Chael Sonnen Breaks His Silence On Fixed Fight Allegations

On Thursday, Chael Sonnen broke his silence regarding accusations of his fight, last Saturday, against Tito Ortiz being fixed.

At Bellator 170, Ortiz submitted Sonnen with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their main event fight.

“I couldn’t breathe,” Sonnen said on Luke Thomas’s radio show. “I didn’t respect it when it went on. I thought we were going to get into a scramble and I was going to come out on top, but I was stuck. It’s really hard to give up your back. If you give up your back early in the first round, before you get that sweat going, it’s just a tough spot.”

After the fight took place, many fans and fighters claimed the fight looked fixed based on the way it was finished.

“You have to have both guys in on it, and no one can keep a secret anymore, I don’t think pulling a fixed fight is something we will see very often,” Sonnen said.

“The hard reality is, I got put in a choke. He squeezed the choke better than I defended it.”

Sonnen had not fought for over three years before fighting last Saturday. He last fought in Nov. 2013 when he lost to Rashad Evans by TKO.

Oritz retired from MMA following his win over Sonnen. He retired with 19 MMA victories. He is a member of the UFC Hall of Fame and is a former UFC light heavyweight champion.