Jiu Jitsu vs. Wrestling. Imagine that. It’s not out of the ordinary. After all, they’re both grappling art forms. And when they happen at the highest level, boy are they a spectacle to witness. Remember when ADCC gold medalist Gordon Ryan took on NCAA Division-1 wrestler Bo Nickal in 2019? That match was intriguing and electrifying, and in the end, the jiu jitsu practitioner came out on top. Now, we’re apparently getting Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson against ADCC silver medalist Craig Jones in yet another submission-grappling showdown. And Chael Sonnen doesn’t like it one bit.

Fairly recently, Craig Jones revealed that he will be taking on the Olympian in a BJJ fight this August in a super fight at the Craig Jones Invitation (CJI) edition 2. This news shocked the entire combat sports community because Steveson was just talking about preparing for the UFC under the tutelage of Jon Jones. Now, he’s suddenly made a shift to BJJ. Let’s back up for a minute here. We’ve never seen Gable Steveson compete in BJJ. Why now? And against one of the greatest practitioners of our time? Multiple questions are left unanswered. Amidst this chaos, Chael Sonnen has come forward to give his thoughts on the shift.

Speaking on his YouTube handle, ‘The American Gangster’ recalled the story of Bob Sapp and his endeavors across different sports: “Bob Sapp, he was this big deal over there—whether he was to you guys or not—and the people loved him. He was bringing in all sorts of money, and pretty soon, it was all gone. But there was no legacy to go with it. I could not tell you guys one thing that Bob Sapp did, but you also couldn’t tell me.”

“Was he football player, because he played a little bit of football? Was he a kickboxer, because I saw him in K1? Was he [in] MMA, most of them looked like works.”, Sonnen pondered. What Sonnen is trying to say is, that despite his involvement in multiple sports, Bob Sapp failed to establish himself as a master of a single domain, instead choosing the ‘jack of all trades’ route.

‘The American Gangster’ asserted that Steveson might be singing the same tune as Sapp, “And Gable is flirting with that. There will be money, there will be opportunity, there will be something big. There’ll be something that we could all think was a joke that gets dropped on April Fool’s Day. I mean, quite frankly, that is kind of a joke. Gable versus Craig? That is kind of a joke.”

The two-time NCAA champion was looking to shake hands with Dana White for a UFC contract, but it appears that it won’t pan out anytime soon. Interestingly, Chael Sonnen suggested that Jon Jones’ influence might not be the right path for Steveson’s training.

Chael Sonnen doubts Gable Steveson finding MMA success under Jon Jones

Arguably one of the greatest fighters to ever step into the Octagon, Jon Jones holds a unique place in UFC history. From becoming the youngest champion ever to achieving the most title defenses amid winning two belts, ‘Bones’ is truly in a league of his own. However, is he a good representative, and more important, a good influence on the sport? This question has been asked by Chael Sonnen. Gable Steveson is looking to make it big in MMA, and he has Jones by his side, but is Jones a good influence?

Chael Sonnen believes that Steveson should take things a bit slowly: “He spent some time in MMA. He even spent some time with Robbie Lawler as his coach, with those guys that right now are called KillCliff. He spent some time in Jon Jones’s camp and was in Jon Jones’s corner. Now, that’s not the kind of MMA he needs. He needs the kind of MMA where he is the pupil now, where he comes in and he’s the head wrestling coach or, you know, he’s the cool guy with an Olympic gold medal. He needs to humble himself.”

Uncle Chael further added that the wrestling sensation should find himself the “right” manager and the right team before trying to make it big in the realm of MMA. But it looks like the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist has some time to make “the right decision”, as Chael Sonnen put it. Given that, what are your thoughts on the hubbub? State your opinion in the comments below.