Chael Sonnen endured a night to forget – or one he might not remember – as he took on jiu-jitsu star Craig Jones in the latter’s sport on Sunday, falling unconscious twice in their bout.
Sonnen, a former three-time UFC title challenger, faced the Australian at the second edition of the Craig Jones International, and the tournament’s namesake proved far too slick for the 48-year-old.
Sonnen had taken to the mat with a trademark, brash, tongue-in-cheek speech, telling the cheering Las Vegas crowd: “Shut up when I’m talking. Don’t interrupt me.
“What I’d like to have right now is all you fat, out-of-shape Craig Jones imbeciles sit down and shut your mouths, while I tell you ladies what it’s all about.
“Shut up. It goes like this right here: When you’re the greatest fighter in the world today, they got a name for you. They don’t call you a great fighter; they call you Chael Sonnen. Craig Jones, beat me if you can.”
Jones, 34, proceeded to submit Sonnen twice in the first round, using the same choke on both occasions – and putting Sonnen unconscious both times.
Upon the fight starting, Sonnen immediately attacked a single-leg takedown, transitioned to a rear body lock, and hauled Jones to the mat. While Jones landed beneath the American, he was able to pull off one of jiu-jitsu’s rarer submissions: a buggy choke.
Sonnen fell unconscious at the 30-second mark, but the action was soon restarted, and Jones replicated the buggy choke within one minute, achieving the same result.
Sonnen, who was replacing injured Olympic gold-medalist wrestler Gable Stevenson, thus fell to a second loss to Jones, who beat him in a jiu-jitsu bout in 2017.
Sonnen, whose background is in wrestling, challenged for a UFC title on three occasions during his stint in the promotion, from 2009 to 2013.
He failed each time, losing to then-middleweight champion Anderson Silva in 2010 and 2012, and suffering a defeat by then-light-heavyweight king Jon Jones in 2013. He lost all three fights via stoppage.
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