Hours after news broke that Chael Sonnen would face Anderson Silva in Brazil, ‘The American Gangster’ dropped another bombshell.
On June 15, Sonnen will step inside the squared circle for a trilogy bout with his greatest rival. The bout is scheduled to go down six weeks before their inaugural clash at UFC 117 is enshrined into the UFC Hall of Fame.
As it turns out, that’s not the only big-money fight on Sonnen’s 2024 calendar.
“Anderson said for [me] to pick the rule set and it was just a situation where I’ve always wanted to box,” Sonnen said during the latest episode of EPSN’s Good Guy/Bad Guy. “I’ve got this thing coming up with Jorge Masvidal. If we’re just letting all these secrets out, I’ve got this thing coming up with Masvidal in October of this year and that thing has been coming up ever since ESPN sequestered me in Miami at UFC 299 to try and protect me from Masvidal.
“There was nothing that hurt my ego more than me being the one who was being locked down and I only share that with you because I’ve known this Masvidal thing was coming and when you let the cat out of the bag, the Masvidal vs. Diaz [fight], I don’t want to step on Diaz’s toes, but I’ve got Jorge in my sights because when I step in there with Masvidal, it’s going to be eight rounds and they are going to have the 10 or 12-ounce gloves so it’s going to be a little bit of a different situation.”
🚨 Chael Sonnen says that Anderson Silva offered to do MMA rules for their fight, but he opted for boxing rules instead.
He says he made this decision because he will be boxing Jorge Masvidal in October of this year 👀
🎥 Good Guy / Bad Guy #UFC #MMA #Boxing pic.twitter.com/fnMyv2mNje
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 20, 2024
At this point, no details have been released regarding a boxing match between Chael Sonnen and Jorge Masvidal, but their pairing would certainly come as no surprise considering the animosity that has been growing between the two in recent months.
Will Jorge Masvidal Finally Get the Chance to Break Chael Sonnen’s Orbital?
During an appearance on The MMA Hour earlier this year, Masvidal took exception to Sonnen’s past PED and TRT usage, calling him “a cheating f*ck” and declaring that he would love to “break [Sonnen’s] eye orbital” in a potential fight — whether it be in a ring or on the street.
The two have since traded a series of barbs back and forth prompting ESPN to sequester Sonnen while he was in Masvidal’s hometown of Miami for UFC 299 in March.
But before Masvidal can turn his attention toward Sonnen, ‘Gamebred’ will go toe-to-toe with Nate Diaz on July 6 in Anaheim, Calif. The fight will serve as a rematch of their UFC 244 scrap which introduced the promotion’s bragging rights belt, the BMF title. Masvidal won the contest via a doctor’s stoppage following the third round.
It was the last time Masvidal won a fight inside the Octagon.
Watch the full episode below:
