- Chael Sonnen is puzzled about why the UFC matched up Conor McGregor with Michael Chandler
- Sonnen backed Curtis Blaydes as the biggest threat to Jon Jones at heavyweight
Jon Jones, widely regarded as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, made a triumphant comeback against Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 earlier this month. He asserted his dominance early and finished Gane in just over two minutes of the opening round with a guillotine choke. Following his crowning moment, he called out former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic for a showdown inside the octagon.
However, Sonnen believes there might be another challenge for Jones to face.
Chael Sonnen reveals the biggest threat to Jon Jones
In a recent appearance on The True Geordie podcast, Chael Sonnen shared his thoughts on the biggest challenge for Jones in the heavyweight division.
“It’s Curtis Blaydes. Jon’s highest achievement in amateur wrestling was a junior national college championship. Curtis won that exact same championship,” said Sonnen. “Curtis is a big guy, he’s a little bit younger. He leads the right lifestyle, doesn’t like to come out and do a lot of interviews. But he’s a solid guy. He gets up in the morning.
“He’s very disciplined, got coaches, works hard, and can go five rounds if he needs to. I don’t know if I could proclaim that anybody could go with Jon. That really is a once in a lifetime athlete.”
Sonnen casts doubt on Conor McGregor v Michael Chandler
‘The Bad Guy’ expressed his confusion about the targeted bout between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler, suggesting the bout was riddled with uncertainties and did not make sense.
“Something here isn’t passing the smell test. All of a sudden Conor’s back and he’s going to take on Chandler. Great. Why? Why are these two fighting? Moreover, when are they fighting? Where they fighting? What weight class? We’re told these two 155-pounders are going to fight at 170. That was weird because now it’s not for contendership. We know it’s not for championship but now it’s not even for rankings. So, why are we doing this? Just as a pure cash grab? Okay but that’s not generally the way it’s done. So, they come out and correct the statement. They said no, 155 pounds is where the weight class is. Chandler says 155 and Conor says no, it’s 170. We don’t even have a weight class agreed upon. I think that’s weird.”
“Secondly, Conor’s boots on the ground,” he continued. “He put out a tweet that he’s setting up camp at Big Bear. Camp is something he traditionally does 8-10 weeks before a fight. He’s not in the USADA pool. USADA has spoken up and said the day he enters he must give us 6 months. Conor disputed that but between the two, we have to think it’s the agency. Conor still hasn’t enlisted in the pool. He hasn’t started that clock. That’s a very precarious thing. Are we getting ready to see a feud between Conor and USADA? If so, sign me up. But I want to know.”
“This whole thing is very odd. Supposedly, he’s going to fight Chandler. Where are they going to fight? What weight? Who else is on the card? When are we doing it? When do they put it on sale? Where’s the announcement? The poster? Something about it is not right.”
