Las Vegas, NV — Whether you choose to believe his tales or not, Chael Sonnen is one of the great storytellers in all of MMA.
“The Gangster from West Linn” was certainly a very good fighter, and one of the biggest personalities the sport has ever seen. Sonnen would never win a world championship, though he fought for one four times (once in WEC, three times in the UFC), but he was the unparalleled king of trash talk. That gift for gab has served him well as he’s crossed over in the broadcast realm, and continues to host his popular You’re Welcome Podcast.
Case in point: as he did previously in his book, Sonnen over the summer claimed to know who infamous hijacker D.B. Cooper is. Or well, was. The subject came up again because of a documentary released on Netflix, which Sonnen was less than complimentary of. “Rotten garbage regurgitated” was how he put it.
Asking on behalf of true crime buffs around the world, we put the question to Sonnen at the 14th Annual World MMA Awards, which he hosted: who is DB Cooper?
“DB Cooper is a guy from the Northwest. He passed away in Arizona a couple Christmases ago. But I’ll tell you, he is not who they pretend is DB Cooper,” Sonnen teased. “I’ll give you everything in the story, I’ll give you two pieces the FBI won’t, but I can’t give you a name.”
Dang. But that’s Sonnen for you. He may be bluffing, but he certainly can sell just about anything. It’s a rare trait these days, one fighters like Danny Sabatello and Colby Covington have tried to emulate. Both, like Sonnen, have fought for titles. Both have fallen short. But Covington in particular has been accused of crossing the line at times with his trash talk.
Sonnen doesn’t think so. “Times where he’s made me nervous, yes absolutely. Has he ever crossed the line? No,” Sonnen stated. “He’s walked up to it, he might have even spit over it a few times, but he never crossed it.”
In fact, it’s a Covington fight Chael Sonnen is most looking forward to in 2023. “Colby Covington vs. [Khamzat] Chimaev. At this point it’s a rumor, but it’s a rumor that I believe,” he told us. “I also believe that that pot’s going to be sweetened to number one contender. And that’s probably the match I’m most looking forward to.”
Watch our full interview with Chael Sonnen from the 14th Annual World MMA Awards above.
