Chael Sonnen reveals Global Fight League attempted to get him out of retirement: “I’m not fighting again”

The newly founded Global Fight League reportedly wanted to sign UFC Hall of Famer Chael Sonnen.

The upstart promotion founded by Darren Owen has been making a lot of headlines as of late. While the GFL has no events scheduled, nor an announced broadcast partner, they’re full-steam ahead on an April debut. Earlier this month, fighters were divided into six teams for a “draft” criticized for its runtime and use of AI.

Nonetheless, the Global Fight League has signed several former UFC and PFL stars to contracts. Names such as Tony Ferguson, Kevin Lee, Paige VanZant, Patricky Pitbull, and more, have signed with the upstart promotion. However, the GFL also was reportedly interested in bringing in UFC Hall of Famer Chael Sonnen.

‘The American Gangster’ discussed talks with the Global Fight League in a recent interview with MMA Junkie. There, Chael Sonnen revealed that executives behind the league contacted him, but he wasn’t interested. At this stage of his life, the former UFC title challenger just wants to enjoy his time in retirement.

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Chael Sonnen reveals interest from newly-founded Global Fight League

“Please, did they try to get Chael Sonnen? They are still trying to get Chael Sonnen,” The UFC Hall of Famer stated. “It would be irresponsible – like I don’t mind when those phone calls come in, no matter if I already know ahead of time whether or not I’m going to go. What I would mind is if that phone call wasn’t placed. That would be a very irresponsible thing to sign the people they’re signing, to do what they’re trying to do, and to not call Chael Sonnen. Of course, they called.”

He continued, “I’m not going to fight, and it isn’t because I look at that roster and don’t see some names that pop off the page like man, I’d really like to fight that guy… I’ve seen a lot of relics – they were 40 and they were 42, when I would watch them fight. I would go, ‘What are you doing? There’s nothing cool about that. This is weird, and I believe that I have entered the phase where it would be weird. So no, I am not going to fight.” (h/t MMA Junkie)

The 47-year-old famously retired for good from MMA following a knockout loss to Lyoto Machida in the Bellator cage in 2019. While Chael Sonnen did recently compete in an exhibition boxing match against Anderson Silva, it seems that his days in the cage are over.

What do you make of these comments from the UFC Hall of Famer? Do you want to see Chael Sonnen in the Global Fight League?