A well-known analyst of mixed martial arts, Chael Sonnen, picked up a fighter who should insure a duel between Khamzat Chimaev and Paulo Costa.
“The Bad Guy” discussed the reasoning behind his bold and unsolicited suggestion.
Chael Sonnen doesn’t want the Paulo Costa vs. Khamzat Chimaev to carry on without a backup fighter and he is convinced that there’s no better man to call up than Kamaru Usman.
Kamaru Usman ticked all the boxes
Speaking on his YouTube channel, “The Bad Guy” pointed out that Paulo Costa vs. Khamzat Chimaev is the fight everybody wants to see despite it not being the headliner of UFC 294. Therefore, Sonnen thinks the UFC should have a backup fighter and it only makes sense that they appoint Usman.
“They need, it is a paramount that they have a backup fighter in Abu Dhabi for Paulo Costa versus Khamzat Chimaev, it is paramount and it can’t just be anybody cause that’s the feature match, that’s the main event as far as we’re all concerned… The right guy has to be ready… The right guy is not Jarred Cannonier. I’m not saying that to be negative… The right guy has a name, the right guy’s already asked for the fight, the right guy’s in shape… The right guy to fill in for Paulo Costa or Khamzat Chimaev, whichever one of them blinks first and they’re both blinking right now, little inside news for you, the fight guy is Kamaru Usman,” Sonnen declared.
185 is Kamaru Usman’s natural weight
Sonnen also explained why moving up to 185 will never be an issue for “The Nigerian Nightmare.” According to Sonnen, Usman used to compete in wrestling at 185 and the only reason why he refused to fight Chimaev at middleweight is because he didn’t want to end up facing Israel Adesanya.
“I believe that Kamaru Usman should go to 185 pounds,” Sonnen said. “That’s Chael’s belief. I also followed Usman as a wrestler, who wrestled at 184 pounds, so I know that size is not an issue for him. That’s his actual size… Usman is just fine at 185. I’m telling you that until I’m blew in the face but it’s true… he didn’t wanna do it at 185 because it would have become a number one contender’s match. And if he beat Chimaev, which he planned to do, he did not want to be in a position where he drew into Izzy.”
As it stands, there’s some brewing interest in a Kamaru Usman vs. Stephen Thompson showdown, which the former welterweight champ himself suggested. Until then, fans should still wait for the UFC’s final take on Usman’s situation.
Check out Sonnen’s full video below: