My boy ain’t even close to being fired. He is giving fight instructions to a world champion fighting once again to keep that world title. He told him as long as he keeps intelligently fighting even when hurt he can be assured Marc will be allowing the fight to continue….. Sounds… https://t.co/WLJOKiEidF
Alexander Volkanovski | (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
Chael Sonnen isn’t buying Alexander Volkanovski’s sales pitch.
This past weekend, Volkanovski successfully defended his featherweight title with a second-round stoppage of Movsar Evloev in the main event of UFC 333. The win was yet another feather in the cap of one of the greatest fighters of all time, and afterward, Volkanovski quickly began to lobby for an even grander feather: a fight with lightweight champion Justin Gaethje.
Despite the line of contenders at lightweight, Volkanovski suggested that he and Gaethje could do a superfight, with both men retiring afterward so as to not hold up either the 145-pound of 155-pound divisions. But Chael Sonnen thinks that’s ridiculous.
“He does not know what we are doing here,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “Volkanovski just laid out one of the dumbest ideas I’ve ever heard. … He’s gonna go up, and he’s gonna fight Justin Gaethje. He’s got no problem with him; they get along. But they’re gonna throw their arms around each other and put the gloves down in the middle when this thing is over. Who does that help? Why would anybody book that fight?
“It was just a really weird thing to do. He suggested that he goes to 155 pounds to test himself. I appreciate that, except the fact that you’re a ‘55-pounder that cuts his ass off to not fight at ‘55. You cut your ass off to not test yourself. You used to weigh 96 kgs [211 pounds]. …
“I do challenge the notion that, ‘I will go to 155 to test myself to fight Gaethje.’ That’s a cop out. That’s a cop out by anybody. I don’t mean that it’s conscious, but that it’s subconscious. If you want to go to 155 and test yourself, drop the strap and go into the division; exactly what Ilia Topuria did. Now, I understand that history is going to tell you that Ilia ended up with a title shot. He was not guaranteed a title shot when he dropped the strap and moved into the division.
“You want to test yourself, do what Max Holloway did: be a ‘45-pounder that enters ‘55 with no guarantee. Which means if I lose, I don’t get to say I lost to the best guy.’”
It’s unknown right now if the UFC has any interest in accommodating Volkanovski’s pitch, though following UFC 333, UFC CEO Dana White did suggest it would be hard to deny “The Great” many requests. That being said, Volkanovski has already had two shots to become a two-division UFC champion, losing twice to Islam Makhachev. In those instances, Volkanovski did not vacate his featherweight belt, and Sonnen seems to take umbrage with Volkanovski looking to get that same consideration for a third time.
“When Volk went up, he did not vacate; he did not burn his boats. If he was to burn his boats, he would have dropped the ‘45-pound belt. …
“There’s nothing stopping — there’s no anchor tied to your ass to do that. You can do that now. Right now. … Make a public statement, that’s all you’ve got to do to drop a belt. Tell the public you’re dropping the belt. It’s no different than we put a belt on a guy at a press conference. This really is how it works.
“You want to test yourself? I like the idea. You want Gaethje? It’s not the same thing. You want a shot at a world title that you’ve already had twice. It’s not the same thing. You want to test yourself, do what Ilia did: drop the belt, go into the division.”
My boy ain’t even close to being fired. He is giving fight instructions to a world champion fighting once again to keep that world title. He told him as long as he keeps intelligently fighting even when hurt he can be assured Marc will be allowing the fight to continue….. Sounds… https://t.co/WLJOKiEidF
Quillan Salkilld (13-1) vs. Benoit Saint Denis (17-4, 1 NC); UFC Sydney, Feb. 6
Mailbag!
I’m sure I’m in the minority, but letting Volkanovski get a third crack at a lightweight title would be absurdly silly when there are many more-deserving contenders waiting. But if you’re going to push for it, at least just be honest and say why you really want it: because you love Volk and want him to get a chance at a meaningless second title.
Because that’s what this is about. If he beats Gaethje and instantly retires, he won’t be the best lightweight on Earth, the same way GSP wasn’t the best middleweight. It’s just collecting a trinket, at the expense of the careers of other deserving contenders.
Chael is right: if Volk wants another lightweight title shot, go up and beat a top contender. Then no one can possibly complain.
