Chael Sonnen opens about wanting the UFC to stop promising two fighters 'the same thing' in 2024
Chael Sonnen recently opened up about one thing he hopes the UFC refrains from doing in 2024.
The former UFC middleweight title challenger uploaded a video to his YouTube channel, where he discussed the ongoing welterweight title situation. He mentioned that a number of top welterweights are competing at UFC 296 this Saturday and noted that more than one fighter had been promised a title shot by the promotion.
Sonnen said:
"It would be very reasonable to believe the who's next for the winner of the main event is going to come out of this card, but they're not. And that is where in lies the problem...If there is anything in 2023 that I hope we do not do again, it is the idea of having two guys in the same weight promised the same thing. It is having two guys in line for a championship match." [1:01 - 1:44]
Chael Sonnen brought up a very logical point as it appears as though Belal Muhammad has been promised a title shot against the winner of Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington. But, an impressive performance by one of the other top ranked welterweights at UFC 296 could complicate things going forward.
It will be interesting to see what transpires this Saturday and who the promotion will name as the next number-one contender for the UFC welterweight championship.
Check out the full video below:
Chael Sonnen compares welterweight title situation to Francis Ngannou's UFC heavyweight title pursuit
Chael Sonnen compared the current status of the welterweight division to when Francis Ngannou was in pursuit of the heavyweight championship.
In the aforementioned video, 'The American Gangster' brought up 'The Predator's' impressive run at heavyweight and noted that he had been promised a title shot prior to his fight against Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC 249. He mentioned that despite being promised a title shot, it resulted in him being inactive for months because the promotion already had a title fight between Daniel Cormier and then champion Stipe Miocic booked. He said:
"The unseen negative byproduct was we already had Stipe [Miocic] and Daniel [Cormier] signed. So for the first time ever, we have identified a number-one contender prior to the match...Then came the number-one contender...So all Francis [Ngannou] knows is 'I don't get paid for four months plus whatever a cycle is'."
