Chael Sonnen is an American fighter that trains out of Team Quest in Portland, Oregon along with fellow wrestler Matt Lindland.

Sonnen was a successful wrestler: 2x National Champion, NCAA All-American and US Olympic team alternate.

He started fighting professionally in 2002, picking up a win over Jason 'Mayhem' Miller. He went on to fight in various promotions before fighting for the UFC at UFC 55 where he lost to Renato 'Babalu' Sobral. His 1-2 record there got him cut but he impressed with a 5-fight win streak and returned to Zuffa with the WEC promotion.

In a controversial ending to his title challenge against Paulo Filho at WEC 31, the referee stopped the fight five seconds from the end of the round as Filho had Sonnen in an armbar. Classed as a verbal submission when Sonnen screamed, he disputed it after the fight but went on to get a rematch with the champion later down the line.

In the rematch, Sonnen should have become the WEC middleweight champion when he beat Filho by Unanimous Decision but the champion turned up 7lbs overweight and so it was a non-title bout.

He returned to the UFC when the WEC dissolved their heavier decisions and lost to Demian Maia before beating Dan Miller and Yushin Okami.