Chael Sonnen is known for offering his opinion on everything that happens in the MMA world, primarily the UFC. He recently weighed in on Khamzat Chimaev and what should be next for him.
Khamzat Chimaev impressed everyone with his dominant showing at UFC 267 back in October. The bout was against Li Jingliang and saw the Swede absorb no strikes.
Chael Sonnen recently made his pick for Khamzat Chimaev's next move after UFC 267. Sonnen posted his pick on his YouTube channel.
“If you’re wrong on Chimaev, and you burn him too soon, what do you do then,” Sonnen said. “Do you throw him back in the spot he is now, which is a potential contender — except now you don’t have the same excitement or enthusiasm because you already put him in for the belt and he finished second? You’ve got to be careful with how you play it. Most guys, you gotta take what you can get when you can get it. If you try to play this build game, you’re gonna be broke and they’re gonna be released. It doesn’t work.
“But Chimaev is one of those exceptions, so what do you do with him? If he’s good enough to get the belt right now, how does it behoove you for him to have the belt? He’s got plenty of needles to move on the way to the top, and the current guy at the top is the No. 1 pound-for-pound in the world. Why am I gonna burn one of them?”
Chael Sonnen was quick to shut down a matchup against top UFC welterweight Gilbert Burns. He doesn't believe that fight is fair for either man.
“This is no, Gilbert Burns,” Sonnen explained. “No [for] Gilbert Burns and Chimaev. If you hear that anywhere, do not support it. Do not get behind that. Do not retweet it. Do not post it. Kill it. You owe that to Burns.”
Chael Sonnen has a UFC welterweight in mind for Khamzat Chimaev and it's quite the surprising pick. Sonnen has someone that's asked for Chimaev in the past.
“Neil Magny should get this fight,” Sonnen stated. “Magny should get this fight for one reason and that’s because he wants it. Other guys have been cleared to say they’ll take it, but none of them have said they want it — and I do mean none. Neil Magny not only said he wanted it, but he laid out a case as to why he should get it. That’s a very different callout.
“Neil Magny had a good one. ‘Not only was I offered Chimaev, I accepted it. That fight got scrapped but I was the guy a year ago. I’m here right now, he says he wants a ranked guy, put me in,’ it’s very different. Neil should, in my opinion, should get the fight.”
Niel Magny is the UFC welterweight Sonnen has in mind for Chimaev. It's a fight that makes sense for both parties and could be interesting for the UFC.
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