At UFC 300, Sonnen received a pleasant surprise when during the main card broadcast, the promotion announced that his fight with Anderson Silva at UFC 117 will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer in the Fight Wing. But for as touched as he was by the moment, “The American Gangster” doesn’t believe he’s a true Hall of Famer. At least not yet.
“Would I consider [myself a Hall of Famer]? No, I wouldn’t,” Sonnen said Wednesday on The MMA Hour. “You either are or you aren’t. But no, I don’t think so. I think you have to go in. I don’t think a fight can go in [for you]. I don’t think that makes me a Hall of Famer, I think it makes a Hall of Fame fight. That’s always been my interpretation of it. The guys that go in separately, I feel like are in a different class.”
Silva is already in the Hall — inducted to the Pioneer Wing in 2023 — and whether he considers himself one or not, Sonnen now joins his old rival for their epic battle, which won Fight of the Year honors in 2010.
As has been custom for these sorts of announcements, the UFC made sure Sonnen was in attendance at the event, working as an analyst and personality. Sonnen says the actual reveal came as a complete shock to him.
“I never knew,” Sonnen said when recounting the scene. “Hindsight, everything is so obvious. I was there when they brought Wanderlei [Silva] in [for his Hall of Fame announcement]. They put him in the same chair, they brought him up at the same point in the show. But no, I didn’t know.
I agree with Chael and always did.
But if people get all excited about a fight being in, they can be as happy as they want. Good for them.