Chael Sonnen has a much different stance than many fighters have shared on former UFC matchmaker, Joe Silva.
Recently, fighters have come out and told ‘horror stories’ about dealing with the former Ultimate Fighting Championship matchmaker. Yet, for Sonnen, he says every single interaction he had with Joe Silva was positive.
“I have my own Joe Silva stories but they were all positive. Some of them are very similar to some of the guys who feelings Joe hurt, I just got it,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “I got Joe from the beginning. I understood that he was a hard worker with a ton of stuff to do and like anybody, there are so many hours in a day.”
Chael Sonnen believes people often misunderstood Joe Silva and what he did. He thinks fighters only hold onto the stories of them not getting the fight they wanted or getting cut. But, don’t tell the stories of him singing them to the UFC and giving them a title fight.
For Sonnen, he says Silva was just in a tough spot and unfortunately had to make those tough calls.
“Joe had to give you bad news, but Joe is the guy who called you in the first place to make all your dreams come true. That gets forgotten over time and you only remember the negative interaction. It was very hard for him on a human level,” he said. “Don’t forget this is a 365 business, there are no seasons. So, if Joe has to call and cut somebody and oh by the way that happens to be during the holiday season, he still has to make that phone call. So, he can then make the other phone call to replace the guy.
“That is just the business but he got put in a hard spot. It’s a very hard job,” Sonnen continued. “He did his end of it, whether hated it or not, he did his end of it. Joe Silva was great there is a reason he ended up in the Hall of Fame.”
In the end, Chael Sonnen says fighters are mistelling Joe Silva stories. The former title challenger says the matchmaker was a leader and did his job as he was supposed to do.
“The truth is, he was good at what he did. If he came and he knew who you are, and he dealt with you face to face whether he hurt your feelings or not, that is what a leader does… He didn’t skirt it and go through your agents, he came right up to you face-to-face, man-to-man and he would deliver the news,” he said. “If you got two pieces of bad news that means you also got two pieces of good. Anybody who tries to tell the Joe Silva story differently is mistelling. Mistelling. Joe Silva worked hard, Joe Silva he was right, he created a job for himself, he provided [an] opportunity, it’s a tough job, it cut both ways, but he did his job.”
What do you make of Chael Sonnen sticking up for Joe Silva?