Chael Sonnen Unconvinvced Edwards vs. Usman 3 Will Happen in March: ‘That Thing is Radio Silent’

Chael Sonnen believes something is up with Edwards vs. Usman 3 and suggests another fighter that could reap the benefits.

Gilbert Burns
Courtesy of Chael Sonnen on YouTube / @ESPNMMA on Twitter

Chael Sonnen says Gilbert Burns should announce himself as the official backup for UFC 286’s main event between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman. 

Burns is coming off an impressive first-round submission over Neil Magny at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro. The victory got ‘Durhino’ back into the win column and into the welterweight title conversation once again. Currently, the newly crowned 170-pound champion Leon Edwards is scheduled to defend that title in a highly anticipated trilogy bout with former titleholder Kamaru Usman. However, Chael Sonnen gets the feeling that Edwards vs. Usman 3 may already be in trouble.

“There is something about Kamaru Usman and Leon in March that doesn’t feel right,” Sonnen said on the latest episode of Beyond The Fight. “Can we agree on that? That thing is radio silent.”

The announcement of Edwards vs. Usman 3 came with little fanfare, but much of that can be attested to the blockbuster announcement that Jon Jones would be returning to the UFC in March as former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou exits the promotion. Even so, Sonnen sees a potential opportunity for Gilbert Burns to step in should things fall apart in the coming weeks.

“I think there’s a very clear path for Gilbert to get a world title fight this year, but I also think there’s a clear path for Gilbert to get a world title fight next,” shared Sonnen.

At UFC 280, Alexander Volkanovski seemingly injected himself as the backup for the main event title fight between Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira. Sonnen believes Burns should take a page out of Volkanovki’s book by announcing his desire to be the official backup for the UFC London showdown later this year. 

“The effort, the hard work, and the heavy lifting that Gilbert Burns has already shown. It would just seem as though you’d take that one more step. ‘Hey, guess what? I’m gonna be the backup fighter that night.’ It would just seem like there’s massive reward to that. It would seem like there’s massive opportunity there and perhaps that isn’t the path that you would take, but I do see within this sport where we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Something has already happened. Take a guy and go copy it.”

Published on January 24, 2023 at 7:35 pm
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