Chewing the Fat w/ Chael

Retired UFC middleweight superstar, Chael Sonnen weighs in on some of the buzz-worthy topics in the community. Key points of conversation included his take on MMA in NY, Brock Lesnar, Cris Cyborg, whether Ronda Rousey could beat her bantamweight male counterparts and more.

Preparation for Renato Sobral at Metamoris VI
I'm coached by Fabiano Scherner at Gracie Baja in Portland. We will have plenty of time to prepare; we've been at it for a while already. I've known this match was lingering for a little bit, so we've been getting ready for it and we still have two months to go.
I will say this when it comes to Metamoris, it is shocking how successful their business model is. I'm not an internet guy. I'm a TV guy. If it's not on TV, I'm not watching it. This whole, internet-based programming, whether it's Fightpass, or WWE or Netflix and now Metamoris...this is where people are going to get their visual entertainment now.
I had no idea how big this is until I got my backend money from the last Metamoris I was in. It's just huge. When you're getting a bonus check that's 6 figures for an internet program that's grappling based...I just had no idea. Ralek (Gracie) definitely has this machine figured out to make gold.

Ronda Rousey vs. male opponent
When you sit around and talk about the possible scenarios of how Batman could beat Superman...well, it's a fun topic and all, but there's no way to prove it. It's very silly, I don't understand it, and I don't have the rhetorical skills to discuss it. I don't want to see a man throw a woman down and ground & pound her. Conversely, I don't want to see a woman do it to a man. I don't get it, I don't like the topic. I think I'm just going to leave it at that.

Thoughts on Holly Holm
I only hear great things about her. The people that practice with her say that she really works hard, is very disciplined, driven, pushes herself, makes sacrifices...just all the great things that embody a champion.
I come from a wrestling background, and we have an architecture in place that really and truly determines who is the best, which isn't necessarily true of boxing. Every human being alive that wants to enter the tournament can enter. It's a year-long process of tournament after tournament, where they just weed people out until only 24 men are left. Then you go out there, and in one day, it's determined. You beat 4 guys, you win it. That's a true world championship.
Now this isn't to take away from Holly Holm because she looks to be a great competitor and I think she will fight for the UFC title. Some might find that offensive, but there's no governing body in boxing that crowned her that has any more validity than you and I going into your garage for a fight and calling it a world championship.

Cris Cyborg vs. Ronda Rousey
I know her (Cyborg) personally and she's a very nice gal. If you judge a book by the cover, you will be wrong about her. That said, the only person holding up that fight is her. Ronda Rousey is at 135 pounds in the UFC. She'll fight any 135 pound woman out there. Cyborg is not in the UFC and she is not 135 pounds.
Cris seems to be the one that wants the fight, but she's also the one holding it up. I appreciate her callouts and the intensity behind them, but the reality is still that she's dragging her feet here. She has to get to 135 to get into the UFC. That's all she has to do.
There's no other athlete in the world that will find an easier entry for a title fight. They didn't even do that for Lesnar. Cyborg literally has the golden ticket, and she's the one that hasn't made the weight. To talk about the fight when you're the one stopping it is bizarre.
Advice for Anthony Pettis in his quest to dominate PPV
Anthony Pettis is the total package. The guy is handsome, he's polite, he's a straight up badass and he's the champion of the most talent-rich division in the UFC. There is no division like 155, and he sits on top of the mountain.
He's already well on his way, but if I were to give him any words, it would be that there really isn't a recipe for stardom. Even Chuck Liddell struggled in the beginning. Eventually, his star caught on, and that's when you saw people shaving their heads to look like him, but it took a while.
Then you get a guy like Conor McGregor that can do it with one appearance. There's just no recipe. I can say this though, if Anthony Pettis keeps winning, and I firmly believe he will, it's just going to take care of itself.
You look at Jose Aldo, who is one of the worst champion draws, he will also experience it. It will happen if he keeps winning. Floyd Mayweather used to not sell. Floyd came out here to Portland in 2005, and only 7000 people came out to see him fight Sharmba Mitchell. His star caught on, though. It's going to happen for Aldo, it's happening for Pettis and it's already happened for Ronda.
When Ronda fought Sara McMann, they sold about 7400 tickets for a 12,000 seat arena, and papered the house, which means they gave tickets away. Just one year later, she's selling out the Staples Center, which is a huge venue. They're scalping tickets to her fights and her PPV numbers are through the roof.
The only thing I can tell these guys on the brink is to stay after it. Don't quit winning and don't quit talking.
Retirement (I always ask, just in case)
I've had enough fights. There gets to be a point in your career where you just don't want to do it anymore. The hardest workout I used to do, is my coach, Coach Clayton, made me run this hill every Sunday. I'd be depressed all week, knowing I had to take on the hill every weekend. It was 2.5 miles up hill, and it was timed, so I had to keep beating my time. That was just the beginning of the workout for Sundays. Anybody that's come through Oregon and trained with Clayton, shares in my pain. We all hate that damned hill because it's so difficult.
There was a time when I would show up at that hill to beat my old record. Every Sunday I was out there to get a personal best, and I was really motivated to do it. Then there comes the time when you just don't wanna do it anymore. That's where I'm at.
The sport is hard to walk away from. It's very seductive. The whole process, all the way down to doing interviews is fun...it's intoxicating. But, as fighters, we tend to stay in too long. In my last fight, I walked to the ring, knowing full well what was going to happen. The only thing I had was hope. I was hoping for a different outcome than the one I knew was coming. I was hoping to get lucky. Take it from me, hope is not a strategy.

Mir vs. Lesnar at Madison Square Garden
It's the only fight you could get Lesnar back for. For $5.2 million, which is what he would be estimated to make, based on his PPV numbers and previous contract, I think he'd come back.
I don't personally want them to do it in NY. Governor Christie in NJ has always been loyal to the MMA cause, so I'd just as soon take it under the tunnel and give him the 6% (this is the tax the state commissions get from the live gate). I don't see why New York deserves it. I think they need it more than we do. To be honest, at this point, I think I'm just bitter about it.

Mir/Lesnar III will likely do a huge, $4-4.5 million gate, so we're talking about writing a quarter of a million dollar check. Give it to a state that's been loyal since the beginning, as opposed to a state that's done nothing but create headaches.
From a business standpoint, you've got to put emotions aside and move forward, but for me, personally, I'm bitter and I wouldn't hold a major show there. I'd take it straight to New Jersey and let them have it. I just can't get on board with giving them the biggest gate of the year if this fight does get off the ground.
Again, I'm speaking from emotion and frustration. I'm definitely not talking pure dollars and cents.

Rumors of UFC assisting Invicta with Cyborg's purse
I wouldn't be surprised at all if they helped with Cyborg's purse. I know they've done some serious charitable contributions that constantly fly under the radar. Dana White, aside from Zuffa, from his personal checking account that reads "Dana White" at the top of it, has donated to all sorts of college wrestling programs. The UFC attempted to help support a judo federation in Europe, also.
All you ever hear about is the bad stuff, but you don't get the whole of what they do on a regular basis because they aren't out their tooting their own horns and announcing it. They've been doing things to help people behind the scenes for years.