Chael Sonnen is not afraid of a good hot take and he proves that in his latest video about Cody Garbrandt. He believes the former UFC bantamweight champion is still the best fighter in his former weight class.

Cody Garbrandt has been on a tough run since losing to TJ Dillashaw back in 2017. Chael Sonnen doesn't care about that, he thinks you're special once you become a champion.

“Cody Garbrandt came out in a interview and said something I found confusing,” the former UFC fighter said on his YouTube channel. “He said that he felt great at 125lbs but that a fight with Sean O’Malley was looming. That’s tough. I read that thing and then I read it a third time. You’re 125, Sean is 135, these two things don’t go together. They don’t have to. I don’t have to understand everything. But, I still focused on this. Now my problem with Cody Garbrandt…Look, I believe Cody is the best 135 pounder the world has ever seen. You want to give me a hard time about that go ahead. I believe the Cody Garbrandt that beat Dominick Cruz can beat any man that can tip the scale at a 135lbs.”

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Chael Sonnen then continues to say that not every UFC champion is able to have multiple title defenses. The former fighter thinks it's important that fans don't give Cody Gabrandt a tough time in his quest back to a UFC title.

“Some guys’ (title) reign isn’t long. Some guys don’t defend, and re-defend and go on to defend that thing 5, 6 or 7 times. Those guys that do, wow. There’s a real adoration for that, but it doesn’t take away from the guy who did it one time. So the rules are different for Cody Garbrandt as I see them. When you become a world champion the rules are now changed. Cody doesn’t have a whole bunch of options. You want to give him a hard time (for calling out O’Malley), he doesn’t have a lot of options. Fight or not fight? What do you want to do? He’s made it clear that he’s going to fight. Accept it! For some guys, they’d be given their walking papers and it wouldn’t even be a conversation. Make sure you understand, there are laurels here. One hundred percent. This is a world champion who is desperately trying, that’s what changing weight classes, doing whatever it takes, taking on all comers. He’s desperately trying to recapture something. Let’s get behind that. Let’s not give Cody a hard time.”

It is currently unclear if the UFC is interested in a fight between Cody Garbrandt and Sean O'Malley. Chael Sonnen certainly has some strong opinions on the fight.