This Month’s MMA Birthdays: Chael Sonnen Turns 40
No one in mixed martial arts history has mastered the art of trash talking any better than Chael Sonnen. The self-professed “Gangster of West Linn” celebrates his 40th birthday on April 3.
Sonnen spent much of his career as a hired gun, though his lengthy resume includes wins over Renato Sobral, Paulo Filho, Brian Stann, Mauricio Rua and reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder Michael Bisping. The Team Quest mainstay emerged as one of MMA’s premier middleweights in 2009, when he rattled off consecutive victories against Dan Miller, Yushin Okami and Nate Marquardt. Suddenly, he was the No. 1 contender for then-champion Anderson Silva’s middleweight throne. Sonnen built heat for their showdown with provocative insults and verbal barbs, their rivalry reaching its crescendo at UFC 117 on Aug. 7, 2010 in Oakland, California. He spent four-plus rounds overwhelming Silva with takedowns and ground-and-pound before “The Spider” submitted him with a triangle armbar to retain his title in the fifth round. They fought again a little less than two years later, as Silva stopped the Milwaukie, Oregon, native with a knee to the body and follow-up punches in Round 2. Sonnen has gone 1-3 since (Vegas odds).
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Others in MMA celebrating a birthday during the month of April:
APRIL 1
Vitor Belfort, 40Derek Campos, 29
Ramsey Nijem, 29
APRIL 2
Luiz Cane, 36Cole Konrad, 33
Yi Sak Kim, 31
Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, 27
Benedict Ang, 21
APRIL 3
Chael Sonnen, 40Kazunori Yokota, 39
Travis Reddinger, 35
Su Noto, 32
APRIL 4
Ray Mercer, 56Stephan Bonnar, 40
Rafael Cavalcante, 37
Brian Foster, 33
Riku Shibuya, 32
Ruben Esparza, 29
APRIL 5
James Wilks, 39Benji Radach, 38
Jianbing Yang, 33
APRIL 6
Marcus Brimage, 32Geje Eustaquio, 28
Doo Ho Choi, 26
APRIL 7
David Baggett, 37Russ Miura, 36
Michael Page, 30
APRIL 8
Ovince St. Preux, 34Andrew Sanchez, 29
Milana Dudieva, 28
Manny Lozoya, 28
Taylor Lapilus, 25
APRIL 9
Bernard Ackah, 45Phil Harris, 34
Andrew McInnes, 32
APRIL 10
Luis Alberto Nogueira, 35Sakae Kasuya, 34
Michal Materla, 33
Shinji Maeguchi, 32
James Moontasri, 29
APRIL 11
Gary Quan, 46Krasimir Mladenov, 31
Kailin Curran, 26
APRIL 12
Nobuhiko Takada, 55Roman Savochka, 39
Gilbert Melendez, 35
Robert Whiteford, 34
Brent Primus, 32
Tiago dos Santos e Silva, 30
Rick Glenn, 28
APRIL 13
Emi Tomimatsu, 35Ben Saunders, 34
Mehdi Baghdad, 32
Yuko Oya, 30
Justine Kish, 29
APRIL 14
Ebenezer Fontes Braga, 48Anderson Silva, 42
Jessica Rakoczy, 40
Anthony Hamilton, 37
Jussier da Silva, 32
APRIL 15
Enson Inoue, 50Kenichi Hattori, 39
Leonardo Guimaraes, 35
Magomed Saadulaev, 33
Gabrielle Holloway, 27
APRIL 16
Jason Norwood, 33Nate Diaz, 32
Pat Audinwood, 31
Alexandre Pantoja, 27
April Osenio, 23
APRIL 17
Benjamin Smith, 37Martin Kampmann, 35
Tyron Woodley, 35
Siyar Bahadurzada, 33
APRIL 18
Jan Finney, 37Ion Pascu, 35
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, 33
APRIL 19
Farkhad Sharipov, 33Kelli Gottardo, 30
Pascal Krauss, 30
APRIL 20
Dean Storey, 49Sheila Bird, 41
Moise Rimbon, 40
Daiju Takase, 40
Nate Marquardt, 38
Tyson Griffin, 33
APRIL 21
Kajan Johnson, 33Ronny Markes, 29
Alex Oliveira, 29
Adriano Moraes, 28
APRIL 22
Eric Schambari, 39Alonzo Martinez, 33
Lena Ovchynnikova, 30
APRIL 23
Josh Bryant, 37Diego Saraiva, 35
Sam Stout, 33
APRIL 24
Marcio Cruz, 39Achmed Labasanov, 39
Cosmo Alexandre, 35
Shoji Maruyama, 34
Alan Belcher, 33
Germaine de Randamie, 33
Nick Hein, 33
Michael Chandler, 31
APRIL 25
Kazuo Misaki, 41Alexandre Ferreira, 38
Clifford Starks, 36
LaRue Burley, 33
Paul Felder, 32
T.J. Waldburger, 29
Enrique Barzola, 28
Leonardo Mafra Texeira, 28
APRIL 26
David Abbott, 52Megumi Fujii, 43
Carlos Condit, 33
Cole Miller, 33
Bartosz Fabinski, 31
Marlon Moraes, 29
APRIL 27
Paul Cressaty, 46Luke Cummo, 37
Justin Wren, 30
APRIL 28
Leopoldo Serao, 38Takasuke Kume, 32
Jonavin Webb, 28
APRIL 29
Raymond Daniels, 37Valerie Letourneau, 34
Dustin Hazelett, 31
APRIL 30
Jeff Joslin, 42Yoel Romero, 40
Jimmy Yabo, 36
Al Iaquinta, 30
Kinberly Tanaka Novaes, 26
Smealinho Rama, 25
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