Chael Sonnen knows what it’s like to make a run at a major title. He did it in the UFC and Bellator before retiring to become an analyst.
Following the massive upset dethroning of Israel Adesanya as UFC middleweight champion, Sonnen argued that the old champ deserves an immediate rematch against Sean Strickland, and that other elite fighters simply have not earned the opportunity.
Chael Sonnen Dismisses Dricus Du Plessis UFC Title Hopes
“[Khamzat] Chimaev vs. Paulo Costa [at UFC 294] just became a No. 1 contender’s match. It wasn’t originally. It was a No. 1 contender’s match for Chimaev if Chimaev wins. And then they were going to yank that rug and reveal it to us right after the fight in case [Chimaev] won.
But now, because you’ve got a No. 1 champ at the top, Strickland vs. Paulo works all day long, Strickland vs. Chimaev, plus they trained together, it works all day long. That’s going to be a No. 1 contender’s match, and du Plessis is going to get forgotten yet again.”
Specifically, Sonnen called out Dricus Du Plessis, formerly the #1 contender in the division, as unlikely to ascend to a title fight any time soon. “It’s not a great idea to sit around and wait, and du Plessis just needed a little more time.
He just needed that one match. I don’t know that he’s the No. 1 contender. I do think that’s a beautiful fight. But if we go and do the rematch, which I’m sure we’re going to do — so we do Strickland vs. Izzy [2], let’s say that the oddsmakers get it right [and] Izzy beats him.
You’re telling me we’re not going to the trilogy? We’re going to make it so known that we don’t want Sean as our champion, we’re not even going to hide it?
So then if you do do a trilogy, I just ate up the next 12 months, but even if I don’t eat up those 12 months, while Chimaev and Paulo Costa is likely only to the hardcores an elimination bout, I think as that fight gets closer, it’s going to be revealed to the world and we’re all going to know it’s an elimination bout.
I don’t know what to do with du Plessis, and I think that’s a really hard spot. Du Plessis once had this great attitude: Put me on the undercard, I’ll fight anybody. And he proved it.
He went out and fought Robbert Whittaker, nobody not named Izzy Adesanya got the jump on him. He’s got to go after somebody else. But du Plessis has also got to know what time it is.”
