Bellator: Sonnen Retires After Machida Loss; Brazilian Fighter Wants To Be 'Champ Champ'

Veteran mixed martial artist Chael Sonnen is retiring after a TKO loss against Lyoto Machida at Bellator 222.

Chael Sonnen has been one of the most famous mixed martial artists in the world. Known for his superb wrestling skills and more specifically, for his trash-talking, Sonnen now retires from mma.

Lyoto Machida defeated fellow former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen in their co-main event bout at Bellator 222 in Madison Square Garden. The 42-year-old Sonnen decided to finally hang the gloves after 22 years of being a professional fighter with a record of 30-17-1.

Sonnen was grateful for his career and said he had a good run and now is the time to say goodbye to the sport, ESPN reported.

"I had a hell of a lot of fun, I had a good run. I'm walking out. I appreciate the memories, and goodbye," Sonnen said in his postfight interview.

While the announcement appeared to be planned, the former UFC title contender revealed that he has no plans of retiring yet and even want to call out the current Bellator two-division champ Ryan Bader should he happen to win the fight against Machida.

Sonnen said he “fully expected” to win the fight but the loss convinced him that he has "used up all his toughness” and concluded that it is time to call it career.

Machida, on the other hand, stated that he is not taking pride of putting Sonnen to retirement but instead is very honoured to have fought such a great fighter, according to MMA Junkie

“To be honest, I don’t think anything about that. I feel it’s an honor for me to be part of his history and to share the cage with Chael Sonnen, Randy Couture, Vitor Belfort, because I consider those guys are legends in the sport. To be part of their story, for me, I’m so grateful for that,” Machida said.

After the spectacular TKO win, the Brazilian fighter increases his chances of earning a title fight at Bellator. Machida once said that he wants to be a “champ-champ” in the promotion, an opportunity which he never had in his former promotion UFC.

From the looks of how things are going in the Bellator light heavyweight division, it seems that the Bader-Machida fight is about to be on the works.

Machida is now 2-0 at Bellator, his first win under the promotion happened back in December 2018 when the former UFC champ debuts at Bellator and won a split decision win against Rafael Carvalho.