Rumour: Sonnen vs Machida "all but a done deal"

According to Fighters Only Magazine, Chael Sonnen will be facing off against Lyoto Machida at UFC 136 in a light heavyweight match. Apparently Sonnen called him out at the last UFC and Machida has been very keen to get this off the ground. I don't know how trustworthy Fighters Only is so it would be only a rumour at this stage.

Here's the article......

http://www.fightersonlymagazine.co.uk/news/viewarticle.php?id=7179

So who would win? I for one would love to see Machida knock him the fuck out.....

It's an interesting fight but what's the point? Shouldn't Sonnen be more worried about getting his rematch at Silva. Why is he pissing around at 205?

Well this makes absolutely no sense.

Although I have more faith in Chael to depose Jon Jones. Machida has the skills but it isn't certain that he'll bother to apply them.

EDIT: How big is Chael?

Fairly big, he has fought at 205 before. He's a big guy, one of the bigger fighters at MW.

Chael would get fucked against Jones I think. Machida would have a much better chance.

Someone just bit off more than they can chew....

I agree with you guys. Don't get why he'd take a stylistically horrible fight with Machida at 205 when he's potentially one fight away from another shot at Anderson.

Machida and Sonnen are more of less the same size, Sonnen is fighting at 185 now but at 205 in the past he was able to bull Forrest Griffin about. I reckon both men will cut from 225 to make Lhw, both are 6"1 and both have a 74" reach.

Its a great fight style wise I cant wait for it, id consider it one of the years biggest superfights because Machida got robbed against Rampage he should be fighting for the title, and Sonnen only isnt fighting for the title because he was suspended... the winner of this gets a shot for sure and Sonnen (Machida too if he wanted to cut) could take the shot at either weight.

Sonnen is a front footed all action figher, he would punch you in the arm just so he was punching something, Machida is a really precise and timed with everything, they really couldnt be more different as fighers.

Sonnens biggest weakness is getting subbed especially Triangled and armbars.... they arent Machidas strength, I dont think he is one of the best BJJ fighers in the devision and especially not one of the best off his back. Sonnen might not get away with the front footed windmilling attack that worked against Anderson...

Tough to call, I dont see Machida subbing him because I reckon once it hits the ground Sonnen will be on top but I cant see Sonnen outstriking Machida because his standup style sort of plays into Machidas hands.

If I had to stick my neck on the line Id go with Sonnen UD, mixing TD's and Striking and basically outworking Machida.

I'll be totally honest I don't see Sonnen winning this fight I think Machida is a stylistic nightmare for him I'm actually thinking can Chael take Machida down Lyoto has fantastic TDD.

Yeah Sonnen will take Machida down, he has a crazy charging style no amount of backpeddling can get Machida away from. Sonnens style wouldnt work for a lot of fighters because Charging Mahcida gets you hit, But I think Sonnen will fully commit to running takedowns a just brace himself for the punch!! I dont know if ive ever seen Sonnen rocked or hurt in a fight...

Really doing to be an interesting one but I dont think Machida is a nightmare matchup. Great BJJ the thing Sonnen has had problems with historically. Machidas strength is his striking... Anderson is a better Striker than Machida and he delt well with him on the feet.

Machida is a better striker than Anderson. Anderson is more powerful and more spectacular, but Lyoto's striking is the best in the business.

Sonnen is the best wrestler in the UFC and top 3 in all of MMA with Askren and Cormier.

I'd be really torn on this fight, two of my favourite fighters. I think Sonnen would win though. His wrestling is incredible. And he's got an iron chin. Machida's best chance is a submission. Not sure why you're saying Machida's not got good submissions Ben, he's got excellent BJJ. We've not seen him fight off his back because no1's been able to put him there but he's got excellent BJJ.

Either of these two would beat Anderson or Bones IMO. The over-rating of Bones has reached comical levels. He beat Bader who just got beat by Tito!! And he beat a 20% Shogun that any top LHW or MW would have beaten. He's not beaten any top LHW when they've been healthy.

Was wondering who you would be backing mate! I dont mean Machida is bad off his back... maby worded that wrong but his Subs ive seen was where he was on top, I know he is a BJJ BB but dont consider him a submissions expert or anything and subbing his man never seems to be his gameplan as such.

I could see him using Kicks and those Knees of his to keep Sonnen at Range and punish him for TD attempts, I know Sonnens weakness is his Sub defence but I think Machidas gameplan will basically be to stay up and kick lumps out of Sonnen. Im 60/40 that Sonnen will take home a UD because as you say the Iron Chin of his should make him able to take a shot on the way in to score a TD... unless its a flush knee I suppose!

Is this the fight your most looking forward to this year?

Sonnen vs Bones would be a very interesting one, 9/10 guys have been shit scared of Bones, Shogun included I reckon, Shogun didnt push the pace when he got tagged and sat outside Bones reach, Id bet my left not Sonnen wouldnt do that.

Sonnen would have no plan B if he couldnt outwrestle Bones, His biggest advantage would be cardio, I see Bones gassing in a fight with the pace Sonnen bring. As he gets older he has to be cutting some crazy weight to make 205.

Strange one for me I think machida gets it done if the fight happens,

He hasn't got his license back yet

Jones will beat both IMO it's not because of a win over bader or a fat shogun it's just because he looks that much better than everyone else,

Id say he would be favorite against either depending how his wrestling stacks up to Sonnens, there is a big size difference given that Sonnen is only Shogun/Machida sized but if Sonnen's wrestling is good enough to get Bones down he wont have trouble GnP him. Ive still to see Bones hit that much and still to see him under pressure, especially the kind of bell to bell pressure a tough vet like Sonnen would put him under...

Though I wonder if Sonnen would really go after him seeing as he beat Anderson from pillar to post for 24 mins! I think he would be keen to get a rematch with Anderson.

I wonder if UFC will do what SF did with Lawler and Babalu and do a catchweight fight with the winner getting a shot in their respective devision? Machida making 195 wouldnt be a tough cut and maby allow him to test the waters for moving down a class?

Sonnen all day long! He'd just pound on Machida, Sonnen is just so aggressive and I don't think Lyoto could handle that... and Machida would 100% get taken down at some point!

Note to Machida: Get good at Triangle chokes!!!

Why are people just saying this is a bad matchup for Sonnen??? This is actually a nightmare matchup for Machida, Machida is very defensive fighter and does not handle getting bullrushed well at all as Shogun showed. Difference here is that Sonnen is an animal he will come flying in with punches and takedowns and wont be fazed if Machida lands he'll keep going to score a TD or control him off the cage.


I see this going same way as Anderson fight only difference is Machida has only 15 mins to get a sub of his back. Machida is a points fighter but i see no way he wins on points here, he needs a finish, and Sonnen has great chin so sub is only way.....


Cant wait for trashtalking, if Sonnen wins then he is right up there in contention for either LHW or MW title. This is a great fight for Sonnen and for us.


Really hope it happens!!

I personally think Silva's striking is better than Machida's and from what I've seen more dangerous of his back with those long legs but there is a key difference. Machida is a lot more conservative in his approach and his miles ahead of Silva in terms of take down defense. Look at whats happened to the wrestlers who have faced Machida. Couture, Evans, Ortiz all got fucked by Machida. I think Sonnen would be goaded in to try and stand with Machida for a while as well. No one has ever been able to take Machida down and Machida has better takedown defense than anyone Sonnen has ever faced. I don't know how good Machida's judo is, but I can't imagine it being much worse than Maia's who threw Sonnen around like a sack of potatoes.

Jones would destroy Sonnen IMO. He has a big size difference and a ridiculous strength one. This is the same man who threw the likes of Hammil, Bonnar and the Janitor around with comical ease. Remember the Maia judo throw on Sonnen? Imagine what Bones would do. These criticisms of his opponents don't make sense. You fight who's put in front of you. The Bader comparison is irrelevant. I can use the same thing with nearly any other fighter. Fedor beat Sylvia in 36 seconds. Ray Mercer beat him 9. It doesn't take away from Fedor's win though.

Really not seeing Machida as a guy Sonnen can walk down and take down like others he's fought. Even when people have fairly good penetration on takedown attempts against Machida he's able to shrug them off, and even then it's not like it's easy to close the distance on him. Plus I think the way Sonnen walks in on people spells trouble against Machida, I think he'll put that straight left on him.

2brutal wrote:Strange one for me I think machida gets it done if the fight happens,

He hasn't got his license back yet

Jones will beat both IMO it's not because of a win over bader or a fat shogun it's just because he looks that much better than everyone else,

It's easy to look good when you're not fighting top, or fit, fighters.

sunthunder wrote:Really not seeing Machida as a guy Sonnen can walk down and take down like others he's fought. Even when people have fairly good penetration on takedown attempts against Machida he's able to shrug them off, and even then it's not like it's easy to close the distance on him. Plus I think the way Sonnen walks in on people spells trouble against Machida, I think he'll put that straight left on him.

Sonnen has great head movement and far better wrestling than the guys who have tried to take Machida down before.

ChelseaQuinsfan wrote:I personally think Silva's striking is better than Machida's and from what I've seen more dangerous of his back with those long legs but there is a key difference. Machida is a lot more conservative in his approach and his miles ahead of Silva in terms of take down defense. Look at whats happened to the wrestlers who have faced Machida. Couture, Evans, Ortiz all got fucked by Machida. I think Sonnen would be goaded in to try and stand with Machida for a while as well. No one has ever been able to take Machida down and Machida has better takedown defense than anyone Sonnen has ever faced. I don't know how good Machida's judo is, but I can't imagine it being much worse than Maia's who threw Sonnen around like a sack of potatoes.

Jones would destroy Sonnen IMO. He has a big size difference and a ridiculous strength one. This is the same man who threw the likes of Hammil, Bonnar and the Janitor around with comical ease. Remember the Maia judo throw on Sonnen? Imagine what Bones would do. These criticisms of his opponents don't make sense. You fight who's put in front of you. The Bader comparison is irrelevant. I can use the same thing with nearly any other fighter. Fedor beat Sylvia in 36 seconds. Ray Mercer beat him 9. It doesn't take away from Fedor's win though.

Not even the BlackHouse boys would agree with that first sentence.

Sonnen is far better wrestler than Evans, Couture or Tito. There's simply no comparison. Lyoto has never faced anyone close to Sonnen as a wrestler. Machida has great takedown defense but if Sonnen spends 3/5 rounds going forward and outboxing him(he won't outstrike him but he's got better boxing) then Sonnen can get a decision that way. Look at Rampage-Machida, it's all about agression and who's going forward in these judges eyes. MMA judging is Machida's biggest enemy.

Machida's judo is good, but Sonnen under-estimated Maia. If they fought again it would be a one sided beat-down. Sonnen won't be goaded into anything. You only need to look at the Anderson fight to see that. It's also funny that you can claim Anderson is a far better striker than Machida when Sonnen easily outstruck Anderson yet you think Machida would beat Sonnen standing.


As for Bones, he's fought 1 good fighter and that was a fighter at 20%. He's never faced a wrestler like Sonnen or anyone as strong as Sonnen.

rudeboyben84 wrote:Was wondering who you would be backing mate! I dont mean Machida is bad off his back... maby worded that wrong but his Subs ive seen was where he was on top, I know he is a BJJ BB but dont consider him a submissions expert or anything and subbing his man never seems to be his gameplan as such.

I could see him using Kicks and those Knees of his to keep Sonnen at Range and punish him for TD attempts, I know Sonnens weakness is his Sub defence but I think Machidas gameplan will basically be to stay up and kick lumps out of Sonnen. Im 60/40 that Sonnen will take home a UD because as you say the Iron Chin of his should make him able to take a shot on the way in to score a TD... unless its a flush knee I suppose!

Is this the fight your most looking forward to this year?

Sonnen vs Bones would be a very interesting one, 9/10 guys have been shit scared of Bones, Shogun included I reckon, Shogun didnt push the pace when he got tagged and sat outside Bones reach, Id bet my left not Sonnen wouldnt do that.

Sonnen would have no plan B if he couldnt outwrestle Bones, His biggest advantage would be cardio, I see Bones gassing in a fight with the pace Sonnen bring. As he gets older he has to be cutting some crazy weight to make 205.

It'd be very hard for Bones to do anything if he's on his back with Sonnen on top of him, and that's exactly where he would be. All of Bones's opponents have had one thing in common, they've all been SLOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW. He's never faced anyone like Sonnen.

I actually think this would be the fight I'd look forward to least. I don't want to see Sonnen vs Machida. I want Sonnen vs Silva/Okami and Machida vs Bones/Rampage. That way 5 of my favourite fighters would hold UFC belts by the end of the year. Cain, Machida, Sonnen, Diaz, and Aldo. Just need Gilbert to come and smash the UFC's LW division and it's a clean sweep from 145 upwards.

cant see Sonnen beating Machida...he has gotten much bigger recently though, so maybe the 205 move ia a long term thing though i cant see the reasoning behind it...perhaps because there are fewer top subimssion fighters at 205?

Sorry for those who may have read this on the MMA calendar topic.

Why is he stepping up a division? He's been tweeting about Lyoto today though so could be true

"I don't seek training advice from actors for the same reason I don't seek health advice from strippers."

And also

"Lyoto, don't feel bad that you don't have the belt. You still have that little cotton one my nephew has"

It was only 5 days ago though he tweeted this;

"I can finally get back to the most important thing in my life. Defending my Middleweight Championship"

If he's saying this then why step up in weight? There would be plenty of match ups at 205 that would generate interest. I wonder what he'd have to say about Jones, or if he'd smack talk toe to toe with Rampage. It would be funny to watch. The Machida matchup is an intriguing one and at the minute I'm going with a Sonnen UD. The pre fight talk would be priceless. Well from Chael anyway.

The only issue I have is that surely he has unfinished business at 185 and with Anderson.

Just to point out, this fight will likely be 5 rounds as it will almost certainly be the main event.

Don't know who that favours. Probably Machida as he has more time to work the sub.

Anfields5thKing wrote:

ChelseaQuinsfan wrote:I personally think Silva's striking is better than Machida's and from what I've seen more dangerous of his back with those long legs but there is a key difference. Machida is a lot more conservative in his approach and his miles ahead of Silva in terms of take down defense. Look at whats happened to the wrestlers who have faced Machida. Couture, Evans, Ortiz all got fucked by Machida. I think Sonnen would be goaded in to try and stand with Machida for a while as well. No one has ever been able to take Machida down and Machida has better takedown defense than anyone Sonnen has ever faced. I don't know how good Machida's judo is, but I can't imagine it being much worse than Maia's who threw Sonnen around like a sack of potatoes.

Jones would destroy Sonnen IMO. He has a big size difference and a ridiculous strength one. This is the same man who threw the likes of Hammil, Bonnar and the Janitor around with comical ease. Remember the Maia judo throw on Sonnen? Imagine what Bones would do. These criticisms of his opponents don't make sense. You fight who's put in front of you. The Bader comparison is irrelevant. I can use the same thing with nearly any other fighter. Fedor beat Sylvia in 36 seconds. Ray Mercer beat him 9. It doesn't take away from Fedor's win though.

Not even the BlackHouse boys would agree with that first sentence.

Sonnen is far better wrestler than Evans, Couture or Tito. There's simply no comparison. Lyoto has never faced anyone close to Sonnen as a wrestler. Machida has great takedown defense but if Sonnen spends 3/5 rounds going forward and outboxing him(he won't outstrike him but he's got better boxing) then Sonnen can get a decision that way. Look at Rampage-Machida, it's all about agression and who's going forward in these judges eyes. MMA judging is Machida's biggest enemy.

Machida's judo is good, but Sonnen under-estimated Maia. If they fought again it would be a one sided beat-down. Sonnen won't be goaded into anything. You only need to look at the Anderson fight to see that. It's also funny that you can claim Anderson is a far better striker than Machida when Sonnen easily outstruck Anderson yet you think Machida would beat Sonnen standing.


As for Bones, he's fought 1 good fighter and that was a fighter at 20%. He's never faced a wrestler like Sonnen or anyone as strong as Sonnen.

Maybe, maybe not Machida's striking is one of the best. Both probably the best striking in MMA.

I don't deny Sonnen is a better wrestler than those 3, but none of those guys even got close to a takedown against Machida. They are all bigger and stronger than Sonnen as well. If Sonnen goes out and tries to out box Machida, he'll get destroyed. Swarming Machida doesn't work very well, look at what happened to Silva. Shogun was so worried about it in the first fight, that for the first time in his career he actually fought for points instead of a finish! If Sonnen charges at Machida, it's going to end up badly for him. I think we both agree that Machida was robbed against Rampage.

Why he have underestimated him, he was the underdog in that fight. Sonnen knew how good Silva's striking was and he never implied he was going to stand with him. But Sonnen has said countless times what a joke Karate is, so I think he could very well underestimate Machida's striking. Show me where I said Silva had FAR better striking than Machida. One fight doesn't prove anything, if they were to fight again and Sonnen stood with Silva for the entire fight, he would go to sleep. Anyway it's irrelevant, because Machida's striking is completely different. Different styles. Silva keeps his hands by his side. Machida is a lot more conservative and waits for his opponent to come to him.

He's never faced anyone as strong as Sonnen? They might not be the best fighters, but I would make a guess and say Bader, Hammil and Vlad are as strong, if not stronger than Sonnen.

Mryzyz wrote:Just to point out, this fight will likely be 5 rounds as it will almost certainly be the main event.

Don't know who that favours. Probably Machida as he has more time to work the sub.

Edgar VS Maynard and Aldo VS Florian are both expected for the event, it will be co-main event at best if one of those matches doesn't happen.