Chael Sonnen Net Worth, Background, Biography & Personal Life

Chael Sonnen is an American born retired mixed martial artist who is currently an MMA specialist. He started his boxing training in high school and began professionally wrestling in college.

As of 2020, Chael Sonnen net worth of $12 million through wrestling, podcasts and heavyweight lifting.

Biography and Background

Full Name

His full name is Chael Patrick Sonnen.

Nickname

Sonnen actually has two very different nicknames. One is The American Gangster and the other is The People’s Champ.

Nationality

Sonnen is an American.

Birthday

He was born on April 3, 1977 and is 43 years old.

Profession

Sonnen was a mixed martial artist before he retired in 2019.

Zodiac Sign

Born on April 3, Sonnen is an Aries.

Background

Sonnen was born and raised in Oregon, United States. There, he went to the West Linn High School. This is where he first started his training for boxing.

After graduating from high school he went to attend the Brigham Young University, but soon transferred to University of Oregon, where he majored in Sociology with a bachelor’s in science degree.

Sonnen successfully wrestled all throughout college and even won a gold medal in 2000 in the Greco-Roman World University Championship.

At the age of 19, he changed his focus MMA fighting while he was still in university. He caught the eye of UFC after winning his first six fights in the Middleweight Division.

Family

Father

His father’s name is Patrick Sonnen. He sadly passed away in 2002.

Mother

His mother is Claudia Sonnen.

Sibling

Chael Sonnen grew up with one sister and six brothers.

Spouse

Sonnen married his wife Brittany Smith on 2013. They have two beautiful children together. Brittany was really sick in 2016, when she gave birth to a baby girl they named Baluna.

But the baby died soon because of an illness called listeria.

Children

He has two children, a boy and a girl. The boy is named Thero and the girl is named Pria.

Career Development

Chael Sonnen began his career at the age of 19 as a mixed martial artist in 1997. He got his first victory by defeating Ben Hailey in Vancouver, Washington.

His next win was Jason Miller who was also known as Jason “Mayhem” Miller. He lost for the first time in his seventh fight which was against Trevor Prangley. He again lost to Forrest Griffin in 2013.

He first made his appearance in the UFC during the UFC 55, where he had a fight with Renato Sobral, which he eventually lost.

In another fight got a win against Trevor Prangley in the Ultimate Fight Night 4, where he finally evened the score. He was released from his UFC contract after losing in a fight in the UFC 60 with Jeremy Horn.

After that, in May 2016, he joined the Bodog Fighting, but soon left for the World Extreme Cagefighting. He again returned to UFC after he was done with that.

Where he challenged Anderson Silva and was suspended by SCAS. After an appeal and removal of suspension he again got back in the UFC.

He then also got into light heavyweight and had a rematch with Silva. His stay in the UFC didn’t last long after Sonnen failed a drug test three times in a row.

Later on he had a contract with Bellator MMA but retired in 2019.