After retiring from MMA, Chael Sonnen has become one of the most prominent talking heads in the UFC. If there’s anything controversial, you’ll find ‘The American Gangster’ stirring the pot with his often polarizing opinions. Unsurprisingly, the same thing happened after Sonnen initially blamed Tom Aspinall for not continuing the fight despite suffering a brutal eye poke from Ciryl Gane in the UFC 321 main event, which was ruled a no-contest. 

During the ESPN post-fight show with Anthony Smith, Chael said, “Fighting with one eye is very common. The opponent tries to bust up your eye, make your nose bleed. So, that part of it does have a question for guys like Anthony and me.” Just like that, ‘The Bad Guy’ once again divided the UFC world with his hot take. While some fans agreed with him, the majority fired back, criticizing him for questioning the heavyweight champion’s heart as a fighter. This time, Brendan Schaub took the front line to completely torch Sonnen’s opinion, using his championship fight with Anderson Silva as an example.

Brendan Schaub criticized Chael Sonnen for his  controversial take on Tom Aspinall 

On the Thiccc Boy podcast, the veteran said, “Love Chael. Chael is a close friend, I absolutely adore Chael. But Chael was never at the level of Tom Aspinall. If you remember, Chael had quit in him. Chael looked for an out against Anderson Silva. Do you remember that? He was winning the entire fight and then put himself in a triangle. So, there’s quit in Chael. That’s Chael putting his own s–t on Tom. Tom and Chael aren’t the same guy. Chael never had the belt.”

Here, Schaub referred to Sonnen’s fight against Anderson Silva at UFC 117, which took place in August 2010. After dominating the entire fight, ‘The American Gangster’ got caught in ‘The Spider’s’ triangle armbar in round five and submitted, losing his chance to grab the belt. The former heavyweight fighter used that example to make his point that Tom Aspinall has never quit like Sonnen did against Silva. 

After that, Schaub also added on the Thiccc Boy podcast, “So whenever someone says that, you know what it’s like. That’s why you’re saying that. Don’t put that on Tom. There’s no evidence that shows that. There’s zero evidence that shows Tom has any quit in him. That’s so stupid.”

Before slamming Sonnen for his take, Schaub discussed how Aspinall had already faced heavyweight killers like Sergei Pavlovich and Curtis Blaydes in his previous matchups. Because of that, he believes there’s no reason to question the 265 lbs kingpin for avoiding a competition against Ciryl Gane. And finally, Chael seems to have realized that. 

Chael Sonnen changes tune on UFC 321 debacle 

Although Tom Aspinall has taken some heat for not continuing the fight, his opponent, Ciryl Gane, who caused the eye poke, has also come under fire for committing a foul. Even industry experts like Ariel Helwani have openly demanded a DQ loss for the Frenchman. So, as the argument grew that the heavyweight champ wasn’t at fault for not continuing with a damaged eye, Chael Sonnen seemed to realize he might’ve gone too far by completely blaming him.

On the Good Guy / Bad Guy podcast, Sonnen admitted, “When that fight was over, I was mad – I’m still mad. As a fan, I’m bothered. In fairness, I will admit I don’t know where that energy should go. Tom did nothing wrong. So it seems as though I couldn’t blame Tom. He’s out there doing his fight, something against the rules happens to Tom. I’m not mad at Ciryl in the least, and Ciryl was the one that caused that whole thing. So perhaps I do need to relook at this.”

The disappointing ending of UFC 321 made fans react in a very emotional way. Sonnen, too, seemed to speak out of deep frustration at the time. But now that the dust has settled, more balanced and thoughtful takes are starting to emerge, and ‘The Bad Guy’ has done the same. On top of that, former UFC fighter Josh Thomson revealed that the promotion is already working on quick solutions to prevent eye pokes, a much-needed step toward improvement.

That said, do you think Chael Sonnen’s original take about Tom Aspinall continuing the fight was valid? Or do you believe Brendan Schaub’s criticism was the right call? Let us know in the comments.