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Interview with Chael Sonnen

Little Creek Casino - Shelton, Washington

Interview and photo by Mike Renouard


On the 5th of November, Chael Sonnen had the strangest fight of his career when he faced Paulo Filho at WEC 36 inside the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida. The bout was supposed to be a five round battle for the WEC Middleweight Championship but because Filho missed weight by a whopping 7 pounds, the bout was turned into a 3 round non-title fight. The fight itself was even more bizarre as Filho looked uninterested and was definitely unwilling to engage for the totality of all 3 rounds. Chael won the fight by picking his shots, using his reach, and avoiding entering Filho's guard in a match that was soundly booed by those in attendance because of Filho's lack of fighting spirit. The WEC Middleweight division has been now folded into UFC so Chael looks to be fighting in the Octagon sometime early this coming year.

 

Chael Sonnen, Aaron Stark, Matt Lindland

Carnage at the Creek 4 - November 22nd

 

On November 22nd, Chael helped Matt Lindland corner fellow Team Quest member, Aaron Stark, to victory in the main event at Carnage at the Creek 4. After the festivities ended, NWFS had a chance to ask Chael a few quick questions... 


NW Fightscene: Tell us your thoughts now of your recent fight with Paulo Filho. Sonnen: It was kind of one of those experiences that you kind of block out of your mind a little bit. I don't know for sure what actually happened in the match. I haven't seen it but it was strange. It was a strange experience. I didn't know what to do. I've never been in a spot like that where your opponent is being a little coy. And at the time, I just thought he was baiting me in. I thought the whole thing was a setup for some type of master plan. The seconds ticked into minutes ticked into rounds and before I knew it fifteen minutes were up and we were done. And he simply never sprung into action. So it was a little odd in that regard. Certainly.

NWFS: Obviously he came in with some major issues, and it must have been a huge disappointment for you to go from fighting for the title to suddenly not fighting for the title. Did you have any words with Paulo afterwards?
CS: You know, I let it go right away. When those situations change you kind of gotta go into denial and just block them from your memory because you got to get into the ring 24 hours later. It's not like you have time to mourn a disappointment. You just got to move on. It didn't stay with me too long and I didn't say anything to him. I don't speak his language so it would be tough for us to have a conversation anyway. But I'm sure he felt bad in many regards and you know he got fired at the end of the night so I didn't want to kick him when he was down or pour salt on a wound or anything. That's just what happened. 

NWFS: Next you are moving to the UFC. Any word on when that'll be?
CS: I believe it will be February but there is not even a hint of an opponent yet. But I think there will be an opponent and a contract and it'll all be wrapped up I would imagine in the next couple of weeks. First week of December I would say. Yeah they try to plan 'em two shows out. They are so busy right now between the WEC product and the UFC product that you get great time to plan. They're very organized and they really look to the future. So they've got cards booked for all the way to next summer. Main events. The rest of the cards are still filling in. I think I'll be on one in February.

NWFS: And Rumble at the Roseland. You have your 40th show coming up! Wow...
CS: Yeah, December 6th. It's the best card that we have ever put together. Both the Matijacic's [brothers Tom and Kress] are returning. In the main event, Pro Escobedo who is undefeated and Tom Matijacic are finally going to meet up. Impact Jiu-jitsu, Straight Blast Gym. This is very big. So that is the main event. Possibly the biggest amateur fight ever. So yeah, I'm really looking forward to that.

Rumble At The Roseland 40. December 6th.

NWFS: What's the schedule like for Rumble at the Roseland for 2009?
CS: There is one in January [1/10/2009] and we just booked May 2nd. Got that contract. It's hard to plan too far out. You got to look at football schedules and wrestling schedules and when George Strait's coming to town and things like that. There's lot to look at when you're promoting an event. It's a very competitive business so you really got to plan it if you want to stay in the fight business long.


Be on the lookout for Chael fighting in the UFC in 2009 and those so inclined can

hit him up at his myspace page: www.myspace.com/tqmma_sonnen

Learn more about the Rumble at the Roseland, co-promoted by Chael and his partner Kevin Keeney, at the promotion's website: www.TheFCFF.com

 


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