Chael Sonnen knows his own limitations.

A major story in MMA over the past few months has been the emergence of the new Global Fight League, a promotion attempting to bring team-based MMA to the forefront of MMA. This year, GFL made headlines by signing numerous big-name fighters, including over a dozen former UFC champions, but one big name they didn’t get was Chael P. Sonnen.

Speaking with Drake Riggs of Uncrowned, Sonnen recently revealed that when GFL came knocking, “The American Gangster” sent them packing.

“Yes, they did [call],” Sonnen said. “In hindsight, maybe I should have said yes. There were signing bonuses. But there’s a point where it’s weird. There’s a point where fighting is really cool, and your buddies will look at you like you’re really cool, and you go to the coffee shop, and they’ll look at you like you’re cool. There’s a point where it’s weird.

“I’ve seen some guys, and I won’t name them, who are 40, who are 41, that fought. I remember thinking, ‘Put your clothes on. You’re taking your shirt off, putting your mouthpiece in, you got no problem with this guy.’ At some point, it’s weird. That’s the reason I said no.

“Whether you’re the greatest of all time or not — which I am — at some point, it’s weird,” Sonnen added. “There’s just a point where you got to stop.”

Sonnen had a long and successful MMA career, challenging for the UFC middleweight title twice and becoming one of the biggest stars in the sport with his pro-wrestling-inspired antics and trash talk. He retired in 2019 at the age of 42 but did return for an exhibition boxing match against Anderson Silva in 2025.

And while Sonnen may have turned down the GFL, he was nonetheless impressed by the promotion’s debut event, a “draft” to establish the premier six teams in the GFL.

“I prefer to be negative. That makes me happy. I prefer to be a critic,” Sonnen said. “I like to break things down. Maybe it could be a movie, or a meal, or a fight promotion. I like to push their face in it like the puppy that missed the paper, and you want to know something? [For] their rollout, where they did that little piece they had for social media where Tyron Woodley came out and he was like this superhero, it was pretty badass from a production standpoint. From trying to find something as simplistic as martial arts and what people already have a level of expectation with, but to separate yourself and make you look different — I thought they pulled it off. It pains me to say because I would love to just [criticize]. I thought for what they’ve done, which is very small so far, they’re off to a good start.

“I thought it popped. I thought it looked good. I sent it to people,” Sonnen continued. “I really did think they pulled it off. You’ve got to understand, they’re brand new, they’re just starting. They got this hell of a roster and it’s such a difficult game. If there’s any business you’re going to go into that takes balls, it’s this one. Because every business is tough, but you are more likely than not to fail in this business space. Everybody does. It is a hard thing to break into.”

GFL intends to hold its first event in April at a date and location yet to be determined.