“Bellator 170” was one of the most successful events the Viacom-owned company has ever put on, yet the buzz surrounding the event has been more controversial than positive. Chael Sonnen stepped into the cage for the first time in years to square off with a retiring Tito Ortiz in a main event bout that ended with a rear naked choke victory for the “People’s Champion”.

Ortiz applied the choke and even though it looked to be a crank, Sonnen cleared the air on “The Luke Thomas Show” and made sure to explain what exactly went down:

“It was a choke. It was an oxygen issue, not a pain issue. And somebody had asked me that … after the fight, and I had no idea what she was talking about. ‘Didn’t you see it? I got put in a rear-naked choke.’ And then I got home and people were saying that it didn’t look like it was on. I don’t even know how to respond to that.

“All I can tell you is I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t respect it went on. I thought we were going to get into a scramble and I was going to come on top, and I was stuck. It’s really hard to give up your back, ever. You give up your back in the first round before you have that sweat going, man, it’s just a tough spot. And it’s embarrassing, it’s all those different things. But to answer your question head-on, yeah, it was a choke, it was not a crank.”