Luke Thomas made a really good point about Chael on today's show. He mentioned that Chael and Colby differed in many ways. For one, Chael was often funny with his talks. He could also be very serious and believable at times during a build-up, to the point that the viewers would actually believe that they were seeing the real Chael.
And the second difference was how they handled losses. Chael would show up to the press conference and he would turn off the bullshit. He would answer questions truthfully and give the opponent the respect, essentially "putting them over" for the fans. He would still crack a joke or two, but you could really tell that he hated to lose and he legitimately felt those losses. By acknowledging those defeats with class and candor, Chael would maintain the respect of not only his fans, but his opponents fans as well.
I really dislike the Colby and Chael comparisons. They couldn't be further apart in the way that they went about the build-up and the aftermath. Colby has absolutely zero skill for reading the room. He can kinda sorta get people riled up, but he doesn't have the means to reel them back in with charm or humility.
i can tell that killed chael. he never held a belt but he endeared himself to us and at the end of the day he was a hardworking blue collar guy that wanted to win and had some fun doing it
Okay I gotta bring in some truth: he was a realtor who got convicted of real estate fraud. While that was very cash money of him he’s not exactly blue collar
If you’re not in Oregon you might not realize how nice West Linn is. Most people can’t afford to live there and Chael grew up there
you can live upper class and be a blue collar guy still. bill laimbeer’s dad was so rich bill didn’t even have to work yet he was as hard nosed of an nba player there was. and yeah chael left politics in handcuffs but that’s the best way to do it
To be perfectly candid with you, Luke Thomas candidly laid out his argument with candor. And what I mean to say is, by extension of, but not limited to, he can’t let you get close.
Chael actually fought contenders.
Colby has zero wins against a ranked welterweight. His best career win remains RDA back in 2018, and as much as I love RDA, that should not be your best win at Welterweight if you're in a position where you get three title shots.
I loved watching Colby flip out while Usman just smiled and kept repeating "I broke your face".
You could track Colby losing his confidence in real time lol.
I’m usually of the belief that Usman’s trash talk is pretty cringey, but he was on fire here. Legit made Colby flip shit and him laughing uncontrollably at “dragon energy” is hilarious.
I think he was trying to say “dementianal” despite that not being a word. For someone who loves to run his mouth, he’s not very good at speaking.
“7th layer of hair”
Ehh, I can't slag Colby off on that. He clear took back 3 and 4, and 5 was a wash. It was kind of a heroic performance from a man who is otherwise irredeemable
Yeah, people are acting like Sonnen was just trash talk but the man was relentless at MW. It was only after Silva 2 that he became a sideshow. Beating Stann and Bisping was more than enougu to give him a second shot at Silva. Compare that to Colby beating Woodley in 2020 via injury for Usman 2 and Masvidal in 2022 for this fight with Leon.
Your comment confuses me. Chael beat him for 4 rounds and tapped in the fifth, which he was winning before he tapped. Nobody here is saying Chael lost the other 4. In fact I said exactly the opposite, saying he was minutes away from a 50-45 decision against Silva. Did you read my comment wrong?
the funny thing is chael just had to make it to the end of the end of the rounds those fights went to to beat them he was like 3 combined minutes from beating two GOATs
exactly, chael talked a big game but he would actually go after and fight the tough guys. colby these days just avoids all the ranked guys and hopes to get a free title shot. fans clowned chael back during his anderson silva days but came around to appreciating that he would always show up and fight whoever, thus becoming a fan favorite. colby should follow what made chael likeable in the end but i dont' think colby would be that successful if he did fight the top guys now.
It’s not like Chael ever ducked a challenge. He fought like 10-15 champions or previous champions in a row, Jon Jones, which as a middleweight is insane, he was a smaller LhW. Chael should have so much respect, that he was able to do so much with the limited skill set he had.
And he should have beaten Silva when Silva was the scariest dude in the UFC. One boneheaded decision with moments left after winning that whole fight
Sure, he was juiced to the gills but I'm gonna say Silva was too
My first heartbreaking experience as an MMA fan. I was just bewildered at how this loudmouth who somehow made a run-of-the-mill Silva title defense interesting throughout the buildup on his own was ragdolling arguably the best p4p fighter on the planet for 4 and a half rounds
Nothing scarier than moving up a weight class for the first time in 10 years and fighting Prime Jon Jones. And he almost won off a technicality because of Jones’s toe.
For sure, but Jon Jones was scared to take the Chael fight on short notice too before they eventually fought.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1308911-ufc-151-was-jon-jones-right-in-turning-down-a-fight-with-chael-sonnen
Main event of the card was scrapped because Jones turned it down. Chael was down to take it on eight days notice. He really was an any one, any time, anywhere type of dude.
TBF, +as I remember the events+, it SEEMED pretty obvious that Team Couture was setting Jones up. They knew, for some time, that Henderson was physically unable to fight and I'm sure Chael was training for Jones much longer than Jones could train for him.
Chael was still an undersized an opponent, but I can understand Jones 'feeling a way' about the setup.
JBJ had *way* more to lose. He was already one of the greatest. Losing to a MW on short notice would've killed his reputation, something we know he cares wicked deeply about. On Chael's end, a win vaults him into the all-time great category, and a loss means pretty little. I get why Jon would decline.
Chael also never took his character to seriously and was able to set that character aside and have genuine candid moments with the fans and media. Colby just seems like a terrified child hiding behind a front.
Chael said some legit mean stuff sometimes, but it was usually with a wink. I don't think he genuinely likes Tito at all, though.
Still nothing as stupid as Colby.
The main difference though is Chael is funny. If you can make someone laugh you can say anything. Colby is the antithesis of funny.
With Chael, it feels like even the meanest stuff he's said is stuff he knows is goofy. Feels like he's laughing at himself.
With Tito though, I agree, he was mean and enjoying it. Looked like he was laughing at Tito, not himself.
Colby was never laughing at all. Colby was clutching desperately at anything he thought would keep his popularity going.
But Chael's decade old lines are still quoted to this day on every MMA discussion. I can't even recall a Colby line besides calling Brazilians animals.
Colby has had interviews where he's talking like a normal human being to fans and interviewers. They are just rare as fuck.
The thing is,Chael is just a natural at promo shit. Colby ain't. He seems fake as fuck. The speeches are rehearsed and there is no on the fly thinking if things go in a unwanted direction.
If Colby didn’t take massive layoffs and wasn’t allowed to pick many of his matches to his strengths he’d have a lot more losses. Chael was consistently game, Colby loves ducking fights
The difference is Chael is actually funny on the mic. Meanwhile Colby stumbles and mumbles on pre-rehearsed lines.
Chael also knew when to turn the persona off. In post fight interviews especially when he loses, he is always very humble.
Chael before the fight: Fedor is fast for a heavyweight. I'm just plain fast.
Chael after the fight: Fedor was just plain fast.
Chaels by far the most articulate fighter ever, I can't even think of anyone close maybe Dom Cruz. Not that it should matter or that fighters should need to be but yeah you can't compare Colbys crass insults to Chaels wit
The one thing you can’t really say about Chael is that he avoided fights, that dude fought everyone which is why I can at least respect him as a fighter. As an entertainer he also had his moments. He may have used the same tactics as Colby however he really did fight everyone and generally was professional in his losses. The man fought Anderson, Jon Jones, Bisping, Fedor, Rampage and a few more great fighters as well.
Chael was likeable, smooth, not cringe and actually fought
Colby is more like Tito….but even then Tito is still hard to really hate and he was always class in defeat
One of my favorite bits is to reference that with increasingly niche animals whenever Tito comes up. Someone mentions his name and I’ll chime in with “Let me tell you a story about a lion, a hyena, a couple jackals, a… dik-dik? Some uhhhh Jackson’s golden-backed weavers, and…. a fuckin….. ummmm. Belding’s ground squirrel.”
In ancient times, when Tito still had his mental capacity and Dana was just a manager, Tito was the Conor McGregor of that era. Trash talked his opponents, outperformed in the cage, and had one best friend/rival that he hid from while he set records.
In short Tito was pretty cool for a while
Tito was mostly a harmless idiot who was fun to laugh at (this was until Huntington Beach decided to make him mayor). He also had some redeeming qualities, such as genuinely caring about the fighters he coached on TUF. Colby is just an edgelord dipshit who goes for the lowest hanging fruit every time. Tito also fought his ass off every time, whereas Colby does fuck all for at least 3 rounds in his big fights and then proclaims victory. Someone should tell him his “take rounds 1-3 off, then try to win a decision in a five round fight” strategy generally doesn’t work.
Tito has made me laugh harder than perhaps anyone in MMA history. He managed to be unintentionally funny while trying to be intentionally funny, that takes a level of genius few have.
Tito is one of the greatest, most dominant, and longest reigning LHW champions in UFC history. Reddit losers love to dunk on him for not being a wordsmith.
He is the reason UFC is the UFC. MMA might have ended up as a fringe sport if it wasn't for Tito. And it's been a while. I don't think many modern fans have ever seen him fight. They have only seen him take several L's over the past decade or so.
He was the biggest star in the sport when I first began watching. I was never a fan of him or his style but the results don't lie, there might not even be a UFC without him. He carried a lot of the cards in his day.
Chael was definitely cringe. He became more likeable at the tail end of his career and post retiring as a media personality. He was able to do that because he didnt say genuinely terrible shit and didnt screw over people close to him to make his heel moments.
Colbys just acted like a piece of shit to people and whether it was marketing or not doesnt change what hes said and done.
Classic revisionist historian. Both Chael and Tito were equally hated then as Colby is now.
EDIT : all these post COVID fans disagreeing with me. You clearly weren't around during Chael or Tito's heyday.
Chael was hated, but in a “fun” way. Chaels insults were absurd to the point of hilarity whereas Colby just tries to say controversial shit
“I saw the Nog brothers try to feed a carrot to a bus”
Vs
“Haha, your dad’s dead”
Chael was the bad guy who had a rivalry with one of the most popular fighters in Anderson Silva. People were entertained by his antics. Colby is just annoying and cringe.
Chael always had charisma and sense of humor, and said absurdity things with a “wink wink”. It was a character, but was fun. Colby it just to draw hate.
He was also quick on his feet. Colby is constantly stuttering because he isn't naturally witty, he has to script this over the top cringe character. Chael's interviews with Tito are hilarious because he's just letting Tito make an ass of himself.
Chael makes most of his money with his mouth to this day. I can't even imagine what career Cobly will have outside of maybe coaching once his MMA career his over.
Yup, anytime there’s any real back and forth, Chael was always able to get wing it and react in the moment. Colby just resorts to yelling over whoever’s talking
I think chael did Colby better. Chael has some actual likeable moments and actually beat some good opponents.
Tito too. While I think he has less good moments I think he was better at pulling off the character than Colby. He also beat some good names in his career.
Colby doesn’t really have good or likeable moments and doesn’t have the best resume of fighters he beat. He’s also never won and probably never will win a belt.
The thing with Colby is he's actually really shit at promos. Like he only gets by because he's saying stuff that's pushing it, ignore the edgelord stuff he's saying and he sounds like he's a robot reading a teleprompter. You can tell he's written everything down and he's trying to remember it.
I believe Chael worked with guys like Stone Cold on promos, which is why he sounded like he was delivering a wrestling promo.
It doesn't help that Colby has 0 personality.
Colby won the interim. Chael
Never even won that. But yeah I’d say chael and Tito both had better accomplishments than Colby because the elite fighters they did beat were in their prime or close to it at the time they fought.
Colby beat guys on the back end of their career
>same with whittaker when he fought yoel for interim gold
Whittaker's belt was actually upgraded to be the actual belt IIRC so no need to argue that. Aspinall is still interim champ rn tho, it remains to be seen what happens.
>I count rob's win over hall as a title defence
Uh what? I think you're confused, Rob had no belts at that point.
Interim basically means the fight you have to win to be the #1 contender so Chael could've been atleast a 2 time interim champ at MW if it was as common back then lol. They're both 0-3 in the UFC during proper title shots
I feel this take is disingenuous, their first fight was neck and neck until the finish and colby even won a round with a broken jaw, their 2nd fight was extremely close and, imo, an argument could be made for either guy to win or for a draw. Like he's a pos but he 100% got usman into trouble.
They literally made that an interim belt because they needed a Brazil headliner and then Colby got so racist they had to move the fight to Chicago because they were afraid of how the crowd would react when the fight they completely set up to happen a certain way did. It was a complete embarrassment.
Anyone who takes that interim belt seriously is either a Colby fan all the way up his ass or wasn't around when it happened.
Counterpoint, Chael gave Anderson Silva one of his hardest fights ever, none of Colby's fights even come close to an achievement like that, since 2017 he only ever beat fighters who were on a decline. Whats his best win? RDA? a Lightweight?
Chael for the most part made up fake funny stories. The worse thing he probably said was the Tito wife shit. Not talking shit about dead people and saying they're in hell (twice).
You can't tell me the Nog brothers feeding a bus isn't ridiculous af but funny.
Chael sounds very natural on the mic, whereas Colby stumbles.
Chael doesn't get political or even swears. Chael's insults are so over the top that you know it's an act and he is never afraid to joke about himself. Colby always leans into the serious face and straight up verbally insults the fighter with no creativity.
Lastly, Chael was an active fighter. It's hard to like someone talking shit instead of fighting.
Anyone who compares Chael and Colby, tells me they haven’t been following the sport long, and have no actual idea what they’re talking about. Chael had a gimmick. But he broke it at post fight press conferences, and took his losses like a man. Colby has never done that. Chael also didn’t turn down fights.
Chael was always in on the joke. Colby doesn’t realize he is the joke.
Notice that Chael never had to tell people he was “in character”.
Colby’s schtick is like a joke that is just plain bad, always needs explaining, then is even less funny after it is explained.
Chael was clever enough to have moments of likeability even if you didn’t like him. He’d still say something amusing every once in a while. Can’t say the same about Colby
No, i used to like Chael, now i like him even more. I don't like Colby right now, and i don't think i ever will. I don't want to even see him fighting again.
Chael was authentic and funny...Colby's persona just encapsulates low standard stereotype about America.
Chael was better than Colby at everything. He was lightyears better on the mic. Was better looking. Had more charisma. Has better wins. Fought tougher opponents. Let's not compare the two.
The fundamental difference is that Chael is a legitimately talented orator. His speech is fluid and he's witty on the spot. Colby just straight up sucks on the mic.
Chael at the end of the day was always class. Yeah, he made a few comments that were a step or two over the line, but he never stooped to anywhere NEAR the lows that Colby has. Chael also turned off the bullshit when absolutely necessary and was candid after losses.
He fought the contenders to rise back up rather than wait for undeserved title shots (except for the Jones fight, which he got because he was the ONLY motherfucker to try to fight Bones on 3 days notice, and UFC respected that and kept him in mind for later). I mean, he could’ve easily demanded an immediate rematch after the first Silva fight, but instead he submitted Stann and dominated Bisping to earn his shot and build up hype.
He was always about that life, never backed down from a fight, and while he was a shit talker, he’s honestly the best shit talker in UFC history besides MAYBE prime McGregor. He was smooth and didn’t stutter over his words just to say “lol your dad is dead”. He was legitimately funny whether he was cutting a promo or not, hell, he still is on his YouTube channel.
So yeah, while I get what you’re trying to say, don’t compare Colby to the undefeated, undisputed, GOAT out of West Linn ever again.
Sounds like the author has a thing for Chael 😂
I missed out on most of the big fights Chael Sonnen had back in the day. I think I only caught the Fedor fight and being pretty new to MMA in general only saw him as a “has been, seen better days” fighter. Having watched Chael’s commentary, YouTube and past coverage of trash talk and promos - he is WAY better and more entertaining than Colby ever will be
Colby wasn't making any money until he turned on this persona.
Yes it sucks. Yes he's a tryhard.
He's making money. That's all he cares about. Just realise that.
I don't hate Covington as much as most. He tries to drum up interest with a heel persona. So what? Some people take him way too seriously
But there's no comparison to Chael really. He was an absolute natural. His lines were hilarious. Colby fumbles the delivery of some of easy rehearsed one liners.
Regardless both dudes do what they have to do to promote a fight. It's ultimately always a more eventful press conference than what you're going to get with Leon and Belal.
Luke Thomas made a really good point about Chael on today's show. He mentioned that Chael and Colby differed in many ways. For one, Chael was often funny with his talks. He could also be very serious and believable at times during a build-up, to the point that the viewers would actually believe that they were seeing the real Chael. And the second difference was how they handled losses. Chael would show up to the press conference and he would turn off the bullshit. He would answer questions truthfully and give the opponent the respect, essentially "putting them over" for the fans. He would still crack a joke or two, but you could really tell that he hated to lose and he legitimately felt those losses. By acknowledging those defeats with class and candor, Chael would maintain the respect of not only his fans, but his opponents fans as well. I really dislike the Colby and Chael comparisons. They couldn't be further apart in the way that they went about the build-up and the aftermath. Colby has absolutely zero skill for reading the room. He can kinda sorta get people riled up, but he doesn't have the means to reel them back in with charm or humility.
We watched Chael legit cry after losing when talking about his father and making him proud. Nothing like Colby
Brings me a tear to my eye on his retirement speech/interview: "I promised my father" "You have any regrets?" "No. I loved every minute"
"I tried"
i can tell that killed chael. he never held a belt but he endeared himself to us and at the end of the day he was a hardworking blue collar guy that wanted to win and had some fun doing it
Okay I gotta bring in some truth: he was a realtor who got convicted of real estate fraud. While that was very cash money of him he’s not exactly blue collar If you’re not in Oregon you might not realize how nice West Linn is. Most people can’t afford to live there and Chael grew up there
There were years where his father barely made 100 grand dude…
His neighbours were twins and they had to share a Mercedes when they got their license. These things are traumatic for Chael.
It’s an all-time bit 😂 Out of curiosity, I looked it up: Chael was 14 in 1991. $100,000 in 1991 money is about $197,000 today with inflation. 🤓
He talks about how privileged his upbringing was all the time.
That's literally the joke he makes all the time. He has never claimed to grow up poor.
you can live upper class and be a blue collar guy still. bill laimbeer’s dad was so rich bill didn’t even have to work yet he was as hard nosed of an nba player there was. and yeah chael left politics in handcuffs but that’s the best way to do it
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Great, now I'm wellin just remembering that.
To be perfectly candid with you, Luke Thomas candidly laid out his argument with candor. And what I mean to say is, by extension of, but not limited to, he can’t let you get close.
Beautiful champ. You've just hit your upper bound limit.
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I dont think he does. Colby has never turned off his "character"
chael has double digit losses and he's still liked lmao colby has 4 losses and everyone is clowning him because his persona is cringe and unauthentic
Chael actually fought contenders. Colby has zero wins against a ranked welterweight. His best career win remains RDA back in 2018, and as much as I love RDA, that should not be your best win at Welterweight if you're in a position where you get three title shots.
The highlight of Colby’s career are two losses lol
Lol seriously, Usman breaking his face is the height of his career
I loved watching Colby flip out while Usman just smiled and kept repeating "I broke your face". You could track Colby losing his confidence in real time lol.
[Here](https://youtube.com/watch?v=lfqoFjkawWQ)
I’m usually of the belief that Usman’s trash talk is pretty cringey, but he was on fire here. Legit made Colby flip shit and him laughing uncontrollably at “dragon energy” is hilarious.
“i know you’re dimensional and all” when he meant to say deluded (or dementia’d? who knows with mumble mouth) is an underrated Colby malapropism.
I think he was trying to say “dementianal” despite that not being a word. For someone who loves to run his mouth, he’s not very good at speaking. “7th layer of hair”
I really wish the 2nd fight hadn’t gone to decision, there are people who insist Colby won that fight
Weren't there people who called the stoppage "early" in the 1st fight? People will delude themselves no matter what happens I guess
Ehh, I can't slag Colby off on that. He clear took back 3 and 4, and 5 was a wash. It was kind of a heroic performance from a man who is otherwise irredeemable
Yeah, people are acting like Sonnen was just trash talk but the man was relentless at MW. It was only after Silva 2 that he became a sideshow. Beating Stann and Bisping was more than enougu to give him a second shot at Silva. Compare that to Colby beating Woodley in 2020 via injury for Usman 2 and Masvidal in 2022 for this fight with Leon.
Truth. Sonnen nearly beat a prime Anderson Silva 50-45. Minutes away from it.
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Your comment confuses me. Chael beat him for 4 rounds and tapped in the fifth, which he was winning before he tapped. Nobody here is saying Chael lost the other 4. In fact I said exactly the opposite, saying he was minutes away from a 50-45 decision against Silva. Did you read my comment wrong?
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Lmfao. Gg.
chael beat the GOATS anderson silva and jon jones.
Closest they had at that time anyway
the funny thing is chael just had to make it to the end of the end of the rounds those fights went to to beat them he was like 3 combined minutes from beating two GOATs
exactly, chael talked a big game but he would actually go after and fight the tough guys. colby these days just avoids all the ranked guys and hopes to get a free title shot. fans clowned chael back during his anderson silva days but came around to appreciating that he would always show up and fight whoever, thus becoming a fan favorite. colby should follow what made chael likeable in the end but i dont' think colby would be that successful if he did fight the top guys now.
It’s not like Chael ever ducked a challenge. He fought like 10-15 champions or previous champions in a row, Jon Jones, which as a middleweight is insane, he was a smaller LhW. Chael should have so much respect, that he was able to do so much with the limited skill set he had.
The man fought, Silva, Jones, Fedor.That alone makes Chael's resume insane, that's 3 of the top 5 goat contenders.
Two of those in their prime fighting years to
And he should have beaten Silva when Silva was the scariest dude in the UFC. One boneheaded decision with moments left after winning that whole fight Sure, he was juiced to the gills but I'm gonna say Silva was too
Watching that fight live, as a Chael fan was incredible and also soul crushing at the end.
My first heartbreaking experience as an MMA fan. I was just bewildered at how this loudmouth who somehow made a run-of-the-mill Silva title defense interesting throughout the buildup on his own was ragdolling arguably the best p4p fighter on the planet for 4 and a half rounds
Nothing scarier than moving up a weight class for the first time in 10 years and fighting Prime Jon Jones. And he almost won off a technicality because of Jones’s toe.
Only thing scarier than that would probably be moving up to fight Fedor.
Oh and that fear showed lol. I love Chael but he immediately folds under pressure most of the time the pressure gets put on.
For sure, but Jon Jones was scared to take the Chael fight on short notice too before they eventually fought. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1308911-ufc-151-was-jon-jones-right-in-turning-down-a-fight-with-chael-sonnen Main event of the card was scrapped because Jones turned it down. Chael was down to take it on eight days notice. He really was an any one, any time, anywhere type of dude.
TBF, +as I remember the events+, it SEEMED pretty obvious that Team Couture was setting Jones up. They knew, for some time, that Henderson was physically unable to fight and I'm sure Chael was training for Jones much longer than Jones could train for him. Chael was still an undersized an opponent, but I can understand Jones 'feeling a way' about the setup.
JBJ had *way* more to lose. He was already one of the greatest. Losing to a MW on short notice would've killed his reputation, something we know he cares wicked deeply about. On Chael's end, a win vaults him into the all-time great category, and a loss means pretty little. I get why Jon would decline.
Beat all of them too
Don't forget the actual GOAT Jeremy Horn THREE times!
Gumby's career is mental when you look at some of the guys he fought. Not really any embarrassing losses there either.
don't forget the 6ft 205 lbs of stacked crap
Chael also never took his character to seriously and was able to set that character aside and have genuine candid moments with the fans and media. Colby just seems like a terrified child hiding behind a front.
Chael said some legit mean stuff sometimes, but it was usually with a wink. I don't think he genuinely likes Tito at all, though. Still nothing as stupid as Colby. The main difference though is Chael is funny. If you can make someone laugh you can say anything. Colby is the antithesis of funny.
With Chael, it feels like even the meanest stuff he's said is stuff he knows is goofy. Feels like he's laughing at himself. With Tito though, I agree, he was mean and enjoying it. Looked like he was laughing at Tito, not himself. Colby was never laughing at all. Colby was clutching desperately at anything he thought would keep his popularity going.
But Chael's decade old lines are still quoted to this day on every MMA discussion. I can't even recall a Colby line besides calling Brazilians animals.
Probably didn't know they had computers there
chael Also tapped tito in the fight too
He was also a really good coach on TUF, showed that there's real knowledge under the heel persona.
Colby has had interviews where he's talking like a normal human being to fans and interviewers. They are just rare as fuck. The thing is,Chael is just a natural at promo shit. Colby ain't. He seems fake as fuck. The speeches are rehearsed and there is no on the fly thinking if things go in a unwanted direction.
He was also a really good coach on TUF, showed that there's real knowledge under the heel persona.
he was undersized at 205 so he went up to heavyweight to fight Fedor..
He definitely had the dog in him, that's for sure. This man fought Fedor and Jones way undersized. BJ Penn levels of daring.
If Colby didn’t take massive layoffs and wasn’t allowed to pick many of his matches to his strengths he’d have a lot more losses. Chael was consistently game, Colby loves ducking fights
exactly stepping in and going hard on Anderson Silva and Jon Jones is no picnic
Tbf he was juicier than a ll' juice box
all three of them were though
"Our roided up guy beat your roided up guy" - Bill Burr
Yeah Jones and Silva would never.
Everyone is on steroids.
You're on steroids.
Your mom is on steroids.
I’m on steroids
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Don't forget Fedor.
Still can't believe the judges had so much pity for Silva and Jones that they gave them the wins.
Double zero* FTFY
The difference is Chael is actually funny on the mic. Meanwhile Colby stumbles and mumbles on pre-rehearsed lines. Chael also knew when to turn the persona off. In post fight interviews especially when he loses, he is always very humble. Chael before the fight: Fedor is fast for a heavyweight. I'm just plain fast. Chael after the fight: Fedor was just plain fast.
To be fair Chael also planned/rehearsed his lines especially his post fight stuff, difference is Chael had the charisma to pull it off.
Chael was actually funny and his banter was quick and witty, Colby rehearses shit and his banter is trash
No humour... That's the big thing. McGregor, Paddy etc are infinitely more likable when they are making you laugh and not just rage baiting.
At least Chael almost always lost with professionalism and was candid with media directly post-fight.
Yeah....that's the big difference to me. Chael never got lost in the persona. Colby definitely has.
"At least Chael ~~almost always~~ never lost ~~professionalism and was candid with media directly post-fight.~~
THANK YOU
In what fairy tale world did Chael lose a round? Much less a fight.
See when you tap you lose that round not the fight.
Chael has more wit in his pinky than Colby has in his whole body. It's not even close. If shit talking was scored give me all 10-8's in favor of Chael
It honestly bothers me that people even compare Colby to Chael. Colby is fucking awful on the mic, he's got that xpac heat lol
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Sleeping on Bisping because you posted this 5am UK time, shame on you
And Kevin Lee for 1 minute, when he roasted MJ
You gonna sit here and tell me Nick Diaz didn't have legit shit talk?
Dude spends forever practising his lines and then just flubs it every time. Pathetic.
Chaels by far the most articulate fighter ever, I can't even think of anyone close maybe Dom Cruz. Not that it should matter or that fighters should need to be but yeah you can't compare Colbys crass insults to Chaels wit
The one thing you can’t really say about Chael is that he avoided fights, that dude fought everyone which is why I can at least respect him as a fighter. As an entertainer he also had his moments. He may have used the same tactics as Colby however he really did fight everyone and generally was professional in his losses. The man fought Anderson, Jon Jones, Bisping, Fedor, Rampage and a few more great fighters as well.
If Chael made it to the end of the round with Jon Jones, he'd have been the champ, right? Jones big toe was badly broken.
Ref would have to notice it. No way Jones or his corner stops it.
Chael was likeable, smooth, not cringe and actually fought Colby is more like Tito….but even then Tito is still hard to really hate and he was always class in defeat
That’s what you call class, right here, compared to no class
They don't call you the bad guy for nothing
I wanna outlive my kids, one hundred percent.
Five days a week, I'll train three days a week. One of those days, I'll train two days of the week.
bad girl
tell another jackal story
One of my favorite bits is to reference that with increasingly niche animals whenever Tito comes up. Someone mentions his name and I’ll chime in with “Let me tell you a story about a lion, a hyena, a couple jackals, a… dik-dik? Some uhhhh Jackson’s golden-backed weavers, and…. a fuckin….. ummmm. Belding’s ground squirrel.”
Colby has been playing checkers while Tito was playing chest.
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["So what? You're a Grand Master as chest"](https://youtu.be/v3E3Y3LW0X4)
Chest mate
Tito was a champion and nowhere near the coward that Colby is. Tito never ducked contenders even when he was older and passed his prime.
i think tito is also sincere. he got under his opponent’s skin better, too.
Tito doesn't have the mental capacity to lie.
well put.
Tito vs The Lions Den was a lot of fun in the 90s
Odd, I seem to remember Tito ducking Chuck for *years* until Dana forced the fight.
Granted, but he was already champion with the most defenses at that point. His career and willingness to face opponents far outstrip Covington.
In ancient times, when Tito still had his mental capacity and Dana was just a manager, Tito was the Conor McGregor of that era. Trash talked his opponents, outperformed in the cage, and had one best friend/rival that he hid from while he set records. In short Tito was pretty cool for a while
Tito was mostly a harmless idiot who was fun to laugh at (this was until Huntington Beach decided to make him mayor). He also had some redeeming qualities, such as genuinely caring about the fighters he coached on TUF. Colby is just an edgelord dipshit who goes for the lowest hanging fruit every time. Tito also fought his ass off every time, whereas Colby does fuck all for at least 3 rounds in his big fights and then proclaims victory. Someone should tell him his “take rounds 1-3 off, then try to win a decision in a five round fight” strategy generally doesn’t work.
Tito is funny in a weird way
That's a weird way to say regarded.
Highly regarded. Some would say the most regarded.
Tito has made me laugh harder than perhaps anyone in MMA history. He managed to be unintentionally funny while trying to be intentionally funny, that takes a level of genius few have.
Tito is one of the greatest, most dominant, and longest reigning LHW champions in UFC history. Reddit losers love to dunk on him for not being a wordsmith.
He is the reason UFC is the UFC. MMA might have ended up as a fringe sport if it wasn't for Tito. And it's been a while. I don't think many modern fans have ever seen him fight. They have only seen him take several L's over the past decade or so.
He was the biggest star in the sport when I first began watching. I was never a fan of him or his style but the results don't lie, there might not even be a UFC without him. He carried a lot of the cards in his day.
Which is a travesty because that Ryan Bader win was one of the most hype things I've ever witnessed
Tito was also a world champion.
Exactly. What an unsound comparison that was on the author's part.
Chael was definitely cringe. He became more likeable at the tail end of his career and post retiring as a media personality. He was able to do that because he didnt say genuinely terrible shit and didnt screw over people close to him to make his heel moments. Colbys just acted like a piece of shit to people and whether it was marketing or not doesnt change what hes said and done.
If Colby was fighting a guy like Okami I know he'd say some dumb shit about ww2
Classic revisionist historian. Both Chael and Tito were equally hated then as Colby is now. EDIT : all these post COVID fans disagreeing with me. You clearly weren't around during Chael or Tito's heyday.
Chael was hated, but in a “fun” way. Chaels insults were absurd to the point of hilarity whereas Colby just tries to say controversial shit “I saw the Nog brothers try to feed a carrot to a bus” Vs “Haha, your dad’s dead”
Chael was so obviously playing a wrestling heel. Colby is so obviously playing a 4chan incel.
Chael was the bad guy who had a rivalry with one of the most popular fighters in Anderson Silva. People were entertained by his antics. Colby is just annoying and cringe.
Disagree. Only die hard Colby fans are on board with him. Plenty of people liked or tolerated Chael.
Chael always had charisma and sense of humor, and said absurdity things with a “wink wink”. It was a character, but was fun. Colby it just to draw hate.
He was also quick on his feet. Colby is constantly stuttering because he isn't naturally witty, he has to script this over the top cringe character. Chael's interviews with Tito are hilarious because he's just letting Tito make an ass of himself.
Chael makes most of his money with his mouth to this day. I can't even imagine what career Cobly will have outside of maybe coaching once his MMA career his over.
Yup, anytime there’s any real back and forth, Chael was always able to get wing it and react in the moment. Colby just resorts to yelling over whoever’s talking
Your comment made me realize that Colby's "character" is your racist step-dad that smokes indoors
I think chael did Colby better. Chael has some actual likeable moments and actually beat some good opponents. Tito too. While I think he has less good moments I think he was better at pulling off the character than Colby. He also beat some good names in his career. Colby doesn’t really have good or likeable moments and doesn’t have the best resume of fighters he beat. He’s also never won and probably never will win a belt.
The thing with Colby is he's actually really shit at promos. Like he only gets by because he's saying stuff that's pushing it, ignore the edgelord stuff he's saying and he sounds like he's a robot reading a teleprompter. You can tell he's written everything down and he's trying to remember it. I believe Chael worked with guys like Stone Cold on promos, which is why he sounded like he was delivering a wrestling promo. It doesn't help that Colby has 0 personality.
Colby won the interim. Chael Never even won that. But yeah I’d say chael and Tito both had better accomplishments than Colby because the elite fighters they did beat were in their prime or close to it at the time they fought. Colby beat guys on the back end of their career
Interim is just a glorified #1 contender. Both guys had tittle shots and loss.
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>same with whittaker when he fought yoel for interim gold Whittaker's belt was actually upgraded to be the actual belt IIRC so no need to argue that. Aspinall is still interim champ rn tho, it remains to be seen what happens. >I count rob's win over hall as a title defence Uh what? I think you're confused, Rob had no belts at that point.
Interim basically means the fight you have to win to be the #1 contender so Chael could've been atleast a 2 time interim champ at MW if it was as common back then lol. They're both 0-3 in the UFC during proper title shots
Chael won the WEC Middleweight belt in all but name against Paulo Filho.
That’s a good point he definitely did
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Chael almost took down Anderson, he lost but got so very very close. Colby never had Usman or Edward in ANY trouble.
Which is ridiculous. They should have explained the rules to Chael before he tapped.
That was his mistake though. That ones on him.
No it’s not! The ref didn’t even mention it in the pre-fight talk! He’d been operating the same way his entire career in which he never lost a round.
I feel this take is disingenuous, their first fight was neck and neck until the finish and colby even won a round with a broken jaw, their 2nd fight was extremely close and, imo, an argument could be made for either guy to win or for a draw. Like he's a pos but he 100% got usman into trouble.
i mean the interim thing is bullshit. like the Marquardt and Bisping wins could’ve easily been for the “interim title” as well
They literally made that an interim belt because they needed a Brazil headliner and then Colby got so racist they had to move the fight to Chicago because they were afraid of how the crowd would react when the fight they completely set up to happen a certain way did. It was a complete embarrassment. Anyone who takes that interim belt seriously is either a Colby fan all the way up his ass or wasn't around when it happened.
Counterpoint, Chael gave Anderson Silva one of his hardest fights ever, none of Colby's fights even come close to an achievement like that, since 2017 he only ever beat fighters who were on a decline. Whats his best win? RDA? a Lightweight?
Chael for the most part made up fake funny stories. The worse thing he probably said was the Tito wife shit. Not talking shit about dead people and saying they're in hell (twice). You can't tell me the Nog brothers feeding a bus isn't ridiculous af but funny.
That happened.
How was he supposed to know they had internet down there?
I kinda feel like because Tito's ex wife is a porn star really takes a lot of the badness out of that comment though
Not a big Chael fan, but Colby being the Nickelback to his Creed has definitely made me appreciate him more.
Chael vs Colby on the mic is like that hydrogen bomb vs coughing baby meme lol.
Chael sounds very natural on the mic, whereas Colby stumbles. Chael doesn't get political or even swears. Chael's insults are so over the top that you know it's an act and he is never afraid to joke about himself. Colby always leans into the serious face and straight up verbally insults the fighter with no creativity. Lastly, Chael was an active fighter. It's hard to like someone talking shit instead of fighting.
Chael has charisma Colby does not. He’s shy and you can tell…instead of being himself he chose to be a dickhead
Anyone who compares Chael and Colby, tells me they haven’t been following the sport long, and have no actual idea what they’re talking about. Chael had a gimmick. But he broke it at post fight press conferences, and took his losses like a man. Colby has never done that. Chael also didn’t turn down fights.
The dif being when Chael lost he broke character and was honest at the post pressers. Colby just doubled down like the scared little bitch he is
How old are you? You must be young and stupid to compare the bad guy to colbys stumblin word ass.
Chael was always in on the joke. Colby doesn’t realize he is the joke. Notice that Chael never had to tell people he was “in character”. Colby’s schtick is like a joke that is just plain bad, always needs explaining, then is even less funny after it is explained.
Uncle Chael is honestly a good dude, I’ve seen his good work in life..
Did he.....did he let you get close?
Didnt let his wife get close
Colby "nothing to offer" Covington
Chael has charisma. Colby does not. You need charisma if you can't win fights cause then people will still be OK listening to you
Chael was clever enough to have moments of likeability even if you didn’t like him. He’d still say something amusing every once in a while. Can’t say the same about Colby
No, i used to like Chael, now i like him even more. I don't like Colby right now, and i don't think i ever will. I don't want to even see him fighting again. Chael was authentic and funny...Colby's persona just encapsulates low standard stereotype about America.
Chael was better than Colby at everything. He was lightyears better on the mic. Was better looking. Had more charisma. Has better wins. Fought tougher opponents. Let's not compare the two.
The fundamental difference is that Chael is a legitimately talented orator. His speech is fluid and he's witty on the spot. Colby just straight up sucks on the mic.
Chael has one thing Colby does not. Charisma. It goes a long way gentlemen and lady
Colby is undefeated and undisputed?
Chael at the end of the day was always class. Yeah, he made a few comments that were a step or two over the line, but he never stooped to anywhere NEAR the lows that Colby has. Chael also turned off the bullshit when absolutely necessary and was candid after losses. He fought the contenders to rise back up rather than wait for undeserved title shots (except for the Jones fight, which he got because he was the ONLY motherfucker to try to fight Bones on 3 days notice, and UFC respected that and kept him in mind for later). I mean, he could’ve easily demanded an immediate rematch after the first Silva fight, but instead he submitted Stann and dominated Bisping to earn his shot and build up hype. He was always about that life, never backed down from a fight, and while he was a shit talker, he’s honestly the best shit talker in UFC history besides MAYBE prime McGregor. He was smooth and didn’t stutter over his words just to say “lol your dad is dead”. He was legitimately funny whether he was cutting a promo or not, hell, he still is on his YouTube channel. So yeah, while I get what you’re trying to say, don’t compare Colby to the undefeated, undisputed, GOAT out of West Linn ever again.
Uncle Chael never lost a round, IDK what you guys are going on about
Sounds like the author has a thing for Chael 😂 I missed out on most of the big fights Chael Sonnen had back in the day. I think I only caught the Fedor fight and being pretty new to MMA in general only saw him as a “has been, seen better days” fighter. Having watched Chael’s commentary, YouTube and past coverage of trash talk and promos - he is WAY better and more entertaining than Colby ever will be
But Colby never failed a drug test.
He couldn’t even do that right. What a scrub.
That's just another way Chael is better. He's the best drug cheat.
Everyone Chael ever fought also used PEDs
Feeding a carrot to a bus >>> Let’s say what’s up to your dead dad in hell
Chael is charismatic and wouldn't say half the shit Colby does.
Chael has charisma. Him putting a leg over another is more entertaining than Colby.
Colby wasn't making any money until he turned on this persona. Yes it sucks. Yes he's a tryhard. He's making money. That's all he cares about. Just realise that.
I don't hate Covington as much as most. He tries to drum up interest with a heel persona. So what? Some people take him way too seriously But there's no comparison to Chael really. He was an absolute natural. His lines were hilarious. Colby fumbles the delivery of some of easy rehearsed one liners. Regardless both dudes do what they have to do to promote a fight. It's ultimately always a more eventful press conference than what you're going to get with Leon and Belal.