Chael Sonnen was one of the first UFC fighters to truly master mental warfare, using trash talk and self-belief to rattle opponents before they even stepped into the octagon. But sometimes, this bravado can come back to haunt people – like a few years ago, when he posted a video titled “Can Khabib Beat Me?”—a classic display of his unshakable confidence.
Fast forward to today, and that video has become a running joke on Renato Moicano’s Show Me The Money podcast. Moicano and his crew have been roasting Sonnen for it, turning what was meant to be a serious discussion into pure comedy.
In this video posted two years ago, Sonnen starts off by saying, “guys, do you think Khabib can whip my a*s?”. Sonnen then assures himself that this might be a possibility since Khabib is a 155-pound fighter, and he is a much bigger individual.
This doesn’t mean Sonnen is delusional, but nobody cares about that on the internet. So, in that spirit, the ‘Show Me the Money’ podcast team found the thumbnail of this particular video and went to town with it.
They shared the famous meme template of “Nobody:” vs “Me after 4 beers” with Sonnen’s clickbait thumbnail.
Me after 4 beers: pic.twitter.com/Vss5GuSNyC
— Show Me the Money Podcast (@showmethepod) March 4, 2025
It may not be fair to Sonnen, but Uncle Chael is a true believer in saving comedy, so it’s unlikely he is likely to throw some pipebombs Moicano’s way. Besides, the big question now is, ‘what does the video actually say?’.
Can Khabib beat Sonnen?
The Bad Guy fought at 185 lbs and even at 205 lbs, so the audience would still click to see what otherworldly claims he can make. This has always been his whole schtick.
But, as far as the content of Sonnen’s video is concerned, the former middleweight contender claims he was privy to one of Khabib’s fight camps. He tells the story of how Khabib had taken on former 185 lbs champion Luke Rockhold during the lead-up to the Conor McGregor fight at UFC 229 in 2018.
Rockhold was an extremely skilled grappler, especially on top of his opponents. During his peak in the UFC, he beat Michael Bisping, Lyoto Machida, and Chirs Weidman; all world champions at different times in their career.
However, even someone with his pedigree had a hard time pinning Khabib down, despite the undiputable size advantage. Sonnen admits that he could never keep up with Rockhold in grappling the way Khabib did, despite being in the same weight class as the former middleweight champion.
While Sonnen never really answers the question, he does heavily imply the possibility of eating the humble pie.
Interestingly, during the prime of his career, Khabib was expected to move up in weight class to welterweight and even middleweight, for that matter, and compete while allowing Islam Makhachev to take his spot at lightweight. The line of succession would then pass on to Umar and Usman Nurmagomedov.
That was father’s plan.
Could Khabib have found success at 170-185 lbs?
Now, that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? It is well known that lightweight fighters, especially grapplers, often apply their craft against stronger, bigger opponents to get themselves familiarized with a more intense routine. Khabib was no different. But he was far more efficient than his peers.
His biggest opponents, like Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje, have often talked about just how precise his positioning and weight distribution were and how much they would contribute to compound his strength, especially in the clinch and on top.
Khabib used to regularly grapple with Olympians like Daniel Cormier at the American Kickboxing Academy while in the USA, a remarkable feat in itself.
So, yes, it does seem quite likely that he could have done very well at higher weight classes. Even if 185 lbs could be called pushing it, it is safe to say that the 29-0 fighter would have done rather well at welterweight.
Unfortunately, with the untimely demise of his father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, in 2020, Khabib announced his premature retirement, making the question hypothetical and the answers moot.
