Chael Sonnen's Jaw-Dropping Paycheck: What he earned for his Anderson Silva rematch will leave you stunned
Chael Sonnen has always been praised for his ability to promote his fights throughout his career. He was involved in many rivalries and was a bankable fighter for the UFC when given the opportunity.
During his appearance on FLAGRANT with comedian Andrew Schultz, Sonnen revealed what he earned from his rematch with Anderson Silva at UFC 148. At the time, it was a highly anticipated bout because of what transpired in their first encounter and the animosity between the two.
"I made $8.8 million the second time I fought Anderson [Silva]. And I know I just became a scumbag to the audience, I didn't mean to, but they used to post this publicly...And I only told this story one time to a guy named Brian was a good friend of mine, and Brian told me that that didn't happen and he broke down the math...I just backtracked and took it back."
'The American Gangster' noted UFC 148 was the most he ever made for a fight in his career. It was a large sum, especially considering that the bout took place in 2012. He mentioned that he hasn't been able to confirm how much 'The Spider' earned, saying:
"[Anderson Silva] He had to get more, he had to...And I heard rumors though that he was like $3.2 million or $3.1 million and I've tried to confirm that but he also told me a number that he thought we did in pay-per-views wasn't the number that we did in pay-per-views, so I didn't know where this whole thing sat."
Silva defeated Sonnen via second-round TKO in their rematch to retain his UFC middleweight championship.
Chael Sonnen wants Valentina Shevchenko to commit to being a villain
Chael Sonnen: I'm not crazy about...
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Chael Sonnen has proven that he knows how to sell fights and he recently went on a rant, where he challenged Valentina Shevchenko to become more of a villain.
During his appearance on The MMA Hour, Sonnen mentioned that 'Bullet' seems too content with not being the main event and felt that it has hurt her career. He added that she should be more of a heel as a way to generate more interest in her fights, saying:
"Shut up, Valentina. Let's start with that Valentina. Tell the world why you demanded to be on the same card as Jon Jones. Let's start with that, let's see some really good gossip out there and let the people know who you really are, Ms. Heel. And maybe I could get you off of the undercard."
Shevchenko is coming off her women's flyweight title loss to Alexa Grasso and is looking to get an immediate rematch. It would be interesting to see if she decides to trash talk more as a way to generate more interest in their rematch.