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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 12: Chael Sonnen looks on during the filming of The Ultimate Fighter at UFC APEX on March 12, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Chael Sonnen might have just kickstarted a UFC hopeful’s fighting career.
The former two-division title contender has told many a tall tale in his day, so take this one with a grain of salt, but his latest story portrays him as the benevolent businessman willing to lend a helping hand. According to Sonnen, a recent trip to Las Vegas saw him unwittingly become beholden to a security guard after he helped Sonnen and his son find a washroom. When Sonnen told the guard, “I owe you one,” the words were taken quite literally and Sonnen was taken up on his offer almost immediately.
“Frank Solomon, the security guard, calls me over about three minutes later,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “He says, ‘Hey, I’m ready to cash in on that.’
“‘Cash in on what?’
“‘Cash in on that favor. You just said you owe me a favor. I’m ready to cash in on that. I’d like to meet with Dana White. Like to do a fight in the UFC.’
“That’s a pretty big ask, Frank Solomon. I don’t know that I can get you in front of Dana White. ‘Do you have a record? Do you have an amateur record?’ He said, ‘Well, I wrestled in high school.‘ This is a big guy. I mean, this guy ain’t going to be an easy night for anybody even before I find out about his training, but I do ask and he says, ‘I was a wrestler in high school, but I also did track and field. Pretty fast.’ And he just had a great attitude. Now, the mere fact that he would take a shot, because he had access to me, to get into Dana White’s office for a face to face, the mere fact that he would take a shot isn’t something I laugh at. That’s something that I respected.”
Unsurprisingly, Sonnen didn’t immediately rush to his former boss to pitch Solomon, explaining that he would usually go through a standard vetting process before discussing a potential signing with White. However, he made a more realistic counteroffer to Solomon, telling him how he could take the first steps to fighting his way to the UFC, and Solomon passed that psychological test with flying colors.
“I’ll put a ‘stooge test’ out there, which is to find out will they do something less?” Sonnen said. “Are they willing to earn access? Are they willing to earn that or they want to just be given that? That was my stooge test to Frank Solomon. This was his chance on Monday when we speak to go, ‘Hey, I’m out.’ Frank tells me something different.
“He says, ‘Oh yeah, I’m fine if it’s not Dana. I didn’t really mean UFC. I meant MMA. I want to get out there. I got a message. I want people to understand. You don’t have to grow up doing this since you’re 10 years old. You can learn things later in life.’ He’s got this whole message, which was halfway inspirational, by the way, and then he tells me, ‘I’ll even pay to do it.’ Now, I would never accept that and I would never put him in contact with anybody that allowed him to pay to do it, but it was the the the principle. ‘I want this so bad that I am willing to start at the bottom.’ Alright, Frank Solomon.”
Sonnen put in a call to Oregen promoter Kevin Keeney, the owner of Full Contact Fighting Federation, which has has seen several future UFC fighters pass through its gates including Sonnen himself. If Sonnen’s story is to be believed, Solomon is now set to make his MMA debut in September and Sonnen will be in the house to watch him.
“Within four minutes of getting in touch with Kevin Keeney, getting the website, [Solomon] fills out this application,” Sonnen said. “He is booked for a fight. He is coming to Oregon. I believe the date is September 5. I’d have to look, it’s off the top of my head. I’m hoping to be there so that I can watch and lend a little bit of support. But I just thought you’d think that was an interesting story and I’m not sure what to do with it.
“I threw out ‘I owe you one’ to this guy. That’s an expression. If I owe you one, I’ll always do it, but I didn’t even mean it. It was just something you say. ‘What’s up?’ It means ‘Hello.’ But it was said and three minutes later he told me he wanted to cash in. Alright, Frank. Let’s cash in.”
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