Chael Sonnen requests UFC matchmakers to cancel the scheduled title eliminator and directly book a match between Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis.
Chael Sonnen has a simple request for UFC matchmakers: Cancel the scheduled title eliminator between Robert Whittaker and Dricus du Plessis as soon as possible. Whittaker and du Plessis are set to meet on July 8 at UFC 290 to determine the next contender for UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. However, Adesanya is already up 2-0 in his series against Whittaker and has made it clear that he wants to teach du Plessis a lesson next. This comes after “The Last Stylebender” called out the South African contender in an extended rant on his YouTube channel, following du Plessis questioning whether Adesanya was a true African champion.
Sonnen questions the logic behind the UFC potentially throwing away an Adesanya grudge match to book Whittaker vs. du Plessis instead. “Is it too late to scratch it? Is it too late? Why are we doing this fight?” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “It’s not too late. We shouldn’t have made du Plessis vs. Whittaker, should have we, guys? We should’ve made du Plessis vs. Adesanya, shouldn’t have we, guys? I mean, Izzy says, ‘I’m not going to fight anybody else until I fight him.’”
Sonnen points out that Adesanya is not saying he predicts du Plessis to beat Whittaker; in fact, Adesanya predicts Whittaker will win. However, Adesanya does not care if du Plessis is coming off a loss or a knockout humiliating defeat — he still wants to fight him next. Whittaker is considered to be the second-best talent in the middleweight division and is already a significant favorite to defeat du Plessis at UFC 290. If that happens, the UFC has already guaranteed that Adesanya vs. Whittaker 3 is next.
On the other hand, du Plessis is a fresh name who has ridden a perfect 5-0 start in the UFC to the brink of title contention and has extreme heat with the champ. Considering the alternative if Whittaker wins, Sonnen believes the UFC’s plan is a terrible idea. “Now we have an opportunity to just pull this fight. What are we doing?” Sonnen said, urging the UFC to instead make the Adesanya vs. du Plessis fight happen.