Chael Sonnen Believes He’ll Fight Jon Jones at UFC 152, Expects Vitor Belfort to Bow Out

Quote :

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones turned down a last-minute offer to fight Chael Sonnen, which eventually lead to the collapse of UFC 151: Jones vs. Henderson. He is instead rescheduled to headline UFC 152 in Toronto, facing former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort.

Sonnen, however, isn’t buying. He believes that Belfort’s history indicates that the Brazilian will eventually drop out of the fight and he, the American Gangsta, will be asked once again to step in and save the day.

“I’ve got an agreement to fight a gentleman named Forrest Griffin on Dec. 29, but I don’t know,” Sonnen said Monday on ESPN Radio in Los Angeles. “Jon Jones has a date on Sept. 22 and right now he’s fighting Vitor Belfort. Vitor never shows up, Vitor has pulled out of way more fights than he has ever shown up for, so if I had to guess, you’ll be seeing me fight Jon Jones on Sept. 22.”

Belfort has had to withdraw from several bouts throughout his career due to injury, the most recent being a planned rematch with Wanderlei Silva at UFC 147 after the two served a stint as coaches on the first Ultimate Fighter: Brazil. Belfort pulled out of that bout, citing a broken hand.

If Belfort can’t make it to fight time, Sonnen says he’s ready to go, just like he was when asked to save the day for UFC 151. He wasn’t, however, as hypercritical of Jones as he was immediately following the UFC 151 cancellation.

“I hear what their side said and it was just mindboggling for me because it has never happened. He was within his rights to do it. Let’s not forget Jones had an agreement and he was ready to honor his side of the agreement, but the agreement changed. The new deal he was presented with he didn’t agree to,” recounted Sonnen.

“That was still a surprise though. That’s just simply never happened, especially when you’re the champion. This whole short notice routine, that doesn’t apply to a guy that is coming off a 10-week training camp. The short notice routine is for the guy that was sitting at home or had no idea there was a fight coming up.

“It didn’t make sense. Nothing added up that he pulled out. I don’t know. He doesn’t need to be scared of anybody.”

source

He may be right, but I hope Vitor does fight, because I honestly think he can pull off the upset. His crazy hand speed might be the X factor.


Now what if Jones beat Vitor and Sonnen beats Forrest? Is Sonnen going to get a title shot in the near future (maybe after Machida and Vitor)?
That would be ridiculous if he did. I hope Dana doesn’t forget that Sonnen was only going to be a replacement challenger at UFC 151.
Sonnen likely helped his company stock greatly by agreeing to step in (and rightfully so), but once all this craziness is over with, Sonnen’s rightful place is back in line with everybody else.
If he were to get the next crack at Jones, it would be the most literal case of a fighter talking his way into a title shot ever. I'm afraid Dana's not going to be able to resist the PR factor and give Sonnen a shot, even though IMO he's at least 3 wins away from justifiably getting it.

I think the X factor in your scenario is that Dana would love to put Sonnen v Jones because it would piss Jones off and show him who is boss. I'd like to see Sonnen v Jones .... well despite my new Chael nuthugger status .... I'd love to see Jones kick the shit out of Chael

Machida gets the next shot after Vitor no matter what. The only way Dana feeds him Sonnen is if a fighter bows out and they need a late replacement.
After Machida, Shogun has to be next. However, assuming Shogun will get another fight by then, and could lose. If Sonnen destroys Forrest, it could fast track him.... simply because Jones has already cleaned out any other names at the top of the list.

stock wrote:

Machida gets the next shot after Vitor no matter what. The only way Dana feeds him Sonnen is if a fighter bows out and they need a late replacement.
After Machida, Shogun has to be next. However, assuming Shogun will get another fight by then, and could lose. If Sonnen destroys Forrest, it could fast track him.... simply because Jones has already cleaned out any other names at the top of the list.

I don't really think Shogun has any more right to a title shot than the next guy, to be honest. I know that's not the popular opinion, but really, what has he done lately?

Regradless, I certainly wouldn't be shocked to see Sonnen in there if Jones gets by Machida and Belfort. It would be BS, but not surprising. I just hope Forrest trounces him so we can take that factor right out of the equation. I have no desire to see Sonnen in another title fight any time soon.

Machida gave what Dana wanted and that was a drop down drag out entertaining fight... If nothing else Dana knows how to payback .... good or evil....

i would love to see sonnen get a shot at jones soon!........only if its to slap bones in the face for turning the fight down the first time......like krieg said....show him whos boss!

I think Sonnen is right though Belfort is somewhat of a porcelain figurine and does have a tendency to break easily.

Krieger wrote:

I think Sonnen is right though Belfort is somewhat of a porcelain figurine and does have a tendency to break easily.

That is a valid point. I cant remeber who said this but some one mentioned the idea if sonnen did step in last minite for Vitor it should be a non title fight. That way if sonnen does beat jones he doesnt lose his title but we also know chael should get a title match then or if we get some thing similar to sonnen and silva 1 then let sonnen have a fight or two with some top 10's and then give him a rematch with title on the line.

Triggerman99 wrote:

He may be right, but I hope Vitor does fight, because I honestly think he can pull off the upset. His crazy hand speed might be the X factor.

I hope so, but imo he would need to do it in the first 30 seconds or so, because he also doesnt have the best TDD in the world and he tends to wilt when getting beat on. I see Jones taking him down quickly and sapping Vitors will to fight

Gecko wrote:

That is a valid point. I cant remeber who said this but some one mentioned the idea if sonnen did step in last minite for Vitor it should be a non title fight. That way if sonnen does beat jones he doesnt lose his title but we also know chael should get a title match then or if we get some thing similar to sonnen and silva 1 then let sonnen have a fight or two with some top 10's and then give him a rematch with title on the line.

I've always hated the idea of champions fighting in non-title fights. That's one thing I hated about Pride.

IMO when your the champ, every fight is a title fight (at least, in the weight class in which you are champion). That's what being the champ means. If a guy beats you, then you shouldn't be the champ anymore, because someone bested you.

This ^^^

Double This ^^

If you lose a non-title fight then you are only champion on a technicality. Nobody takes the championship seriously after that.