Chael Sonnen is perhaps the best talker in the history of the sport. Of course, most would give that distinction to Conor McGregor with his witty, electric, and extremely entertaining rebuttals, but Sonnen’s pure charisma, loquaciousness, and ability to cut a promo are unmatched. But now, for the first time in his career, ‘Uncle Chael’ has become a head coach- to Colby Covington. As such, ‘The Bad Guy’ will make his UFC debut as a cornerman on December 14. But the fireworks started right from the weigh-ins as the fans got to see ‘Uncle Chael’ back in action on the mic there.

This is why it was so gratifying for many to see Sonnen back in action, cutting another promo, this time for his friend and protege Colby Covington. ‘Chaos’, of course, is set to fight young and hungry power puncher Joaquin Buckley atop the UFC Tampa card. At the weigh-ins, the former interim 170lbs champ was asked why he was fighting Buckley, who has just recently made his way into the top ten. ‘Chaos’, who isn’t the most verbose fighter, instead of answering himself, wisely said he would let his “head coach and idol” answer for him.

‘Uncle Chael’ stepped up to the mic and did what he has been doing for the past 20+ years. “I came to tell you, when you’re the greatest fighter in the world today, they got a name for you. They don’t call you a great fighter. They call you ‘Chaos’ Covington,” Sonnen said to cheers from the fans. However, the fans online had a much more mixed reaction than the fans at the weigh-in.

Fans react to Chael Sonnen cutting a promo for Colby Covington

Sonnen, of course, has not cut a promo in a long time. After all, ‘The Bad Guy’ retired four years ago, and seemed a bit rusty at the UFC Tampa weigh-ins, recycling one of his old lines, which didn’t go down well with most fans, who have very high expectations when ‘Uncle Chael’ gets on the mic. “Love Chael but nah bro,” one fan wrote.

Fans, of course, are well aware that Covington plays the character of a loud-mouthed, disrespectful villain for marketing purposes. But not many would be aware that ‘Chaos’ got this schtick from none other than ‘The Bad Guy’ himself. This is why one fan felt that “Colby wants to be Chael but he is too much of a mush mouth”.

One of Sonnen’s most famous bits back in his fighting days, of course, was his claim that he was ‘undefeated, undisputed’ and had never even lost a round. That, of course, was not true, but  Sonnen didn’t let pesky things like the truth and facts get in the way of a good promo. It was therefore not at all surprising to see one fan write “Undefeated undisputed until now” in an homage to ‘The Bad Guy’. Not everyone enjoyed Sonnen’s promo at the weigh-ins, though. One fan, for instance, was pretty apologetic but was forced to use the dreaded C-word for Sonnen’s on-mic performance: “Sorry but Cringe af”.

On the other hand, many more fans were impressed by ‘Uncle Chael’ taking the mic. One fan couldn’t help but conclude that there is no one else who could cut a promo like the great Chael Sonnen, “Chael still does it better than anyone” Covington, of course, was famously assaulted by his former teammate and friend-turned-foe Jorge Masvidal outside a Miami restaurant a couple of years ago.

And one fan was so puzzled by ‘Chaos’ having another man step in to speak for him that he felt Covington had suffered some kind of cognitive damage due to Masvidal’s assault, “I’m starting to believe Masvidal really did give him brain injury at that restaurant.” What do you think about Chael Sonnen’s promo at the UFC Tampa weigh-ins?