"Have no energy left" - Chael Sonnen offers unique advice to Holly Holm for her fight with Ketlen Vieira
Chael Sonnen has cast his prediction for the UFC Vegas 55 main event featuring Holly Holm vs. Ketlen Viera, and he didn't hesitate to immediately pick Holm. However, he did admit he wanted to see something new out of Holm than he's seen in the past.
During his latest YouTube video, Sonnen said:
"Holly Holm is made for duration. Five rounds, no problem. Does some of her best work in the fourth round. Third round, she's coming at ya. The first two, I find her to be a bit of a slow starter. I really do. And the advice that I give is don't go to the fifth round. Be so completely exhausted prior to the fifth round that you have to quit on the stool. Have no energy left."
Sonnen admitted that might sound like terrible advice, and advice he wouldn't accept or give to anyone else. In Holm's case, though, Chael Sonnen feels like there's been too many fights where she's walked away with more to give. He said:
"I feel like at the end of the night, Holly's still got gas in the tank. She's one of the great conditioned athletes in the history of the sport, and she should use that ... You've got that energy, you've got to go use it. You've got to use it now."
Chael Sonnen argued that if a fight with a dominant grappler started on the ground, the result would be a foregone conclusion. So he wondered why that wasn't the case with a dominant striker like Holly Holm, who defended her multiple women's welterweight boxing championships a staggering 17 times. He concluded:
"You have a dominant striker, they need to go out there, they need to start striking dominantly, right now! Don't wait!"
Watch Chael Sonnen break down Holly Holm vs. Ketlen Viera below:
Chael Sonnen feels an upset coming on for Israel Adesanya vs. Jared Cannonier
The odds for Israel Adesanya vs. Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 are pretty wide, with 'Izzy' a -350 favorite to Cannonier's +270 underdog.
Those aren't blowout odds by any means, but most people believe they know how the fight is going to go. Which is why Chael Sonnen thinks the conditions are just right for another big MMA upset to go down.
Jared Cannonier is vicious #UFC271 https://t.co/L1FPUYaY7I
In a recent interview with The Schmo, Sonnen said:
"Cannonier does come on. I think a lot of people are counting him out. I think he's kept a very cool head. There's something about this. While Adesanya is better, there is something about this that every upset in sport feels the way this fight feels. If Adesanya is not fully engaged in this, it's a hard night out. Cannonier is the No.1 contender for a reason, he's damn good."
Watch Chael discuss UFC 276's main event below: