A teenage phenom, a $1 million offer from Chael Sonnen, and wrestling's 'road to nowhere'

What attracted Sonnen’s attention, he said, was the combination of a rare wrestling talent who happened to be coming along at just the right time. The world of nylon singlets has never been a popular place to make a bunch of money. Wrestling careers have tended to have a Hobbesian quality, in that they’re often solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.

But right now, in what might be a fleeting moment, there’s some glimmer of opportunity. RAF has been providing a regular platform for wrestlers of all stripes to compete often and get paid well. UFC contender Arman Tsarukyan said on Wednesday’s edition of “The Ariel Helwani Show” that he makes almost as much to wrestle at RAF events as he does to fight in the UFC.

This has also given Bassett the chance to prove himself against older, established wrestlers. That’s a chance that teenagers haven’t always gotten in wrestling, with its hierarchies and traditions. In the past, the best the sport could offer was a college scholarship, followed by a potential shot at an Olympic medal for the lucky few, culminating in a job as a college wrestling coach for those who got very, very lucky.

Now, for guys like Bassett, there’s a glimmer of another way, and with it some fresh opportunity.

“I’m just trying to wrestle the best competition that I possibly can because, in my opinion, it's a win-win,” Bassett said. “If I beat those guys, well, that's great. And if I lose to those guys, that's great too because I get to learn and just keep getting better. And it's exciting to have RAF, to be able to wrestle the professional level of competition and the best of the best in the whole entire world.”

Bassett had the advantage of growing up on the mats with a wrestling coach for a father. He has two younger brothers, one of whom is already planning on joining him at Virginia Tech in 2027. The three boys are each one year apart in age, which meant they grew up competing in everything and anything.

“These days we have a wrestling mat in the basement, which is fortunate,” Bassett said. “Before that we only had our living room, so there was a lot of damage to repair growing up. But my brothers are my two best friends. They push me every single day. It’s like having built-in practice partners. But we also know that when we go to war and we go to compete, we go together. It’s a blessing.”

Sonnen admitted that he had his doubts about Bassett until he happened to see him leaving a hotel one day with his father and brothers. The procession was like “a row of ducklings,” he said, with the boys following their dad, lined up in order from oldest to youngest.

“That was kind of all I needed to see,” Sonnen said. “Just the visual, I got it then.”

Bo Bassett's (left) 13-3 tech fall victory over Khinchegashvili was a massive statement for the teenage phenom. (Susan Plugis, Uncrowned)

Back when he was still considering Bassett as a potential investment, Sonnen had found himself thinking about how often potential goes unfulfilled — especially in the world of wrestling. Sure, Bassett looked great as a teenager, winning just about every title available to him and a few that hadn’t seemed to be (he won his first version of a world championship at 14), but you just never knew what might happen to a kid as he headed into a college career.

“He’s wrestling at 145 (pounds), and there is no weight class historically that has had more knee injuries,” Sonnen said. “And that's before you get into school and you're away from home and you're homesick or you discover beer or you get your first ever girlfriend. There are so many things that can still go wrong, but this guy's put a gap between him and everyone else. It's like, if he starts wrestling poorly or gets injured or gets distracted, he can still win. He is that much better than everybody else. It is shocking.”

The big question is where it all goes from here. That question goes beyond just wins and losses on the mats. Even with RAF in the game, wrestling is still viewed by many as a sport with a low ceiling. You can win Olympic medals, and still people just want to know if you plan to go pro in MMA and actually do something with this skill set. Many have tried, only to discover that even wrestling gods sometimes turn into mere mortals inside the cage.

Bassett isn’t ruling out that possible career transition, he said. But he got into wrestling because he loves wrestling — not just because it might be a good base for MMA. It’s a sentiment Sonnen understands, even as he sometimes questions whether it makes them all hopeless fools to keep loving this thing that so rarely seems to love them back.

“No matter what level of success you have in this sport, you still leave with a broken heart and a bad back in the end,” Sonnen said. “It’s just one of those strange things. I think back to the guys I looked up to when I was a kid starting out in wrestling. Now I wonder, why did I look up to them? This was a road to nowhere.”

But then how are you supposed to explain that to a wide-eyed teenager, still eager for the chance to test himself against the greats? What would possibly make you think that he might listen? Especially when you know that you never would have back when you were him.