"She was willing to pay $50,000 to Joe Silva" - Chael Sonnen recollects when his mother was ready to bribe UFC matchmaker to get him a place on the roster

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Chael Sonnen [Image credits: YouTube @Chael Sonnen and Getty]

Chael Sonnen is widely remembered as the man who knew how to generate hype around a fight in the pre-McGregor era. However, before he attained stardom, Sonnen had to navigate rough waters to make his UFC debut. He was so desperate to fight in the organization that his family nearly got involved to help him realize his dream.

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In a recent video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Sonnen spoke about how filling in on short notice is a great way to boost a fighter's career. He narrated his own story to emphasize the point:

“I was so desperate to get into the UFC and so was my family, and it looked like that opportunity wasn’t going to happen for me. My mother had a plan… she wasn’t a wealthy woman, but she was willing to pay Joe Silva $50,000, who was the matchmaker of the time, to get me into the UFC.”

Sonnen explained that had his mother’s bribe come through, he would have faced Andrei Arlovski at heavyweight, which he was not ready for. That said, just the thought of joining the UFC trumped all other concerns the Oregonian and his family had back in 2005. The 45-year-old further stated:

“Now I ended up getting the opportunity so my mother didn’t have to bribe the matchmaker, but I got in because I was willing to fight somebody that nobody else was willing to fight on short notice.”

Check out what Sonnen had to say below:

Chael Sonnen used his story to explain that if a fighter like Paddy Pimblett can maintain his weight throughout the year, he stands a great chance of having his career propelled by stepping in for short-notice fights.

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Chael Sonnen requests Paddy Pimblett to not entertain weight gain questions by the media

Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett has been making recent news largely due to the post-fight weight that he has put on following his recent win. However, Chael Sonnen has had enough of the media repeatedly making news of the Scouser’s weight gain.

In another video uploaded to his YouTube channel, the former UFC title challenger called out the media for focusing on Pimblett’s weight. He also went on to urge ‘The Baddy’ to refrain from addressing questions regarding the same when he said:

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“What a guy eats or if he likes jelly donuts – it's just a weird thing to talk about. And you'll do that when you have nothing else, but when you're as interesting of a guy, when you're a character with so much substance, when you have the potential and the future and the projections of Paddy 'The Baddy', get it over there... Stop! There's nothing interesting about this."

There are genuine concerns, however, regarding the lightweight fighter’s weight gain. It is something that UFC president Dana White believes will be detrimental to the Liverpudlian's career.

Check out the complete episode of Sonnen's podcast below:

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