"He's a thief for doing it" - Chael Sonnen resents Mike Tyson for "stealing 50 dollars" over Lennox Lewis fight
Chael Sonnen recently brought up his issue with Mike Tyson while talking about manufactured rivalries in combat sports.
During an episode of his YouTube show, Sonnen discussed how fighters try to fabricate grudges to sell more pay-per-views. 'The American Gangster' pointed to Tyson vs. Lennox Lewis as an example of a fake rivalry.
Sonnen then revealed that he's still at odds with Tyson because of his "resentment" for the 2002 matchup. The former multi-time UFC title challenger said:
"I will tell you, nothing stands out to me more and I have a resentment to it to this day. Mike Tyson and I don't get along – and I don't know that we have a big beef – but in all fairness, he'd rather not see me and I'd rather not see him. But it all predicates on him stealing $50 from me and all of you. He fought Lennox Lewis and he's a thief for doing it. And then he comes out after the fight, grabs the microphone before he even leaves the ring and says, 'That was all for promotion, I love this guy.' Fair enough, I'm glad that you two worked it out but you defrauded me and the rest of the public out of $50 so give me my money back."
Check out Chael Sonnen's comments below:
Chael Sonnen's previous harsh comments regarding Mike Tyson
This isn't the first time Chael Sonnen has fired a shot at iconic heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.
In 2012, 'The American Gangster' claimed that Tyson, as well as Sonnen's rival Anderson Silva, were nothing short of bullies in an interview with the LA Times. Sonnen even went as far as calling Tyson a "fake champion" in the same interview.
A year later, Sonnen continued to go after 'Iron Mike'. He discredited the boxing legend by claiming Jon Jones could beat Tyson and Muhammad Ali in the same on "the same day."
Watch the video below:
More recently, Sonnen accused Tyson of using performance-enhancing drugs. Prior to 'Iron Mike's' comeback fight against Roy Jones Jr. in 2020, 'The American Gangster' claimed on his YouTube channel that he's convinced the heavyweight star is on the juice.
That said, the rivalry appears to be one-sided as Tyson has never acknowledged Sonnen's comments.