Never one to mince words, MMA legend Chael Sonnen does not want 14-year-old Hafid Alicea banned from wrestling for sucker-punching his opponent after losing a match in Chicago.

“To kick the kid out and have him roaming the streets doing something else shouldn’t be given a consideration. This was a terrible moment, but it could also be a teachable moment,” Sonnen told TMZ.

Alicea cold-cocked his opponent, Cooper Corder, as he went in for a postgame handshake.

The teen was cited for assault by the Oak Park Police Department, according to TMZ, which reported Alicea lashed out because “he was angry that he had lost the match.”

Sonnen, a former Division I All-American wrestler and two-time Greco-Roman wrestling national champion, is one of the most prominent voices in mixed martial arts and has experience in this space that is second to none.

“The only people that do freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling are hardcore wrestlers,” he said. “These are the guys that are doing it in the offseason; it is a small community. So I was particularly surprised to see this from a young man who has goals and this level of experience.”

“I have seen a lot of punches in wrestling, and I have been on both sides of them, but this was an oddly hard punch. This kid has a natural power.”

The wrestler on the receiving end of the punch, Cooper Corder is OK, Sonnen explained.

He will continue wrestling but with a mask on, as the punch injured his nose.

But since the clip of his sucker punch has gone viral, many have cried for Alicea to be kicked out of the sport, citing this type of violence has no place in the sport.

And those outcries might have their way, according to the legendary UFC fighter.

“Wrestling, as much as it’s the most difficult sport, it is the first one that will cave,” Sonnen said. “If they get pressure put on them to ban this kid for life, they will,” he continued. “That would be the easy way out. If you have a kid that needs discipline, keep him in the room and let these things work out. The sport of wrestling, which I love, is filled with wimps.”

Sonnen, now 46, is retired from mixed martial arts competition but is still involved in the game as a coach, on-air talent at MMA events and also running Submission Underground, his own grappling promotion.

“The most important part of a wrestling match is the shaking of hands,” Sonnen explained as a wrestling coach himself. “We have a dispute, but we settle it here. We walk away, and it’s over.”

The viral nature of the clip will surely be tough to overcome for the young high schooler.

But Sonnen prefers to be empathetic, understanding how brutal this attention can be.

“I don’t want this young man judged for his whole life because of five seconds that slipped out on the internet,” he said. “We don’t know the rest of the story. For sure, it was terrible action, but to ban a kid for life, I think there’s a discussion that at least deserves to be had.”

Corder is still wrestling and Sonnen sees his opinion as having weight.

“Wrestlers tend to forgive other wrestlers, and I bet if you asked that kid who was hit what he wants to see happen, he does not tell you to ban that kid or put him in jail. I bet you I’m right, Sonnen concluded.”