Chael Sonnen Says He’ll Run For Oregon Governor If He’s Not Used By Paramount For UFC

Chael Sonnen says that if Paramount goes with someone else for UFC broadcasts, he will move into politics and run for governor of Oregon. Sonnen has been a regular commentator on UFC broadcasts, which are moving to Paramount+ starting in 2026. Sonnen appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show for a new interview and said that he plans to run for governor and was going to wait until the next election cycle in 2030, but may run in the 2026 cycle if Paramount+ decides to go with someone else in his spot. You can see highlights below (per Fightful):

On his plan to run for governor: “I am planning to run for governor in Oregon and the question just becomes, which race? What are you going to jump into? I was going to wait a cycle, but if this TV thing all gets played out, right, the music stops and there’s no chair for Chael, I am going to go file and I’m going to be Oregon’s next governor.”

On if he’s talked about this vbefore: “It might be the first time I told you. It’s not the first time I said it. The first time I said it, I was in third grade, and on the first day of class, they made us get out a piece of paper and write down what we were going to be when we grew up. I wrote President of the United States, and then fourth grade, fifth grade, sixth grade, it was the same experiment, and I always wrote president. Then as I got a little older, I realized I don’t want to go away from Oregon. I want to be here. So I switched it to governor around junior year of high school. But the time where I’m actually going to get in and do it is probably going to be now.

“We’ll see. You can’t be on TV and in a campaign. There’s a law, a federal law called equal time, which means if some network gave me, and I’m campaigning, if some network gave me 30 minutes, they would have to give my opponent 30 minutes and if I’m working for that network, there’s just no way to do it. There’s no way to have a job and meet that rule. So if Paramount decided to go with somebody lesser, because it’s not like there’s anybody better at this than me, I would wish them well. But that would be my next move. I’d go to Salem. I’d go to the Secretary of State’s office, and then I would file my candidacy for governor of Oregon.”