Despite his second loss to Anderson Silva at the weekend, fans are still interested to find out what’s next for Chael Sonnen, and last night he gave his strongest indication yet that he won’t hang up his gloves, but instead will look for a new challenge in the UFC.
“I really just need to take a little bit of time – I don’t need a lot of time, but give me a couple of weeks to settle in,” Sonnen informed Ariel Helwani during last night’s UFC Tonight show.
“You know, when you get stuck in the spot that I’m in, and again…Anderson Silva could announce his retirement any day now, but there’s also a major opportunity for a fresh start simply by simply switching weight class, and that’s something that’s very common historically that guys have done. My Mentors Randy Couture, Dan Henderson have done that, and you know that’s something to look at as well.”
It seems like the chances of Silva retiring after his victory are fairly slim, so a move to 205lbs does seem like a sensible option for Sonnen, and he’s reported to walk around at about 230lbs when he’s out of competition so it wouldn’t be unrealistic for him to do so.
Having said that, there are still plenty of fights for Sonnen if he does choose to stay at middleweight, but he’s been adamant both before and after his latest fight that if you’re in the UFC you have to be working towards a title shot, and unless someone finally does end Silva’s long unbeaten run that’s not going to happen.
In 205lb champ Jon Jones, Sonnen could have a new foil to replace Silva, but he wouldn’t get a title shot there straight away and it remains to be seen whether his skills would translate to that division which is stacked with talented fighters.
Watch Sonnen’s full interview with Helwani below.
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