The 2025 Senior World Wrestling Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, were set to be an amazing display of talent from around the world. Held from September 13–21 at the Arena Zagreb, the event promised high-stakes competition across freestyle, Greco-Roman, and women’s wrestling. But there’s been some chatter about a big organizational issue in this top-tier tournament, and it’s caught the attention of none other than Chael Sonnen, the former UFC star and NCAA All-American, who isn’t shy about sharing his thoughts.

In one X post, he sarcastically remarked, “Imagine if there was a way to not only know what time wrestling was but to also know mat assignments. Impossible, but ‘what if?'” He followed up with another jab: “It would be soooo cool to know what time the World Championships are.”

These comment highlight a bigger problem that fans are dealing with: there’s just not enough clear and easy-to-find information for keeping up with the event as it happens. Even though there was a detailed schedule available on official sites like UWW’s fan guide and Wikipedia, showing session times and weight class competitions, Sonnen’s complaints indicate that it was still hard for viewers to access the information they needed.

So, while they had the session times posted, they didn’t really provide the specific mat assignments for the matches happening at the same time. That’s pretty important for fans who want to catch their favorite wrestlers in action! The gap really stands out, especially since the championships had more than 900 wrestlers competing in three different styles, and matches were often happening at the same time on several mats.

The athletic performances in Zagreb have been exciting—like Zahid Valencia’s impressive journey to the 86kg final—but Sonnen’s rants remind the fanbase how having a well-run organization is just as important as the competition for wrestling’s global appeal. But the American audience felt pretty let down by the event since one of their top wrestlers got eliminated.

A rollercoaster ride for USA in Zagreb

While USA Wreslting celebrate Zahid Valencia’s gold, they also have Wyatt Hendrickson’s 1st round defeat to deal with. But nothing comes close to Jax Forrest’s controversial ending on Day 2 of the Championships.

On the other hand, Spencer Lee from America went up against Armenia’s Arsen Harutyunyan and unfortunately lost with a score of 14-3 in a technical fall. This surprising loss really shook things up in the wrestling world and abruptly halted his chase for the title. Other top wrestlers really noticed just how unexpected Lee’s loss was. A fan on X recently asked former world champion and Olympian Ben Askren, “Legitimately would like to hear your thoughts on Spencer Lee.”

Askren was pretty straightforward when he said, “That was shocking. Can’t ever remember seeing him lose in that fashion.” That match was definitely something different for Spencer Lee. He kicked things off really well, but in the end, Harutyunyan’s relentless pressure proved to be too much for him.

The Armenian wrestler executed a bunch of takedowns and a crucial four-point move, building up a solid 10-3 lead that led to a technical fall win with just under a minute and forty-seven seconds remaining in the match. You don’t often see someone like Lee facing such defeats. But, honestly, the outcome was pretty disappointing for all his supporters.