Source: MMA Mania

You probably remember Vinny Magalhaes as the former TUF cast member who was knocked out by Ryan Bader in the finale of season 8. Since then he has kept pretty busy reeling off 5 consecutive victories and becoming the M-1 Global light heavyweight champion. The Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt also recently beat Fabricio Werdum at 2011 Abu Dhabi Combat Club submission grappling tournament to become the 2011 ADCC heavyweight champion. As everyone knows, that is pretty impressive stuff. Renzo Gracie even paid Magalhaes a major compliment saying he has the best jiu jitsu in the heavyweight division. So when known Brazilian basher Chael Sonnen came calling for help, Magalhaes was initially hesitant but chose the pay day over letting his family starve.

Sonnen has been known to tap out to jiu jitsu practitioners. Take a look at Sonnen’s losses to Jeremy Horn, Paulo Filo, Rento Sobral, Demaian Maia, and most notably Anderson Silva; one thing becomes evident, Sonnen’s weakness is falling prey to submissions. So hiring the foremost authority on grappling and submissions was a no brainer. Magalhaes, though, took a lot of criticism from Brazilians all over the world for working with Sonnen. But Magalhaes is quick to point out that he would gladly have stayed home if someone would have paid him not to work with Sonnen. Sonnen seems to be leaving no stone unturned in his quest to avenge his loss to Silva in which he was dominating for over four and a half rounds before tapping to a triangle- armbar submission. Sonnen knows this is his last chance to beat Silva in his own backyard at UFC 147. Jiu jitsu may or may not be the key to the fight, but if he is to score an upset, he has to be ready with his “A” game. Magalhaes will definitely have Sonnen prepared. The rest is up to Sonnen.

Update 5/14/2012: Vinny Magalahes is a free agent and is not holding back on how he feels about M-1 Global. Magalhaes won the light heavyweight belt in 2011 but only had one fight since then to defend his belt. Magalhaes has since  been released by M-1. To get even he put his belt up on ebay to make let M-1 know how valuable their belt is. The bidding started at 9 cents. Currently its at $99,000. If you have a little extra cash and want a “legit” belt, put down a bid, who knows, you could be the M-1 Global light heavyweight champ!

Update 7/16/2012: After leaving on bad terms with M-1 Global, Vinny Magalhaes is back in the UFC. Vinny will be fighting on September 1 at UFC 151 in Las Vegas, Nevada. An opponent has not been named yet.

Update 7/18/2012: Vinny will be fighting Igo Pokrajac at UFC 152 not 151. Prokrajac is currently riding a 3 fight win steak over Todd Brown, Krzysztof Soszynski and Fabio Maldonado. UFC 152 takes place in Toronto, Canada.