Chael Sonnen is going off on Jon Jones and his lack of self-promotion.
If there was one fighter in UFC history who knew how to get himself noticed it’s Chael Sonnen. Sonnen is known as one of the best trash talkers in UFC history. He may not have been the most skilled or most talented but he was able to talk himself to fame and success. Even now as a retired fighter turned analyst, he uses his gift of gab to gain attention.
Sonnen is now calling for more fighters to express themself and take advantage of the opportunities out there. He is specifically mentioning former light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones. Sonnen feels Jones has done nothing to help his own cause in the last two years.
“I look at the situation that Jon Jones is in, Jon Jones is in a situation where there’s a very big match for him, but only one,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “What do you do after that one? I just look at that situation. The reason he had to leave 205 pounds he got bored. People were coming to Jon Jones fights, fight after fight after fight dressed up as empty seats. He looks around and he sees I gotta make a change. I need to get some new parody, I gotta reignite the fans who will then reignite me. I got it, I understood it, I supported it. But in two years he went and did some pull-ups and drinks and protein powder he hasn’t built a single fight for himself. Here we are two years later and 40 pounds bigger stuck in the same exact situation which is there’s nobody that you want to see fight Jon Jones and if you do want to see you’ve got one.”
Jon Jones is still planning a heavyweight debut, but Sonnen feels there is only one good matchup there
Jones decided to leave the UFC light heavyweight division after some negotiation problems with the promotion. He announced his intentions to move to heavyweight and has spent the last two years packing on some weight. The assumption was that he would immediately challenge for the title when he was ready to make his heavyweight debut and fight the champion Francis Ngannou. Ngannou also has had issues with the UFC and has not been booked for a fight in some time. Sonnen feels that Jones needs to be his own promoter and make the fans want to see him fight, especially if the bout with Ngannou never materializes.
“I feel as though Jon should be controlling the show. I’m now at 240 which makes myself eligible within my own psyche to go and fight it heavyweight but I haven’t decided I’m going to do that. I might be coming back to 205. It would seem to me that there was a game that could be played there. There is manipulation, you’ve had two years to do it. Two years you hire a guy to spot you on a bench press but you don’t put any of your money towards a creative element,” he said. “You haven’t gone and found guys in Hollywood, guys that write scripts, guys that have written shows, you haven’t found comedians that are on stage, stuck around at the yak yak shack grabbed them afterward, exchanged numbers, say give me something that’s interesting here. Like that never crossed your mind? 10% goes to some guy that gets some paperwork done but you never thought to add a creative form that just surprises me and you’ve had two years to do it.”
Jones keeps teasing his return but so far the date has not been set. Of course, fans want to see him face the champion, but talks of an interim belt against Stipe Miocic have been mentioned as well, although not in an official compacity.
