Chris Lytle: I'm not filling Chael Sonnen's shoes on FOX broadcast

Retired UFC welterweight Chris Lytle wants to dispel the idea that he’s replacing the recently dismissed Chael Sonnen at the FOX analyst table.

“I’ve had this planned for a month-and-a-half,” he told MMAjunkie Radio. “I’ve been trying to get this in the works, and then all of a sudden, the thing happens with Chael and they say I’m coming in as his replacement. That’s not the case.

“People think that I’m doing this because Chael is gone. I was actually supposed to be on the broadcast with Chael, and then last-minute, he’s not going to be there any more. So it’s not quite that I’m being brought in to fill his shoes, because that would be a difficult task.”

Sonnen’s release from FOX in the wake of dual drug failures appears to have created a position for someone like Lytle, whose insight into the fight game is informed by over a decade of competitive experience. For now, though, Lytle said his job is to “get in the mix” of UFC analysts at the FOX table. He is scheduled to appear during FOX Sports 1's pre- and post-event coverage of UFC Fight Night 45 on Wednesday in Atlantic City, N.J. Future appearances on UFC broadcasts are up in the air.

Lytle, 39, unsucessfully ran for Indiana state senate after hanging up his gloves in 2011, but he never left the gym. He continues to develop new talent in his native Indiana, where he continues to work as a firefighter. The difference between his active career and retirement, he said, is that he has more time with his family.

The possibility of working as a UFC commentator emerged when Lytle attended a UFC event in Macao, China.

“I reached out to them,” he said. “I was talking to them about how I’d done some commentary in my past and they were like, ‘Really? Would you be interested in doing some for us?’ I said of course I would. We’ve been in talks then to set it up.”

While Lytle remains an avid fan of the sport, he admits he needed a refresher on the UFC’s current talent when he accepted the job. Around 500 fighters are under contract with the promotion, and it will be his job to explain the signifance of certain fighters and the divisions in which they compete.

“I’ve been fighting since 1998 and been a huge fan of the sport, and that’s what I was, first and foremost, watching anything and everything,” he said. “Now, it seems like over the past few years, the sport has been getting a bit broader and they’re putting so many fights on, I still watch the fights.

“But I’ll be honest, I don’t know everything like I should. So I’ve really been on a crash course.”

The good news for Lytle is that he brings a strong work ethic to the table, so given time, he said he’ll be at the point where he can expound on all the intricacies of the fight game. He might not have the charisma of Sonnen, whose analysis was always inflected with the charisma he brought to the business of promoting fights. But he does lend the credibility of someone who knows what they’re talking about when it comes to the nuts and bolts of fighting.

Lytle said he didn’t necessarily plan for broadcasting to be a part of his life-post retirement. As a matter of fact, he didn’t have much of a plan at all, besides reconnecting with those closest to him. His current endeavor is just something he thinks he’ll enjoy.

“I thought it was a lot of fun, and now, I would love it if I could continue to grow in that direction,” he said. “I look at myself as a new fighter in that aspect, where I still have a lot of growing and maturing when it comes to being an analyst. I look forward to that.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 45, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.