- Chael Sonnen thinks the best way to do a UFC 284 rematch is to have Alexander Volkanovski relinquish his featherweight title and commit to being a 155-pounder
- “The Bad Guy” suggests that two things could happen to Volk if he takes his advice
Chael Sonnen is among the MMA personalities in favor of a rematch between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski. However, “The Bad Guy” thinks it would only make sense if Volk drops his featherweight belt.
Volk gotta commit to it
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Sonnen said he thinks it would be a much better storyline if Volk will follow Jon Jones’ blueprint instead of Israel Adesanya if he really wants to run it back with Makhachev.
“If we’re going to do a rematch, we’re going to do a Volk versus Islam, okay, we’re not just going to redo that, we are going to make Volkanovski a 55-pounder. We have to but he also has to burn his ships. I mean Volk did damn near everything perfect in this match. He truly did, I mean a tougher man has not walked the planet. However one thing he didn’t do was burn his boats,” Sonnen began.
“You’ve seen many senators run for the presidency but they were never taken serious to be president unless they resigned… The whole reason [Israel] Adesanya[‘s] [move to] 205 did not work is Adesanya never committed it to 205. And the entire reason that Jon Jones, who’s gonna be heavyweight champion after leaving 205 [works]… is because he did burn his boats. He committed,” he added.
It’s a huge risk but the reward is satisfying
Sonnen went on to explain what would be the case should Volkanovski decides to take his advice. According to “The Bad Guy,” there’s no guarantee that “The Great” could still compete for either the lightweight or featherweight title if he loses. But on the other hand, Volk could prove that he really is the best pound-for-pound fighter if he wins.
“[Yair] Rodriguez, congratulations in the fight that nobody saw now makes you the undisputed champion. Volk, you’ve got to go here which means Islam, if you fail you are no longer world champion do you understand? Volk, if you fail you are not only no longer world champion, you will go into ‘No Man’s Land’ much like Colby Covington as it pertains to get into another world title opportunity as long as Islam stays number one. It would take that level of a commitment,” Sonnen explained.
Makhachev secured a unanimous decision win over Volkanovski in their historic title fight. Nothing is concrete yet at this point, but Makhachev’s coach Javier Mendez is confident that UFC 284 lived up to its hype and therefore, the UFC would want to see a rematch in the future.
