Former UFC star Chael Sonnen has continued his long-standing and rather bizarre feud with professional wrestling ace John Cena this week on social media.
Sonnen, who competed for both the middleweight and light heavyweight crowns during his Octagon tenure, called time on his career back in 2019.
And departing the sport in the midst of a two-fight losing run after losses to both Lyoto Machida, and a knockout defeat to Fedor Emelianenko.
In the time since his retirement, Sonnen has emerged as a rather vocal voice in the mixed martial arts community, via his analyst work for the promotion and his polarizing YouTube channel.
And more often than not, drawing the anger of fans for his questionable takes and predictions of upcoming fights on the UFC’s radar, Sonnen also holds a rather one-sided dislike toward WWE star Cena, it appears.
Boldly claiming in the past how nobody would take Cena “seriously” amid his often motivational posts on social media — prior to turning heel this year, Sonnen poked fun at the ‘Peacemaker’ actor this week again.
“Write the number 4 down on a sheet of paper and throw it out the window next time you are on the freeway,” Sonnen replied to a user on X who asked for someone to provide contact details for John Cena.
“It will get to him. He WANTS to hear from you,” he sarcastically added.
Write the number 4 down on a sheet of paper and throw it out the window next time you are on the freeway. It will get to him. He WANTS to hear from
you. https://t.co/7ankEdeXJi— Chael Sonnen (@ChaelSonnen) June 5, 2025
And most recently, taking issue with Cena’s infamous heel turn earlier this year ahead of his WrestleMania headliner, Sonnen has now changed his tune, it seems.
Sonnen still on about Cena-heel turn
A career-babyface, veteran record-breaking WWE champion, Cena has been the WWE’s cash cow ever since his debut in the organization over two decades ago.
But headlining Elimination Chamber earlier this year, Cena struck champion Cody Rhodes with a low blow, aligning with The Rock and award-winning rapper, Travis Scott.
In what was possibly his penultimate WrestleMania appearance, Cena broke the record set by the veteran, Ric Flair, as the most prolific WWE champion when he controversially defeated Rhodes at WrestleMania for his 16th world title.
Notably, a Cena heel turn had been talked about for years without ever materializing. Fans had often complained about the vanilla nature of Cena’s character for at least a decade.
So, when Cena did turn to the dark side, it sparked hope that he would go on a generational run since, in his own words — ‘The last time is now’. Sonnen was one of these pro wrestling fans who had cheered for the new era of excitement it was supposed to bring.
However, the 16-time WWE champion’s current reign has been disappointing.
But changing his mind about his initial love for Cena’s heel turn, Sonnen — a career heel during his Octagon tenure– claimed that the fan complaints were supposed to go away.
“I thought you know what John, that was the right call. You know what Daniel (Cormier)?. All those complaints go away if he is a heel. Cena went heel, that is huge.”, Sonnen said on Good Guy/Bad Guy.
Unfortunately, for the WWE and Cena himself, this hasn’t been the case. Perhaps, a feud with CM Punk in the future can change the course of his final run.
