Chael Sonnen says Francis Ngannou should follow Jorge Masvidal's lead in fight promotion - "Masvidal knows how to get the money"
Chael Sonnen believes Francis Ngannou and several other UFC fighters should learn a thing or two from Jorge Masvidal when it comes to self-promotion.
During an episode of his YouTube show, Sonnen explained what Masvidal does so well to hype up his fights. 'The American Gangster' used Masvidal's latest tweet about Colby Covington as an effective example of generating interest. Sonnen said:
"What can Deiveson Figueiredo, Brandon Moreno, and Francis Ngannou learn from Jorge Masvidal? Well, you have are three guys who are complaining they're not getting enough money and you have one guy who's never said the word 'money' – Jorge Masvidal. Jorge Masvidal is bringing attention to his fight successfully. Do you know what it costs to post something on Twitter? Do you know how cheap and inexpensive that is?"
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Sonnen added that fighters like Ngannou, Figueiredo and Moreno should refrain from complaining about their pay and instead focus on generating the money themselves. The self-proclaimed 'Bad Guy' continued:
"Everybody unhappy in their contract, everybody who thinks they should be getting more money and everybody who's talking about money needs to follow the lead of the guy who's not. When was the last interview you saw where Masvidal said he needed more money? How about never. And it's not because, all of a sudden, Masvidal lives some minimal lifestyle. It's not as though Masvidal is not a prizefighter as well. Masvidal knows how to get the money."
Watch Chael Sonnen discuss 'Gamebred's' promotion abilities below:
Ngannou, of course, is recently engaged in a contract dispute with the UFC. The Cameroonian superstar has threatened to leave the promotion unless he's offered a contract that would allow him to pursue a professional boxing career.
Chael Sonnen weighs in on Jorge Masvidal vs. Colby Covington
Chael Sonnen recently chimed in with his thoughts regarding the grudge match between Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal.
For context, Covington and Masvidal had trained together for years at American Top Team. However, the relationship between them has soured and the two men will now settle their differences in the main event of UFC 272.
As intriguing as the narrative is, Sonnen believes the history between Covington and Masvidal won't really matter come fight night. According to Sonnen:
"Those guys do not know each other whether they think they do or not. Teammates, workout partners, cornering each other, roommates, has nothing to do with it for two reasons: They were different weight classes. Whatever you think you know about a guy’s strength or his speed or the positions you’re able to give his problems in, it doesn’t matter when they change weight classes."
Watch Chael Sonnen discuss the main event of UFC 272 below:
Sonnen also pointed out that neither Covington nor Masvidal were at the peak of their powers back when they trained together. For those reasons, Sonnen believes the rivals really know nothing about each other's strengths and weaknesses.