NEW YORK – Collecting a championship belt has been a career-long goal for Chael Sonnen. He’s had opportunities in the WEC, UFC and even Bellator at heavyweight, but came up short each time.
Sonnen has a difficult time digesting that, he said, mainly because of a promise he made to his late father about winning a major MMA championship before he retires. At 42, time appears to be Sonnen’s enemy, and the pressure is mounting to keep his word. Despite that, he said giving up is not an option.
“At this point, I almost regret it and wish I would’ve kept it as a personal motivation for myself,” Sonnen told MMA Junkie at Wednesday’s Bellator 222 media day. “It is a lot of pressure. … I will either win the championship, or I will be a failure. I believe that wholeheartedly. I was told when I was 17 years old by Matt Lindland, we were both on a wrestling quest at that time, but he told me, ‘You cannot retire unless you win a world championship; you can only quit.’ I don’t want to be a quitter.”
Sonnen’s championship dreams might be further removed than any point in his Bellator career if he doesn’t win on Friday. The fight with former UFC champion Lyoto Machida is one that Sonnen has expected to have for years, and now it has finally materialized.
As always, though, Sonnen said his gameplan is to put Machida on his back and not let him up until the fight is over. He knows Machida won’t be a pushover but strongly believes his wrestling will trump the karate stylings of the Brazilian.
“Looking at it going in with, say the intimidation factor, he’s right up there because he’s so weird,” Sonnen said. “I don’t have anybody in Portland that does what he does. We don’t do karate. In my mind we settled this debate of wrestlers vs. karate guys in 1993. That’s what I thought happened, but he stuck around, and that’s a credit to him. But somehow he’s found a way to make a sport that sucks effective.”
Bellator 222 takes place at Madison Square Garden. Sonnen vs. Machida co-headlines the main card, which streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
For complete coverage of Bellator 222, check out the MMA Events section of the site.
