Chael Sonnen var den förste mannen att gå vidare i Bellators tungviktsturnering. Han gjorde det genom att besegra Quinton ”Rampage” Jackson genom ett enhälligt domslut under Bellator 192. Inför matchen hade Jackson utmanat Sonnen i en vadslagning i form av nedtagningar. Skulle Jackson hamna på backen i matchen gick han med på att betala Sonnen 80,000 kronor för varje lyckad nedtagning. Jackson blev nedtagen tre gånger i matchen och skulle bli tvungen att betala Sonnen 240,000 kronor. På post-presskonferensen efter Bellator 192 sade Sonnen följande.
We’ll see if he is a man of honor. We did shake on that. I’ll tell you on the other side, I will not cash his check. But I do expect him to hand me one. What I do with it is my business. But I will tell you, I will not cash that check.
It did feel good to get him down. I was trying to pass his guard. I had a hard time passing it. He was very strong. Went for a can opener, I tugged on that big neck of his, it didn’t budge an inch. He was really a powerful guy. I put two arms on one of his, I had it locked out, I couldn’t budge it. It was like an iron pipe. He was a strong guy. I felt like it was a really hard fight. I felt like finding that range was really important, because I stepped in it a couple times. I got too close and he hit really hard. Whether you could see it or not, I’ll tell you, he hit really hard.
Sonnen har ett fighterfacit på 31–15–1 där han har besegrat sina motståndare på följande sätt, 7 genom knockout, 5 genom submission samt 19 domslut.
