The fate of Chael Sonnen’s immediate future could end up being determined by the UFC’s new $7.7 billion broadcast deal with Paramount, which starts in 2026.
In August, the promotion announced plans to move on from its broadcast partnership with ESPN, which began in 2019. The news took the MMA world by storm, introducing an unexpected shift from UFC’s longtime pay-per-view model. While numerous details and questions remain unanswered regarding the transition for athletes such as UFC champions who receive pay-per-view points for their fights, the looming move also leaves ESPN employees like Sonnen wondering if their current roles will remain intact.
“We got a contract with ESPN, and even though it appears there’s nothing left to do, that doesn’t actually null and void your contract. So I’m in talks with nobody,” Sonnen told Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “I’m at ESPN and I’m very happy. Will they continue in MMA to some degree? I don’t know. Daniel [Cormier] and I have a show over there, and it’s a successful show. Are they going to keep that around? I don’t know. Now, ESPN is looking that they’re going to acquire [UFC] Fight Pass maybe that opens a level of opportunity? I don’t know. So it’s a little bit of a holding pattern.”
Sonnen, 48, has been involved in on-air work as an analyst and occasional commentator since 2014.
Outside the combat sports world, however, “The American Gangster” and three-time UFC title challenger has a long-held interest in politics. He even ran for the 37th district of the Oregon House of Representatives in 2010, though he ultimately dropped out of the race thanks to a 2006 legal issue.
Looking back on his childhood, Sonnen said he aspired to become a U.S. President one day. And while he eventually outgrew the dream, it did help him realize that he wanted to stay in his home state of Oregon, where he inevitably plans to run for governor especially if his ESPN tenure ends sooner than expected.
“I love the job, but I am planning to run for governor in Oregon. The question just becomes, which race? What are you going to jump into?” Sonnen said.
“I was going to wait an [election] cycle, but if this TV thing all gets played out, the music stops and there’s no [broadcast] chair for Chael, I am going to go file and I’m going to be Oregon’s next governor.”
Although he retired from professional competition in 2019, Sonnen has stayed busy within the combat sports scene, even returning to action as recently as this past Sunday when he faced Craig Jones in a short-notice grappling match at CJI 2, getting choked out twice via buggy choke. Sonnen also competed in an exhibition boxing match against his old MMA rival Anderson Silva in June 2024, with the two UFC Hall of Famers battling to a draw at an event in Brazil.
Sonnen’s earliest opportunity to enter Oregon’s governor race would be this upcoming election cycle, which, if he won, would see him enter office in November 2026.
“I want to be here [at ESPN], but the time to actually get in and [enter Oregon’s governor race] is probably going to be now. We’ll see,” Sonnen said. “You can’t be on TV and in a campaign.
“If Paramount decided to go with somebody lesser [for its broadcast team] because it’s not like there’s anybody better at this than me I would wish them well. But that would be my next move I’d go to Salem, I’d go to the Secretary of State’s office, and I would file my candidacy for governor of Oregon.”