Chael Sonnen On Why He Turned Down A $5 Million Dollar Offer From WWE

Chael Sonnen made a name for himself in the world of MMA, but over the years there have been many rumors regarding Sonnen possibly making the jump to professional wrestling.

Sonnen recently appeared on the In This Corner podcast, and he revealed that he was asked to compete in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32, but he couldn’t make the date work.

“I don’t think so and I kind of pissed those guys off,” Sonnen said. “I was asked to be a contestant in a [battle royal] and I wasn’t against it, but I just couldn’t get the date. I actually worked hard and I tried to clear it. I tried to do it but [WWE] thought I blew them off. I haven’t really heard back and whenever they come to down, they invite me and give me and some friends some really good tickets and we have a real blast.”

WrestleMania 32 wasn’t the first opportunity Chael Sonnen had to work with WWE, as he claims he was offered a huge contract in 2014 to make the jump from UFC to WWE, but he declined and he decided not to tell Dana White.

“Here’s the nuts and bolts of it: I was offered $5 million by [WWE promoter] Vince McMahon,” Sonnen stated. “Now, I was still under contract with the UFC and I never took this to Dana. I handled it on my own. I told [WWE], ‘No’ and that was the end of that. I never told Dana White this story, but here’s why I didn’t tell him. I knew if I called Dana and said, ‘I’ve got a $5 million offer from Vince McMahon,’ Dana would have matched it.”