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The UFC legend Chael Sonnen recently made an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. Amongst other subjects, the duo discussed the PFL-Bellator deal, and what it means for the UFC, as well as for MMA fighters.
The PFL recently acquired Bellator and has announced plans to put on some big cards in the coming future. Combined, the two rosters could potentially rival that of the UFC, long considered the premier MMA promotion.
There are, however, two sides to that particular story. Ariel Helwani brought up the idea of the acquisition being "bad" for the sport overall, as there was now "one less place for fighters to go." 'The American Gangster' responded by saying:
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"The sport of football did really well when the NFL came in. The sport of professional wrestling did better when the territories went away and Vince (McMahon) had it all and could do more programming with better production and could get it in front of more people, so it's a little bit of a tough question. I don't know that I fully agree with it, and I do understand where competition comes and you rise to the top, but most people do that and overspend and go out of business anyway."
Check out Chael Sonnen's comments here (42:49):
Chael Sonnen reacts to Leon Edwards' potential participation at UFC 300
On the same episode of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, the Canadian-American journalist posited that there have been discussions surrounding Leon Edwards potentially competing at UFC 300, although he added that no opponent had been proposed yet. According to the 41-year-old, Dave Lovell, UFC champions' coach, was the one who told him so.
The UFC legend reacted to the news, saying (4:10):
"It would seem as though both Belal and Shavkat could go and fight for a championship. We've seen a new precedence lately Ariel, we've seen two number one contenders and we've seen two of them at a time, and I didn't love that. If there's one thing about 2023 that we don't continue down a road, it's the road of that. I don't like two guys lined up and then we have guys waiting."
Sonnen appears to be suggesting that the UFC streamlines their contenders, and puts forth a clear number-one contender for each division in the future.
