“ONE took the confusion away” - Chael Sonnen hails ‘simpler’ grappling rules for their matches

Former UFC world title contender Chael Sonnen lauded ONE Championship’s simplification of submission grappling rules that have made it easier for the casual fighting audience to get into and understand.

ONE Championship reached a crescendo on its submission grappling circuit when Mikey Musumeci beat Cleber Sousa via unanimous decision to become the inaugural ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion at ONE on Prime Video 2 this past weekend.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Sonnen said that ONE Championship made a streamlined set of rules in its submission grappling matches that did away with a confusing scoring system.

ONE Championship’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu matches are fought in a single 10-minute round that can only end via submission or when there is no time remaining. If the 10-minute timer elapses, the fighter who displays a higher aggression rate and who has more submission attempts will be declared the winner.

Chael Sonnen said:

“Whoever was more aggressive, trying to pass, trying to catch, trying to break, trying to strangle [gets the win]. Okay so the rules are very straightforward, everybody’s going to understand that. It was quite possibly my favorite thing about this because I knew it was going to work, you can’t just put grappling on display, people have tried for a very long time but you also gotta explain the rules to people.”

He added:

“‘Hey why are they out there wearing those gis? Hey, why can he grab his lapel? Hey how come there are points on the board? How did he score?’ It’s confusing but ONE took the confusion away.”

Other organizations, such as the ADCC and the IBJJF, adopt scoring systems that award points for every maneuver or sequence a fighter makes.

Musumeci, who’s fought twice in ONE Championship, won his first fight via submission when he forced Japanese legend Masakazu Imanari to tap at ONE 156. He then took the unanimous decision win over Sousa this past weekend.

Watch Sonnen's video below:

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Chael Sonnen suggests Jake Paul should fight at ONE Championship

Chael Sonnen has seen it all in the fight game that even the most absurd theories don’t even bother him anymore.

In another one of his YouTube monologues, the fighter-turned-analyst suggested that social media personality Jake Paul take his chance in ONE Championship.

Paul has been fighting in boxing matches these past couple of years, and Chael Sonnen told the former Disney Channel star to talk to ONE Championship if he's serious about transitioning to MMA.

“Do you know who Jake [Paul] needs to speak to? He needs to speak to ONE Championship. I could see something very very interesting with Jake and ONE Championship.”

He added:

“ONE Championship has found its way to America, so we’re gonna need American names, is what I’m sharing with you. Rich Franklin, a vice president in ONE Championship, has announced that ONE is going to come to American soil. They’re on TV right now through Amazon Prime, [but] they’re actually going to do an event on American soil, which just leads you to believe that they’re going to use some Americans. It could be a very helpful place for Jake,” said Chael Sonnen.

Catch the video below: