Retired MMA veteran Chael Sonnen’s Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) suspension is due to expire in July, but the former UFC fighter remains adamant that he will not be making a comeback once that time comes.
But if the self-proclaimed ‘American Gangster’ were to make a return to competition, it seems former UFC welterweight champ Georges St Pierre – inactive since November 2013 – is one man he’d love to have a crack at.
“I would love to kick Georges’ ass,” Sonnen said on The MMA Hour. “I’ll tell you this. This is a true story. I got a call one day and it was from Kenny Florian, and he says, ‘Hey, you want to work out?’ I was in LA and I said, ‘Yeah,’ and he goes, ‘OK, well Georges is in town. Do you want to work out with Georges?’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’ So we go to this gym.”
He continued: “We went hard. I think I could’ve gone harder, but we went hard, and I came in second. And it drove me nuts, man. It drove me nuts. But I really think I could’ve done better. It was close. It was fine. If you ask him, he might try to put me over. I’m not trying to put him over right now, I’m just telling you what happened. He won that go, but I could’ve done better with him, and it’s driven me nuts ever since. I thought, man, I could’ve gotten that guy. I could’ve done better.
“He knew he got the best of me. So at the end of the workout, he tried to pay me a compliment. He goes, ‘Thanks for not using your size; if you would’ve used your size, you really could’ve crushed me,’ which was really his way of saying, ‘Hey man, I just beat you.’ And I knew what he meant, and I knew it was meant to be a nice thing. It stuck with me, man. This is a workout that was years ago and it stuck with me.”
Sonnen was suspended by the NSAC for two years in July 2014 after failing two random drug tests. He subsequently announced his retirement from MMA. During his time as an active MMA athlete he became one of the UFC’s top pay-per-view draws thanks to his skills on the mic and feuds with the likes of Jon Jones and Anderson Silva.
Knowing what it takes to sell PPVs, and with the UFC having only one active PPV star in Conor McGregor at present, Chael sees real value in a fight between himself and GSP.
“I’m not trying to hype a fight with Georges here, I’m just saying. But yes, as far as a fight, if you’re just looking at what could sell tickets, yeah man.”
