NEWARK, N.J. – Chael Sonnen was, for years, one of the best interviews in sports, let alone in mixed martial arts. He was thoughtful, candid, accessible and insightful.
Interviews with Sonnen always had great depth.
But, and there is always a but, he was largely ignored despite that brilliance even though an interview with him would lead to an outstanding story.
Sonnen was a good, but not great fighter in those days, but as MMA was growing as a sport, he was being overlooked. The mainstream media wasn't paying much attention to MMA, and what little attention they gave went to stars such as Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz.
Then came 2010. Sonnen was coming off an unexpectedly one-sided victory over Yushin Okami at UFC 104 in Los Angeles and was set to fight Nate Marquardt in a middleweight title elimination bout at UFC 109 in Las Vegas.
By the time of the Marquardt match, the media attention on UFC bouts had increased considerably. Because Sonnen was one step away from
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