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Chael Sonnen was once hailed as MMA's greatest trash-talker. Since his retirement from the sport, he parlayed his gift of gab into a successful career as a podcaster and analyst. Among the topics he has offered his thoughts on is the age-old comparison of MMA vs. boxing.
Ever since MMA's inception, fans of combat sports have wondered about its superiority or inferiority to boxing. MMA fans regard the sport as better and more complete than boxing, describing it as more closely resembling a sanctioned street fight than any other combat sport.
Meanwhile, boxing fans and even boxers themselves have scoffed at the technical aspects of MMA, with some believing that they need minimal training in MMA to take on a professional mixed martial artist in the cage. One such opinion that seemed to imply a lower skill in MMA was shared on X/Twitter.
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A GIF of Isaac Cruz's first-round knockout over Diego Magdaleno was shared by a fan, who claimed that fighting with such precision is absent from MMA. This drew a tame and educational response from Chael Sonnen, a former UFC title challenger with ample combat sports experience.
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Sonnen explained that a level change, with no takedown attempt, like the one used by Cruz to land body shots on Magdaleno, would expose him to intercepting knees to the face. His reply earned him widespread praise from MMA fans online. One fan was in complete agreement with Sonnen:
"My thoughts exactly @ChaelSonnen"
Another fan praised Sonnen for his explanation:
"Common Chael W"
Some even claimed that fighters from Dana White's Contender Series would defeat Isaac Cruz:
"Most of Contender Series guys would finish that dude within 1 or 2 rounds"
Meanwhile, another fan was, again, in total agreement with Chael Sonnen:
"Chael knows"
A collage of fan reactions can be seen below:
Has Chael Sonnen ever beaten a UFC champion?
While Chael Sonnen has never won UFC gold, despite coming within touching distance of a championship victory during his first fight with Anderson Silva, has he ever beaten a UFC champion, either former or future? As it turns out, he's beaten both throughout his career.
'The American Gangster' holds wins over former UFC light heavyweight champions Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson and Maurício 'Shogun' Rua, as well as one win over former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping.
