"I don't know that I buy that" - Chael Sonnen doesn't believe Dana White will get Alexander Volkanovski to step in if Charles Oliveira or Islam Makhachev misses weight

Chael Sonnen doesn't think Dana White will allow Alexander Volkanovski to step in as the replacement if either Charles Oliveira or Islam Makhachev misses weight.

Volkanovski recently announced that he's the backup fighter for the upcoming lightweight title clash at UFC 280. However, Sonnen doesn't think the Australian champion is guaranteed a title shot even if one of the main eventers misses weight.

Catch Alexander Volkanovski's tweet below:

It’s Official, I’m the back up fighter for the Light Weight title!
See you all in Abu Dhabi 👊 #UFC280

youtu.be/Sq8p0Qg2vbs

Sonnen didn't think Volkanovski was undeserving of a lightweight title shot, though. As far as he's concerned, 'The Great' still deserves to fight whoever wins at UFC 280, just not under unfavorable circumstances. During an episode of Beyond the Fight, Sonnen argued:

"So if I was to predict for you or if that's what Volk wants to do, I think he's the number one contender. I do think that's what it means. I think whoever wins this fight [between Oliveira and Makhachev] would be very wise to call Volk out. Get this business going, get this show on the road, and let's find out who the absolute best is. It's an interesting spot."

He then pointed out that there are a lot of factors to be considered before the UFC inserts Volkanovski into the main event:

"But I'm not going to go as far as to tell you – while Volk is gonna be there, while Volk is gonna weigh in – I'm not going to go as far as to tell you if someone misses weight, we're guaranteed Volk steps in. I don't know that I buy that. And I think it will have a lot to do with the specific situation. Who it is? Why did the miss? How much did they miss by? I think all of those things are gonna be considered before we put the backup in."

Check out the video below:

Former UFC champ explains why playing backup is a mistake for Alexander Volkanovski

Former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo warned Alexander Volkanovski about his decision to be the backup fighter for Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev.

The way Cejudo sees it, the best course of action for Alexander Volkanovski is to wait for the title shot instead of playing backup. In a video uploaded to his personal YouTube channel, Cejudo explained:

“If the UFC confirmed to you that you’re the next person in line to fight for the lightweight title, why don’t you just wait? If for some reason, Charles Oliveira pulls out of the fight — because that’s the only guy that would literally pull out of the fight because of weight issues, or X, Y and Z of not making weight. That being said, let’s say hypothetically, if you were to fight a guy like Islam Makhachev, that’s the worst match-up that you could ever pick."

Watch the video below: