Chael Sonnen says ‘pure anger’ at the state of the fight game caused him to end his retirement

Chael Sonnen hasn’t stepped foot into the ring since 2013 when he lost by first round TKO to Rashad Evans back at UFC 167. Now nearly four years later, it’s safe to say that the MMA landscape has changed quite a bit.

With Sonnen abruptly signing with Bellator last week, ‘The American Gangster’ says it was ‘pure anger’ at the state of the fight game that caused him to come out of retirement.

“I keep watching these guys, and it’s like Marshall Mathers says: they might walk like me and talk like me, dress, act, not give a dang like me, and they just might be the next best thing, but they are not quite me,” Sonnen said Friday on a Bellator conference call. “I’m watching these guys and they’re talking about money and who their opponents are and the weight class and then this happens. Who cares about all of that stuff?”

“You either want to fight or you don’t, and one of my main motivations for coming back is pure anger. I sit back as a fan, I watch these guys quibble and squabble. I put this deal together with Coker over three phone calls. I didn’t negotiate. I didn’t ask for anything. I wanted an opportunity to fight, that was it. And he’ll tell you the same thing. It was as simple as that.”

Sonnen had adamantly denied wanting to fight again after receiving a two-year suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission for a failed drug test leading into his scheduled fight with Wanderlei Silva following their stints as coaches on the Ultimate Fighter.

What do you make of Sonnen coming out of retirement? Do you think the fight game has passed him by? Or will ‘The American Gangster’ make some noise in Bellator? Sound off, PENN Nation!