll be huge
It’ll be a bit like having two Brock Lesnars (or one, I guess). Of course, there’s a realistic chance he fights Vitor, so he shouldn’t get ahead of himself. In the end, though, I’d rather see Silva prevail, as he’s the vastly more entertaining fighter — and what goes on in the ring counts more than trash talking.
Henderson is a better wrestler than Sonnen and has much more power in his hands. Silva ran through him with almost no problems, I see a fight with Sonnen ending almost the exact same way. I can however see him grinding out a unanimous decision against Vitor…
I REALLY hope Silva puts Sonnen in a triangle til he falls asleep, then asks him how his balls taste.
Your style's like garbage cans meant to be taken out on a weekly basis
Ever since your first record you've been in a state of suspended animation
You look like Snuffleuffagus and Australopithecus
Me cray, you abacus
One of Chael Sonnen's greatest strengths as a fighter
is that he has absolutely no pretensions about what kind of fighter he is. He didn’t try to stand for more then few seconds against Nate, and would stand even less against Silva. Whether Henderson’s wrestling is superior or not is entirely irrelevant. Henderson’s wrestling didn’t cost him the fight. Deciding to stand with Anderson Silva did. Sonnen has no pretensions about standing a chance on his feet. That’s a huge difference between he and Henderson. He won’t make the same mistake that Dan did. Whether he will make a different one, I have no idea. But there’s no point in comparing Henderson and Sonnen’s wrestling abilities. It tells us nothing of substance about Sonnen/Silva.
by Trysdor on Feb 9, 2010 4:30 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I agree with this. I’ll also note in response to BLove that Henderson is not a better wrestler than Sonnen. Hendo’s best wrestling days are probably 14 years behind him when he made the 1996 olympic squad. Sonnen is 7 years younger than Hendo. Sonnen was a 2x university national champion in free style wrestling and then went on to be an olympic alternate in greco roman. There is no question that Sonnen is a better free style wrestler than Hendo, who I believe was at his best just an NCAA qualifier. Hendo has never shown himself to be a great MMA wrestler. His preference for standing and banging gets him taken down quite a bit and leads him to look for the takedown less than often. He also has never shown himself to have a great gas tank. He seemed to gas against Silva and both Noguieras and be less than fresh for the championship rounds against QJ (who also managed to outwrestle Hendo in the second half of the fight despite being an unaccomplished wrestler).
exactly. Sonnen’s level of wrestling higher than even Brock’s, although i don’t know if Brock actually ever tried out for the olympics, i’ve heard he was more a brute wrestler than tactician. Stephen Neal of the Patriots actually beat him in college.
by Austin Martin on Feb 9, 2010 4:45 PM EST up reply actions
Just to be clear, as an NCAA wrestler (folkstyle) Sonnen earned all american honors once (Top 8 finishers in each weight class are AAs). Guys like Lesnar, Kos, Rosholt, and Hendricks were NCAA champions. Not a huge difference, but a difference.
And I do agree that Sonnen is a better MMA wrestler. Henderson’s game isn’t TDs and working GNP. He’s been a guy who throws bombs on the feet for years now. Sonnen sticks to his gameplan of TD and GNP, and is better at that style than Henderson.
Agreed.
Chael doesn’t pretend to be something that he’s not. Hendo doesn’t have a GnP style. His style for years now is to stand and trade and use his wrestling whenever advantageous. Chael, however, won’t be delusional about his chances standing. People give him so much grief over the stuff he says, but they tend to overlook how smart he can be. I have no doubts Chael will easily put Anderson on his back over and over again. The problem is a) getting his hands on Silva in the first place without getting KTFO, b) being able to do this for five rounds, and c) avoiding submissions, which he has often fallen prey to in the past. Like Brent said in a previous post: in a three round fight, I’d be tempted to pick Chael, but not a 5 rounder.
You have to be the man... you have to be very, like, alpha male with her. You know? Decide what you do and everything. So, show her who's the boss, you know? - GSP
I basically said this in a fanpost earlier, but I agree 100%. Sonnen would have no qualms about a long slow grinding fight for 5 rounds….just like Couture vs Ortiz or Sylvia. And you know what? I could see it working. I really don’t think Anderson has a good enough game from guard to submit a guy who isn’t wheezing his way into a heart attack from terrible cardio (lutter)
Reasons for the Success of Chael's Schtick
Sonnen’s heel routine has been effective because:
1. He’s been winning and just stomped the #1 contender.
2. He didn’t attack his opponent (which always alienates some people) but rather built him up and then trash talked a seemingly aloof and odd foreigner that has only a moderate following given how successful he’s been. (I’m not trying to bash Silva here; I think that if Silva spoke English well he’d be a huge star in the US given his current winning streak; he seems to be an odd guy but also to have a good sense of humor and be humble. American fans love that.)
3. Although there were perhaps some grains of truth in what he said, Chael’s trash-talking was so over the top it was funny. When’s the last time you laughed at something Mir said? Mir’s trash-talk is analytical and seems self-important < Sonnen’s is hyperbolic and employs wacky metaphors.
4. Sonnen is reasonably self deprecating. No one likes a pompous ass. He’s also given props to people he’s beaten (e.g., Okami) which shows he can be a gracious winner.
5. Other things equal, the media will show Chael in as positive a light as his comments will allow. More than one reporter / editorialist has noted that Chael is a great interview. No one wants to bite the hand that feeds him.
by The Darkness on Feb 9, 2010 4:34 PM EST reply actions 3 recs
i think with your point # 5, you’ve alluded to Sonnen’s personality as a mixture of brash confidence(tito) with self deprecation( forrest) with a dry humor and intelligent banter. He’s defining a new breed of smack talk, love him or hate him. phenomenal.
by Austin Martin on Feb 9, 2010 4:43 PM EST up reply actions
"I won’t respond. Ed isn’t in a position of power – he is in a position of opinion. Dana (White) and Joe Silva have already spoken, their word is final, my fate is set."
I wonder
if any of his Anderson hatred comes from the fact that Silva was good friends with Filho.
"I will do nothing lightly. When I walk, I will walk heavily. When I fight, I will fight with conviction. When I speak, I will speak strongly. When I love, I will love with everything"
To anyone who thinks Sonnen has no chance of beating Silva
I’ve got two words for you; Daiju Takase.
But seriously, I give almost no chance to Sonnen if the fight actually happens. Cuz by the time it goes down, Silvas gonna be so pissed at this cat he may try to run him over in the parking lot before the fight.
If Sonnen were Japanese I may give him a 50-50 chance, cuz everybody knows Japanese guys are Silvas kryptonite.
Pee-pee money is not an employment history.
No, because TWO Japanese guys pulled Hail Marys on him.
And a third was the victim of Silvas blatant rule flaunting. You don’t see the pattern? Kryptonite.
Pee-pee money is not an employment history.
sonnen’s been talking trash and wanting a piece of anderson since before he beat Filho in the WEC awhile back….i was excited for the fight then
freedomwatchonfox.com lp.org
Honestly.. I wanna see Silva win now, instead of Belfort.
Because the last time Silva lost a round, was against Henderson.. and I think Chael is as very good and strong wrestler, with the tools to cause problems for Silva…. if he gets it to the ground, that is.
I never thought...
…that Sonnen would beat Marquardt. I was really upset Nate lost, because he has and still is one of my favorite fighters. I didn’t even know Sonnen was an awesome wrestler or thought that his wrestling would play a factor in the fight. I kind of liked how he plays the “heel” though and he never really bothered me with all of his trash talking. I don’t understand why people let it get under their skin so much. Trash talking is awesome and adds a lot of fun and entertainment to the sport. I don’t like Sonnen’s fighting style all that much, but if he beats the winner of Silva/Belfort, it’d be pretty interesting with him as the champ. I’m glad guys like Sonnen exist!
I don't like anything about Chael
But I have to admit, his trash talk is working. I really want to see Silva pound his head in.
Before he started running his mouth, I just thought he was another wrestler who can make any fight boring and grinds out decisions by laying on top of people and hitting them to little actual effect.
Now I think he’s an evil wrestler who can make any fight boring and grinds out decisions by laying on top of people and hitting them to little actual effect.
Big difference.
Tatum: I think he's a good man. I like him. I got nothing against him, but I'm definitely gonna make orphans of his children.
Sonnen has to talk smack -- it's the only interesting part of his game.
Who watches MMA to see people lay on top of each other!? Who?! This is a serious question? Why do you want to see that?
Sonnen’s whole art form requires that certain rules & scoring protect him from his lack of mma skill — he has only one discipline under his belt — and if knees on the ground were allowed, or if damage given played any role in the decision process, like they are in japan, he would be a below average, unemployed fighter.
Normally, the problems with judging and rules aren’t that much of an issue because a boring fighter just gets swept under the rug (remember yushin okami…). But because this guy know how to talk sh*t we are all suppose to want to see him fight.
I’ve been waiting to see Marquardt get his second shot at the title for a long time now — and now I’ll have to settle for Chael — what a disappointment.
I blame the fans who buy into this Tito Ortiz, Ken Shamrock, Kimbo Slice, bullshit!!
I'm just a dude who's trying to put it together.
1. i have no idea how you could think his last fight was boring.
2. so basically you were waiting for nate to get his shot and thats why you dont like chael. Now if chael was able to make nate look helpless, what can silva do?
3. if knees on the ground were allowed, chael would probably be in better shape. (see mark coleman)
4. pretty ballsy to say he’d ever be a below average fighter for reason 3. thats just ridiculous. and now its obvious that youre a marquardt fanboy.
5. i really hope the last sentence is sarcasm, because if not my time was wasted replying to you.
by Austin Martin on Feb 9, 2010 8:20 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
1. Chael doesn’t even try to pass guard, he just gets into peoples guards (that is a display of good wrestling) and stays there (a display that he only knows wrestling) — BORING
2. Nate is the #1 contender in my opinion — Chael is gonna hang out in Silva’s guard for five rounds — BORING
3. If Chael could pass guard he’d be in better shape, but he can’t so he’s boring
4. If damage played a larger role in scoring then positional aggression he’d be in bad shape
5. I’m just responding to this article about how his sh*t talk is getting him attention — I believe that it is World Wrestling Fans who love this kind of schtick, not mma fans
I'm just a dude who's trying to put it together.
the knees on the ground comment is just stupid.
If knees were allowed on the ground, sonnen would have moved around and kneed nate into oblivion instead of riding his back.
And amage? Nate cut him with one elbow? I’m not sure how that “damage” would count for more than what sonnen did in any scoring system.
by Phildo on Feb 9, 2010 9:18 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Chael ain’t too good at passing guard — he doesn’t need to do it to win decisions.
Chael received significantly more damage than Nate, and not just from the elbow.
I'm just a dude who's trying to put it together.
why do you need to pass guard?
Maybe he would try to pass guard if he could use knees to the head on the ground. Maybe if he could use knees to the head on the ground he would have done that instead of just riding nate’s back when he had it in the second round. Saying how things would have gone differently if there was different rules is pointless because the fight happened under the current rules. There is no way Nate did more damage than sonnen, none. The quantity of strikes did more damage to Nate.
I'm just waiting to find out that..
Nate had a severe case of H1N1 or something.
Not trying to take anything away from Sonnen, he won, but Nate just seemed like a different fighter…and not in a good way. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear eventually that there was something going on. Just a thought.
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