Portland Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard is largely beloved by most in the state of Oregon, seen as one of the most loyal stars in the NBA which fans of the team definitely appreciate. However, former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen, another beloved athlete hailing from the state of Oregon, apparently isn’t Lillard’s biggest fan.
Sonnen is known by the MMA community as one of the most successful and charismatic fighters in UFC history, recording seven wins in the promotion and even fighting for a championship against legendary fighter Anderson Silva.
Despite this, Sonnen detailed that he hasn’t exactly received much respect from Trail Blazers players, notably naming Lillard personally as someone who he has a gripe with.
“I’m not overly thrilled with (Damian) Lillard quite frankly,” Sonnen said on the MMA Hour hosted by MMA journalist Ariel Helwani. “They have this weird thing, the Blazers, where they don’t show the respect to me as the athlete from town that they should. I see Lillard posting on social media clout chasing and boxing and all this stuff. I don’t ever see him acknowledge me.
“He’s always trying to act like he’s so tough. You talk to Chael. You don’t ignore Chael. And if you do ignore Chael, when you see Chael, Chael will whip your ***. He doesn’t know the difference between a jab and a hook. He doesn’t know a wrist lock from a wrist watch.”
Sonnen clearly isn’t Lillard’s biggest fan, which doesn’t exactly bode well for the seven-time All-Star considering Sonnen’s extensive history of fighting.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.