Did Vince McMahon Really Attempt to Sabotage a UFC Card Once?

Vince McMahon attempted to sabotage the UFC 55 card back in 2005, according to former UFC star Chael Sonnen.

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Complex Original

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Former UFC star Chael Sonnen is known for saying and doing ridiculous things in order to stir the pot and keep his name in the news. Remember the time he made an awful Rihanna joke while discussing Floyd Mayweather, or the time he inexplicably called LeBron James a "dork" and then went off on him? He’s clearly not afraid to speak his mind in an effort to make headlines.

With that in mind, you should take the story that he told about WWE founder Vince McMahon on the latest episode of his podcast You’re Welcome with Chael Sonnen with a grain of salt. There’s a chance it’s total BS. But given McMahon’s often-contentious relationship with the UFC over the years, there’s also a chance that it’s 100 percent true, especially when you consider some of the things UFC president Dana White said about McMahon recently.

According to Sonnen, McMahon tried to sabotage a UFC event back in 2005. He claims McMahon was upset with the success that UFC’s hit show The Ultimate Fighter was having on Spike TV and wasn’t happy about the fact that it aired right after WWE’s Raw every Monday night, which was part of what made it so successful. So Sonnen claims McMahon asked White to stop "piggybacking" off the WWE, and when White refused, Sonnen says McMahon decided to try and screw up UFC 55.

 

"The night I was going to fight on my debut, the heavyweight championship was on the line," Sonnen said on his podcast, according toUproxx. "Andrei Arlovski was the face of the company at that time…He’s selling all the tickets. He’s gonna get the $18,000 to show and $18,000 to win…to headline a card with the biggest prize in all the sport. That week, Vince McMahon contacts [UFC announcer] Mike Goldberg. He tells Mike Goldberg, 'I will give you $100,000 to no-call, no-show the UFC on Friday.' Vince tells him, 'This call never happened; I will wire you the money on your word.' Goldberg calls Dana and say, 'Here’s what happened.' So Dana not only gives Goldberg a brand new, half a million dollar contract, but right then realized, 'If he’s willing to pay $100,000 for my announcer, who is replaceable, and I’m only paying my main event $18,000 and $18,000, I got a problem. This is a level of business play that I am just not ready for.'"

You can listen to Sonnen tell his whole story here:

View this video on YouTube

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If he’s telling the truth, are you even surprised?

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