Former UFC Fighter Was in Talks To Wrestle Ken Shamrock for IMPACT

Former UFC, WEC and Bellator fighter Chael Sonnen was reportedly in talks to appear for IMPACT Wrestling. The outspoken fighter has been a noted trash talker for most of (if not all) of his MMA career, and pro wrestling always seemed like a next step for the Middleweight fighter.

The plan was reportedly for Chael Sonnen to come into the company and face fellow MMA veteran Ken Shamrock. The former UFC fighter rejoined IMPACT back in September 2019 and has been a featured member of the roster since.

Dave Meltzer reported that Chael Sonnen was in talks in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Meltzer wrote “Chael Sonnen had discussions about coming here [IMPACT] for a feud with Ken Shamrock but ultimately decided against it.”

There’s currently no indication on how far talks actually went, although it appears that they were pretty far down the line. IMPACT clearly had at least tentative creative plans in place for Sonnen to feud with Shamrock, pitting two former UFC stalwarts in the ring against one another.

This wouldn’t be the first time that IMPACT/TNA has opted to use MMA fighters on the program. Former MMA stars such as Frank Trigg, Tito Ortiz and King Mo have been used with varying levels of success.