Well, yeah. I guess Chael never fought the ‘real Shogun.’ But then, has anyone in the UFC fought the ‘real Shogun?’ Gary LaPlante, the Shogun expert, would likely argue no, unless maybe it was Chuck or the second Machida fight.
It’s just painfully obvious that Shogun wasn’t the same once he went to the UFC. Consider it the rule change, consider it the knee surgeries, but he just wasn’t the same. Wand knows it, we know it, hell – Chael probably knows it to.
Still… Duh. This is what Wanderlei said to MMAFighting:
“(Sonnen) is a good athlete, I can’t underestimate him, but he didn’t beat the real Shogun,” he said. “Shogun gave him the neck. We can’t use that fight as a parameter.
“He showed who he really is against Rashad (Evans). He goes in there wanting to quit. When I push him, his spirit will want to go back home.”