UFC 104 Review: Chael Sonnen Wants Rich Franklin Or Nate Marquardt Next

That's what he said in a post-fight interview that's posted in the fanshots section here on the site.  I was one of the few to pick Sonnen in the upset, and did so because of his strong wrestling pedigree.  I thought he would be able to control Okami and that's pretty much what happened.  Okami was ranked by most as a top five middleweight(I had him at #4 prior to UFC 104), and I had Chael Sonnen at # 8 prior to UFC 104.  So Sonnen will definitely be moving up in the rankings that'll be posted sometime this week.  Sonnen states that he ultimately wants a shot at the middleweight title, regardless of whoever the champion is at the time.  He has a interesting skill set, and would be problems for a lot of guys if he could just sure up his submission defense. 

Sonnen mentions fighting Rich Franklin at a catchweight of 195, but that's unlikely to happen although there's some apparent bad blood between Franklin and Team Quest.  He mentions fighting Nate Marquardt if Dan Henderson decides not to take that fight at UFC 108 as well.  How far away from a title shot is Sonnen?  He has won two very decisive fights in a row against two very tough guys in Dan Miller and top 5 Yushin Okami.  Would you be excited about a Marquardt/Sonnen fight at UFC 108, and how would you like Sonnen's chances?

Personally, I think Marquardt would be too big and too strong for Sonnen, plus Marquardt is a very accomplished grappler that could give Sonnen fits on the ground.  I also wouldn't mind a rematch between Demian Maia and Chael Sonnen since Maia finished him rather quickly with the submission in the first round.  I also would like to recognize Sonnen's efforts to make himself more marketable.  The guy has really done a good job of it the past year or so which seemed to start with his bouts with former WEC champion Paulo Filho.  Check out the video link above and you'll see what I'm talking about.