Chael Sonnen broke down the situation of two UFC champions wanting to move up a division to potentially become a two-division king.
Over the years, four fighters have held two UFC titles simultaneously – Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and Henry Cejudo. Recently two more fighters, Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski, have attempted to join the exclusive club and failed.
Heading into 2024, two more UFC champions are interested in attempting to secure a second world title – Islam Makhachev and Leon Edwards. Yet, the politics in the MMA business will require them to orchestrate a plan to make their dreams become a reality.
Former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen recently discussed the situation during a video posted on his YouTube channel. Firstly, Sonnen had this to say about Makhachev deserving a shot at welterweight gold because he gave Volkanovski two chances to become a two-division champion:
“[Islam Makhachev] said, ‘I gave [Alexander] Volkanovski a chance. Not once, but twice. I gave him a chance twice, it was my entire 2023. All I would like is the same thing that I’ve already done. I would now like that done for me as I’d like to go up to 170.’ That’s very reasonable. That’s a very very reasonable thing to do.”
Chael Sonnen followed up by saying Leon Edwards vs. Islam Makhachev isn’t an overly exciting matchup. With that said, the UFC could be more interested in making the fight if it would lead to a massive pay-per-view main event moving forward.
Sonnen had this to say about the potential matchup that would make Edwards vs. Makhachev more intriguing:
“Islam vs. Leon [Edwards], I don’t make belief to you that’s some kind of incredible fight that we’re all dying to see, but I will tell you as clearly as I know how to speak, you could take the greatest venue that the UFC played, Madison Square Garden, and you could put Islam in a title defense, because he will be champion, against [Shavkat] Rakhmonov and now all of a sudden, you do have an incredible business reason for allowing him to go up.”
Watch Chael Sonnen’s entire recent YouTube video below:
Chael Sonnen believes Leon Edwards will have to fight Islam Makhachev at welterweight before moving up to middleweight
As for Leon Edwards, he would have to wait until the UFC middleweight champion is determined when Sean Strickland defends his throne against Dricus Du Plessis on January 20. In the meantime, Chael Sonnen believes Leon Edwards owes Islam Makhachev a chance at becoming a two-division champion.
Sonnen explained his reasoning in the previously mentioned YouTube video:
“Leon would like to go to 185 pounds, but he doesn’t have an opponent. He’s made that clear. He’ll go fight [Sean] Strickland, his dream fight is [Israel] Adesanya, [Dricus] Du Plessis comes on top, I’ll guess we’ll have that talk. That’s not captivating, to watch him try to win a championship, that’s not captivating. It has to be a specific opponent. If [Edwards] would like to go up, and he would like to be given that opportunity, he could not say no to a guy who’s trying to do the same thing.”
Unfortunately for them, now doesn’t seem like the time for Islam Makhachev and Leon Edwards to pursue greatness in another division. Contrary to Alexander Volkanovski, Makhachev and Edwards have contenders ready to fight for gold in their division.
When it comes to welterweight, Belal Muhammad deserves a title shot against Edwards, and Shavkat Rakhmonov is close behind. Meanwhile, Islam Makhachev will likely defend his throne against Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje in 2024.
To be fair, anything is possible in the combat sports world, so it’s not impossible for Makhachev or Edwards to get the opportunity to become a two-division champion in the upcoming calendar year.
