"Did I secretly want out of those fights? It's a possibility" - Chael Sonnen on his susceptibility to being submitted by triangle chokes
Over the course of Chael Sonnen's MMA career, he competed for UFC gold multiple times. He defeated several high-level opponents such as Michael Bisping, Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua and Brian Stann. But one blip on Sonnen's resume is his repeated susceptibility to being submitted with triangle chokes, often when he was in a dominant position.
In the first fight in the iconic rivalry between Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva, Sonnen looked to be on track to hand 'The Spider' his first-ever loss in the UFC octagon. However, in the fifth round, with Sonnen landing ground and pound in the guard of Silva, he fell into the Brazilian's triangle and was forced to tap out in what was arguably the biggest fight of his career.
Speaking on a recent video posted to his YouTube channel, Chael Sonnen discussed the flaw in his game and revealed why he could never rectify it. He states that:
"Just because you know a problem, does not mean you can now fix it. It could be a body type issue. I don't know why I got put in triangle chokes. Did I not see it coming? Am I sleeping on the job? Did I secretly want out of those fights? That's a possibility too. Or is my body just built in that way... I still don't know the answer to it."
Chael Sonnen on why Cory Sandhagen came up short against T.J. Dillashaw
Chael Sonnen uses the analogy of his own susceptibility to triangle chokes compared to Cory Sandhagen's to being taken down. 'The Sandman' recently lost a split decision fight against T.J. Dillashaw, where he was repeatedly tied up in wrestling exchanges.
"Just because you've identified the problem doesn't necessarily mean you're going to fix the problem. You gotta go out there on the fly and try. I think that Sandhagen, not for nothing, but I think that his takedown defense is much better now than it was a year ago. I think even though those takedowns are what cost him the fight.. you can clearly see that Sandhagen is serious about it, he's identified it and he's working on it," states Chael Sonnen.
Sonnen also understood his own weaknesses but could never rectify his flaws. He similarly believes that Sandhagen has not been able to fix his problems with takedown defense, despite being aware of them.
"But, it's just that. He's working on it. It's a work in progress."
Watch Sonnen's video below: