Gilbert Burns Exposes Chael Sonnen’s Phone Number as Revenge Move Over ‘Officially Retired’ Dig

Allan Binoy | 17/12/2024
Gilbert Burns (L), Chael Sonnen (R)

Gilbert Burns has fired back at Chael Sonnen in a way no one saw coming. After Sonnen declared on his Good Guy/Bad Guy Show with Daniel Cormier that Burns was “officially retired from the sport,” the Brazilian fighter decided to get even by exposing Sonnen’s phone number on Twitter.

Sonnen’s remark came during a discussion about potential opponents for Joaquin Buckley following UFC Tampa. While weighing in on Buckley’s future, Sonnen claimed that Burns was “no longer in the pool of fighters” and had “officially retired”.

He went on to suggest that Burns’ recent performances justified the statement, as the Brazilian is currently on a tough three-fight losing streak. Once a top contender in the welterweight division, Burns has seen his stock fall after losses to Belal Muhammad, Khamzat Chimaev, and Stephen Thompson.

While some fighters might shrug off Sonnen’s trash talk, Burns decided to turn the tables dramatically. By leaking Sonnen’s phone number, he’s made it clear that he’s not backing down, even if his recent performances have left him out of the title conversation.

“Still with this number? +1 (503) 754-0207. Calling you to see what’s up!”

 

Burns’ UFC career has been a rollercoaster. After earning a title shot against Kamaru Usman in 2021, he’s faced a challenging stretch in the octagon. Despite his undeniable talent and grit, the losses have taken a toll on his standing in the welterweight rankings, raising questions about whether his time as a top contender is behind him.

That said, Chael Sonnen can’t really be one to talk about bad performances and retirements because his fighter got absolutely dominated in the octagon when he was in his corner just a couple of days ago

Sonnen consoles Colby Covington

Sonnen found himself in a tough spot at UFC Tampa as he cornered Covington against Joaquin Buckley. Covington, stepping into a challenging matchup, was thoroughly dominated by one of the division’s best. Sonnen, visibly concerned as Buckley’s onslaught escalated, even considered throwing in the towel. However, before he could make that call, the doctor stepped in to stop the fight.

After the fight, Sonnen attempted to console Covington with an oddly optimistic take on his performance,

“My god, that was a fight, not bad at all. Your kicks were on point… everything was going great, the tide was turning. I do not accept that, that doesn’t count.”

 

The irony? The tide was absolutely not turning. If anything, Buckley grew more ruthless with each passing round, leaving Sonnen’s words sounding more like delusion than encouragement.

This moment paints Sonnen in a hypocritical light. He’s essentially feeding Covington a comforting narrative that doesn’t align with what actually transpired in the cage. While Burns is called out for slipping down the rankings, Covington is shielded from facing the truth of his defeat or rather what has been a series of poor performances, highlighting a stark double standard in Sonnen’s approach.

Post Edited By: Smrutisnat Jena
Chael Sonnen Gilbert Burns

About the author

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Allan Binoy

Allan Binoy is a MMA journalist at The SportsRush. Taken to the sport in 2015, thanks to a certain Conor McGregor, Allan has himself dabbled in the martial arts. And having graduated from Loyola College, Chennai, with a degree in English Literature, he has learnt to use his love for language to have a voice in the MMA community. Allan has been writing about the gladiatorial stories for more than three years now and has pursued excellence at a number of reputable media organizations, covering every UFC PPV in the last couple of years. In addition to this, the southpaw is also a semi-professional soccer player for Diego Juniors FC in Pune, playing in the Pune Super Division League.

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