Chael Sonnen is a retired mixed martial artist. He is regarded as one of the best MMA fighters to have never won a UFC Championship. He is also regarded as one of the greatest trash talkers in MMA history. In this article, however, we will take a look at Chael Sonnen’s net worth in 2021.
| Net Worth | $10 million |
| Age | 44 |
| Salary | Retired |
| Sponsors | N/A |
| Profession | MMA Fighter |
Chael Sonnen’s Net Worth in 2021 (estimate): $10 million
Chael Sonnen’s net worth in 2021 is valued at $10 million. This is according to multiple reputable sources such as Celebrity Net Worth.
Sonnen was born in the state of Oregon where he began wrestling at the age of 9. He was a state runner-up during his high school years at West Linn High School. He began training in boxing as he hoped to compete in the UFC right after graduating from high school.
After his graduation, Chael Sonnen enrolled at Brigham Young University. However, he transferred to the University of Oregon as BYU considered cutting their wrestling program.
During his time at Oregon, Sonnen was a two-time Pac-10 runner-up, earned All-American honors, and was a silver medalist at the 2000 Greco-Roman World University Championships. He was also a two-time Dave Schultz Memorial International Greco-Roman winner and a two-time silver medalist at the Pac-10 championships representing the Oregon Ducks.
Chael Sonnen graduated from the University of Oregon in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology.
Sonnen was also a big fan of wrestling and had an interest in pursuing a professional wrestling career. So, he attended a try-out for the World Championship Wrestling at the WCW Power Plant in the summer of 1998.
As for his mixed martial arts career, Sonnen made his debut on May 10, 1997, at the age of 19 years old, at the Battle of Fort Vancouver where he won via unanimous decision against Ben Hailey. He then proceeded to win his next 5 fights before Trevor Prangley snapped his 6-match winning streak when he defeated Sonnen via submission at XFA 5: Redemption.
After his loss to Praangley, Sonnen continued to fight in various promotions such as Pancrase, Hitman Fighting, IFC, Gladiator Challenge, Euphoria, and World Extreme Cagefighting before finally making his debut in the UFC.
Sonnen’s first bout in the UFC was in the Light Heavyweight division against former IFC Light Heavyweight Champion Renato Sobral at UFC 55 on October 7, 2005. Unfortunately, he lost via submission in the 2nd round.
He then faced Trevor Prangley once again, this time at UFC Fight Night 4 on April 6, 2006. This time around, Sonnen came out victorious with a unanimous decision win — avenging his first career loss against Prangley.
At UFC 60, Sonnen faced Jeremy Horn and he lost in the 2nd round via an armbar submission. After his defeat, he was released by the UFC.
Sonnen signed with Bodog Fight shortly after and he won his first four matches with the promotion. He then left Bodog and fought at SuperFight20: Homecoming where he defeated Kyacey Uscola via TKO.
In 2007, Sonnen made his way back into WEC as he fought Paulo Filho at WEC 31. Unfortunately, he lost in a controversial submission towards the end of the 2nd round. When Filho caught Sonnen in an armbar, the latter screamed out in pain which the referee took as a verbal submission.
A rematch was then scheduled between the two but was canceled after Filho entered a drug rehabilitation program. Sonnen would eventually get his rematch with Filho at WEC 36 where he dominated Filho as he won via unanimous decision.
Chael Sonnen returned to the UFC after the WEC’s middleweight division dissolved. He was scheduled to fight Demian Maia at UFC 95, his first fight with the promotion since UFC 60. Unfortunately, he lost midway through the 1st round after he was caught in a triangle choke submission.
Sonnen then stringed three straight unanimous decision wins against Dan Miller, Yushin Okami, and Nate Marquardt, respectively, to become the number one contender for the UFC Middleweight Championship.
Chael Sonnen was scheduled to fight Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Championship at UFC 117. He effectively hyped the fight by trash-talking Anderson Silva during the pre-fight conference.
He then stunned Silva as Sonnen dominated the fight with his boxing and wrestling skills as he was ahead on the judges’ scorecards entering the final round. However, in the 5th round, Sonnen got caught in a triangle armbar that made him tap out.
Due to their performance, both fighters earned Fight of the Night honors as well as the 2010 Fight of the Year Award given by the World MMA Awards.
Unfortunately, Chael Sonnen was suspended for a year after the urinalysis conducted after the match revealed that he had high testosterone levels.
After his suspension, Sonnen returned to the octagon on UFC 136 as he fought and won via submission against Brian Stann. He then faced Michael Bisping on UFC on Fox 2 where he won via unanimous decision.
A rematch between Sonnen and Anderson Silva was scheduled for UFC 148 for the UFC Middleweight Championship. Similar to their first encounter, Sonnen dominated early but failed to hit on a spinning backfist that caused him to lose balance and Silva took advantage leading to a TKO win.
Chael Sonnen returned to the Light Heavyweight division where he eventually got the chance to fight the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones for the title belt at UFC 159.
Jon Jones was dominant for most of the 1st round before finishing it off at the 4:33 mark after a barrage of knees, elbows, and punches while maintaining dominant top control.
Sonnen faced Mauricio Rua at UFC Fight Night 26 where he won via submission in the 1st round after he caught Rua in a guillotine choke. He then fought Rashad Evans at UFC 167, but he lost via TKO in the 1st round.
On June 11, 2014, Sonnen announced his retirement from MMA competitions after he failed his second random drug test. Subsequently, the Nevada State Athletic Commission revealed that he failed another drug test, which prompted the NSAC to suspend Sonnen for 2 years from any MMA competition worldwide.
On September 15, 2016, Chael Sonnen signed a multi-fight contract with Bellator MMA, with his first fight scheduled on January 21, 2017, against former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz at Bellator 170. Unfortunately, he lost the fight via submission in the 1st round.
Sonnen was slated to face long-time rival Wanderlei Silva at Bellator 180. Despite being knocked down in the 1st round, he dominated the rest of the fight to get the unanimous decision win. This, along with other things mentioned, obviously helped with Chael Sonnen’s net worth in 2021.
He then joined the Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix Tournament where he faced Quinton Jackson in the first round of the tournament. Sonnen won via unanimous decision.
In the semifinals, Sonnen faced Fedor Emelianenko. At the end of the 1st round, Sonnen lost via TKO.
Chael Sonnen faced Lyoto Machida at Bellator 222 on June 14, 2019. Unfortunately, he lost the fight via TKO. In the post-fight conference, Sonnen announced his retirement from MMA.
After his retirement, Sonnen continues to be a figure in the MMA world as he still shares his opinions on the sports such as the UFC welterweights, his beef with Conor McGregor, and other MMA takes.
However, Chael Sonnen faced multiple legal problems throughout his career. In 2006, he was involved in a money laundering case when he was a licensed realtor in Oregon. He was fined $10,000 and was sent to two years probation.
In 2012, he started a pizza place at West Linn, Oregon with his business partner Lee Gamble. However, Sonnen sued his partner for embezzlement and unpaid rent, while Gamble filed a counter lawsuit for defamation.
Most recently, Sonnen was charged with five counts of misdemeanor battery after an altercation in Las Vegas where he got into a physical altercation with multiple people in a hotel room. Brendan Schaub and Jon Jones shared their opinions on Sonnen’s incident.
As for Chael Sonnen’s net worth, he is ranked No. 16 by Wealthy Gorilla in their list of Top 20 Richest MMA Fighters in the World. He is ranked No. 15 by Players Bio in their own list of richest MMA fighters in the world.
With all the information presented and discussed, were you surprised by Chael Sonnen’s net worth in 2021?
Follow Us
Subscribe