- Chael Sonnen explained why he believes Bo Nickal’s team is responsible for his underwhelming performance at UFC 309
- “The Bad Guy” voiced his concern regarding Tom Aspinall’s gas tank if he and Jon Jones end up fighting
Chael Sonnen thinks Bo Nickal’s team came up with the wrong gameplan at UFC 309 and explained why Tom Aspinall could have a disadvantage against Jon Jones.
Bo’s team made a mistake
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, “The Bad Guy” clarified that he is not criticizing Nickal’s performance. Instead, he was just pointing out that Nickal’s team should’ve relied on his high-level wrestling like he was supposed to but they didn’t.
“I know his father very well he will slap cold water in Bo’s face and that will not happen again. Somebody convinced Jason Nickal’s son, Bo, that he wasn’t good enough to go the ground with Paul Craig. And somebody that’s supposed to be in Bo’s trusted inner circle, Bo believed him, and Bo cannot believe that. He cannot believe that there is anybody that he’s got to back down from. And if he does believe it, he’s gotta go back to the Contender Series. He belongs here, he belongs in the UFC,” Sonnen said.
Tom’s gas tank could be an issue
Sonnen also weighed in on the potential heavyweight title fight between Jones and Aspinall. According to the former light heavyweight title contender, Aspinall was on point when he said “Bones” wouldn’t find enough tapes to study his game because almost all his UFC fights ended in the 1st round.
However, Sonnen emphasized that it could also be a disadvantage for Aspinall as Jones could last until the championship rounds.
“Tom’s right, there’s not much footage on him. I don’t know how he wrestles, I don’t know what his defensive wrestling looks like, I’ve never seen somebody try to get in on a double, I don’t know what his guard looks like, he hasn’t spent much time on his back. He brought up such a compelling point… Tom’s only left the first round in the UFC one time, it was to finish Andre Arlovski in the second round but, I don’t love that. I like a guy that can go 18, 20, 23 minutes pretty hard.”
"Tom has only left the 1st round of the UFC one time. It was to finish Andrei Arlovski in the 2nd round. I don't love that."@ChaelSonnen on Tom Aspinall's shortest average fight time in the UFC. pic.twitter.com/fu8qtHueFg
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 19, 2024
Despite the lackluster win over Paul Craig, Nickal remains unbeaten after securing a unanimous decision win. On the other hand, Jones is not interested in facing Aspinall and would only change his mind if the offer is almost unrealistically big.
Watch Sonnen’s full interview below:
