On a warm summer evening in Oakland, Calif., former Oregon wrestling standout Chael Patrick Sonnen accomplished a feat no other man had.
He fought UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and crushed him for ninety-five percent of the fight.
Then, in a stunning twist of fate, Sonnen was put into submission by the lanky Brazilian and left Oakland without the title of champion.
But the West Linn, Ore., product won’t quit until he is the champion.
Close friend and teammate of Sonnen, Kevin Keeney, reflected on the work ethic of the No. 1 contender, one which has been steadfast since his time at the University of Oregon.
“I can’t envision Chael ever quitting,” Keeney said. “He told his father he will be the champion, so I know he will be.”
With the termination of Oregon’s wrestling program in 2009, Sonnen’s name is hard to find on any wall at the Casanova Center.
He’s never been asked to act as an honorary captain at Autzen Stadium, nor has he been recognized by the University to any great extent for his All-American status or his silver medal at the 2001 World Championships.
Nevertheless, Sonnen speaks warmly about his time at Oregon.
“I have nothing but positive things to say,” Sonnen said. “Being an athlete was a great experience with top-notch facilities and opportunities for academic help.”
It was at Oregon that Chael embarked on his mixed martial arts career.
A wrestler and a student by day, Chael went for late-night runs and kickboxing sessions to pursue fighting as a vocation.
Today, many mixed martial arts competitions are sanctioned by state athletic commissions, but in the late 1990s when Chael first fought, the landscape was a little different.
“I was at his first fight at a bar in Springfield,” Keeney said. “He couldn’t box at all, but the guy he fought couldn’t wrestle.”
Sonnen can box today, a fact he made very clear when he fought Silva, but his bread and butter is wrestling.
More specifically, mixed martial artists refer to his style as “ground and pound.”
As a professional, Sonnen’s record is 25-11-1, with the majority of his wins coming by way of decision.
Yet even as the No. 1 contender at middleweight, many Oregonians know Sonnen as a statesman, others know him as realtor and some simply call him “Coach.”
Alongside Keeney, Sonnen promotes wrestling as a coach for young athletes. For both men, the bigger picture is giving back to the community.
“As a statesman and a current coach, I realize the worst thing a young person can have is free time,” Sonnen said.
The fighter’s resumé includes more than his volunteer work as a coach.
At 24 years old, Sonnen was already a businessman. Based on a project he did as a student, the mixed martial artist founded a company that promoted fights. It was this process that facilitated Sonnen’s early political career.
“We had to get laws changed,” Sonnen remembered. “If anybody’s ever done that, they know how hard it is; so that’s what I’m really most proud of as a student at the University of Oregon.”
In the UFC, Sonnen’s base as an All-American wrestler and his heavy hands have made him a contender.
Acting as a promoter, Sonnen’s blatantly honest demeanor and willingness to expand on his thoughts to the media have made him a figurehead in the UFC. At press conferences, Sonnen in routinely confrontational and never cliché.
It’s a personality that Keeney says he knows quite well.
“He doesn’t sugar-coat it and he’s an honest guy; I appreciate that about him,” Keeney said. “He’s been able to create this kind of celebrity status in MMA (mixed martial arts) and he knows how to use it.”
When asked about his feelings on his alma mater’s decision to cut wrestling, which was anything but upfront, Sonnen switches to his businessman role.
“The truth is wrestling is not an entitlement,” Sonnen said. “They should have just said that … instead they tried to be as politically correct as possible.”
After the departure of longtime wrestling head coach Ron Finley, the athletic department reinstated baseball.
The trouble was, nobody knew exactly when or why the transition would take place. So although they didn’t know it at the time, the athletic department was quelling the voice of one of its most successful professional athletes.
Sonnen seldom complains and never quits. His blue-collar work ethic and grit take wrestling and fighting to a new level.
In line with this set of principles, Sonnen refuses to let Oregon wrestling die. He is the motive force behind “Save Oregon Wrestling,” a group that continues to gain a following on the Internet and around the University. It won’t be long before Oregon can’t help but publicize Sonnen’s impact on athletics and remember his connection to the school.
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