Why did Chael Sonnen leave the UFC?
After losing to Rashad Evans at UFC 167, Chael Sonnen never fought in the UFC again. He failed a drugs test for the second time and announced his retirement from MMA on UFC Tonight in 2014.
However, Sonnen did return to MMA, competing in Bellator from 2017 to 2019 before once again walking away from the sport.
Sonnen's final professional MMA bout was against Lyoto Machida at Bellator 222 in 2019, where he lost to the Brazilian in the second round of the fight. 'The Bad Guy' retired with a professional MMA record of 30 wins, 17 losses and one draw.
'The American Gangster' fought multiple MMA legends during his time in Bellator. His last five opponents in the promotion include Machida, Fedor Emelianenko, Quinton Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, and Tito Ortiz.
Watch Sonnen speak about his retirement here:
Since retiring, the 45-year-old has worked as an analyst for various organizations such as Eagle FC, Bellator and the UFC. Chael Sonnen also runs a successful YouTube channel and uploads multiple videos a week discussing his career and the latest news within the MMA world.
Sonnen had mixed success in his career and also had his fair share of controversies outside of the octagon. Despite fighting some of the sport's biggest names in the biggest fights across several organizations, 'The Bad Guy' never managed to win a major MMA title during his long fighting career.
What is Chael Sonnen's UFC record?
Despite ending his professional MMA career with Bellator, Sonnen spent many years fighting in the UFC. From 2005 to 2013, Sonnen amassed a UFC record of seven wins and seven losses. While this might not sound amazing, it's important to note that 'The Bad Guy' faced many tough opponents during his time in the organization.
Sonnen lost to the likes of Rashad Evans, Jon Jones, Anderson Silva (twice) and Demian Maia. The 45-year-old's organizational wins weren't as impressive, but he did manage to beat Michael Bisping and Maurício Rua.
Watch Dana White speak about Sonnen's UFC retirement here:
Chael Sonnen's final fight in the UFC was a first-round TKO loss against Rashad Evans in November 2013.