Chael Sonnen has an issue with Joe Rogan’s comparison of Jorge Masvidal and Georges St-Pierre.
A topic that is brought up a lot in MMA fandom is comparing fighters of the past to the present. The argument of “Greatest Of All Time” is one that can be heard each time a champion wins or defends a belt. The tough thing about this type of comparison is that many times current fighters, at the top of their game, are being compared to a fighter who is retired. Sometimes fighters from different weight classes are discussed together, and realistically there is no way to actually compare the two unless they have actually fought against each other. Regardless, fans love to make this comparison.
UFC commentator Joe Rogan made a similar comparison of his own on a recent episode of his podcast. He took a look at the level of competition seen by Jorge Masivdal today and the level seen by Georges St-Pierre back in his heyday. Rogan came to the conclusion that Masivdal sees more formidable opponents and therefore must be better. This upset some people, Chael Sonnen in particular.
Chael Sonnen calls Joe Rogan out for his stance on Masvidal vs. St-Pierre
Sonnen did not agree with Rogan’s assessment of the welterweight fighters. He took to his YouTube to state his side of the argument and take a jab at Rogan.
“That’s not a rational statement, Joe Rogan is fantastic at his job and when you talk a lot you get some things wrong,” he said. “He put Masvidal over as an example that today’s welterweights are far superior and they’re better than Georges St-Pierre. Now, we should just dismiss this but I want to explain to you how we got there because this is a person who has the right to an opinion and it’s the person that will influence. What Joe said and how he did this math is very common, but I would like to correct you to what a non-420 mind can come up with. Joe got to that point by stating that the competition is harder now than it was then and I see many people doing that. What does the competition have to do with the guy?”
Sonnen has faced his fair share of GOAT candidates throughout his career. He no doubt has a soft spot for his generation and believes the comparisons are not accurate.
“What kind of divisible are you going to put in when Georges goes out there and dominates a wrestling champion like Josh Koscheck?” he siad. “Or knocks out a world champion like Matt Hughes? Or passes the guard of a jiu-jitsu ace like Nick Diaz? What kind of equation are you putting into the gap?” he said. “Which 170-pounder do you believe can take Georges St-Pierre down? Now answer it honestly. What 170-pounder out there do you believe Georges cannot take down? Let’s just start with that. You cannot deduce one entity by drawing a conclusion to others, and if you do it, we should dismiss you. And we should tell the kids in the backseat, ‘That guy is on drugs.”
Sonnen often has controversial comments to make and since retiring from fighting that is how he makes his living. He was known as a loudmouth when he was fighting and continues to be one now that he is on the other side of things.
