Chael Sonnen reacts to Bo Bassett decommitment: 'I will give you $1 million' for your NIL rights

Chael Sonnen had quite the reaction to Bo Bassett’s decommitment from Iowa over the weekend. The star wrestler reopened his recruitment nearly five months later and the new finalists are Penn State, Oklahoma State and Nebraska.

Sonnen, a former MMA star and All-American wrestler at Oregon, revealed he wanted to get in on the NIL business with Bassett. He offered a lump sum of cash in exchange to do business with the budding superstar.

Bassett’s social media following is more popular than most college wrestlers at this point and he’s a rising senior at Bishop McCort High School in Pennsylvania. Safe to say, Sonnen was stunned and baffled by this move.

“Now I got to tell you, from the beginning, in full disclosure, I tried to do business with Bo, and I didn’t get my way,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “I tried to reach Bo, and I finally even went publicly and told him, here’s the deal. I will give you $1 million in exchange you’re going to sign over your NIL rights to me, whatever I can do with that is on me, but you’re guaranteed a million dollars. 

“I didn’t get responded to, and I must tell you, it didn’t make me very happy in all fairness, he did it. But now that I’ve disclosed that to you, I follow him very closely.”

Bassett’s decommitment Sunday sent shockwaves throughout the college wrestling world. The No. 2 pound-for-pound prospect in 2026 committed to Iowa back in February following a lengthy recruiting process.

“I don’t wish Bo badly,” Sonnen said. “But it is very fair for me to tell you whatever shirt he pops on and he’s proud to be a student athlete. What the hell am I supposed to do with that? What would I possibly do with that? I don’t know where to get a refund on my Iowa shirt with his face on it that I bought fully to be a supporter. I got it sitting right over here. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with that. All of a sudden he’s got six shooters. All of a sudden he’s at State College. What am I supposed to do with that? 

“Your word’s either good or it’s not. People have the right to change them, and there’s no such thing as decommit. Let’s just agree on that. You’re lying. You’re lying. Gotta be a man about it. Now there is such a thing as changing your mind, and young people get grace to change their mind, but when you took a shot, you fired a shot at the ethics of the most ethical program in wrestling’s history. Excuse me. You do not stand on the moral high ground, not on this one.”

Chael Sonnen has fiery reaction to Bo Bassett decommitment

Bassett’s younger brother Melvin Miller, the No. 1 prospect in 2027, removed Iowa from consideration following the decision from Bo. They are seemingly a package deal along with youngest brother Keegan (Class of 2028).

Bo Bassett visited Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Penn State and Rutgers throughout his process this past year. Currently, his high school teammates Sam Herring (Penn State) and No. 1 overall prospect Jax Forrest (Oklahoma State) are committed.

“What a beautiful word that we’ve created, decommit, what a beautiful word for lie,” Sonnen said. “What a beautiful word for backstab, what a beautiful word for dishonest, what a beautiful word for waste of everybody’s time. And I must tell you, I’ve never fully understood it … You’re going to commit to somebody else. What the hell does that mean at this point? And I just want you to keep that in mind, because this beautiful word of decommit wasn’t created by Bo. This actually came out about three years ago, and I remember the first time I saw it. He did not create the word. He just implemented it. And they said, I decommit. Oh, you do? You do? Huh, you have a better offer than the Iowa Hawkeyes? Really? Because that would lead me to believe that we’re down to two us. It would just lead me to believe that possibly the Cowboys got to the table, and most definitely, State College got to the table. That’s what it would lead me to believe, and within a week, we’re gonna find out if I’m right …

“He took a shot at the Hawks, and it was nasty. It was a very nasty thing. And much like the commit, he used words that made it sound as though he had the moral high ground. He talked about something, I’m gonna go somewhere that aligns more with my values and faith. He slipped the word faith in there like nobody can ever argue against faith, just it’s one of these things that’s very uncommon. But then read it, okay, we’re dealing with a kid. We’re dealing with a kid. He gets grace. I do understand that, but he took a shot at men. If you want to fight with the men, you’re gonna get treated like a man.”