Chael Sonnen tricked opponent to win a fight early in his MMA career

Chael Sonnen reportedly tricked an opponent of his in order to win a fight early in his mixed martial arts career.

Chael Sonnen has always been an incredible character in the world of mixed martial arts. In fact, you could make the argument that he’s the best trash talker in the history of the sport. However, back when he fought against Jason Lambert in 2003, he was a relative unknown.

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A video has resurfaced recently of referee Herb Dean telling an amusing tale about that fight. As the story goes, Lambert attempted an Ezekiel choke on Sonnen. Because Chael knew it wasn’t even close to being locked in, he made fake choking noises in order to encourage Lambert to keep going with it, which would tire him out.

Sonnen, meanwhile, knew he was scoring well with the judges simply by being on top. Dean spoke more about this in an interview over a decade ago.

Dean reveals funny Sonnen story

“Chael tells me, and I didn’t know much about his personality, ‘nah that choke wasn’t anywhere near’,” Dean recalled back in 2014. “He said he was just milking it, making out that it was bad but he was milking it.”

“Then he walks towards Jason and he doesn’t see that I’m right behind him,” the referee continued.

“So when he gets to Jason he says ‘you got screwed man, you almost had me out with that choke. That right there was one of the funnest moments.

“Even though he’s throwing me under the bus, even in the middle of this fight he’s still taking the time to have a little fun and make some mischief. It was a little bit of insight into his personality also.”

Quotes via Bloody Elbow

What’s your favorite Chael Sonnen memory? Let us know, BJPENN Nation!