Chael Sonnen believes UFC 280 card will fall apart thanks to fighters "looking for a way out"

Former MMA fighter Chael Sonnen has revealed that he's not going to be surprised if a number of fighters pull out of the stacked UFC 280 card because there are already a number of replacements ready.

UFC 280 will be headlined by Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev facing off for the vacant lightweight title. 'Do Bronx' was stripped of the title earlier this year whereas Makhachev is fighting for the belt for the first time. Waiting in the wings and also on the card is No.6-ranked Beneil Dariush, who is booked to fight Mateusz Gamrot. 'The American Gangster' believes Dariush is on the card in case one of the main event fighters pulls out.

The co-main event of the night is another title bout. This time it's between bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling and T.J. Dillashaw. In a similar move by the UFC for the main event, the No.1-ranked Petr Yan and Sean O'Malley are going head-to-head. However, Sonnen again suspects they're on the card in case there's any issue with Dillashaw or Sterling.

Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Chael Sonnen said:

"This is an oddly stacked card. Of course, we're going to look at the main event first. I think that it's very good news that Benny [Dariush] goes in against either... Look at Aljo and Dillashaw. We already have 'Sugar' Sean and Yan waiting. This card won't hold up, the way that I just laid it out for you won't hold up. The odds of it holding up are very, very slim. There's guys that don't want to be there."

Catch the video here:

Chael Sonnen gives his thoughts on Michael Chandler and Islam Makhachev's arguement

Chael Sonnen has weighed in on an argument between Michael Chandler and Islam Makhachev after 'Iron' said that Makhachev was being praised too early in his career.

Chandler took part in an interview with MMAFighting.com and was asked for his thoughts on the upcoming UFC 280 bout between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev. Chandler was full of praise for 'do Bronx' as he shared the octagon with him, but the American believes the Russian fighter is being praised despite not having wins over any notable names.

Chandler's comments caught the attention of Makhachev, who told him to "stay in line":

Expand Tweet

'The American Gangster' offered his take on the situation between the two lightweights and added that Chandler was only seconds away from becoming champion when he fought Oliveira:

"Michael Chandler whipped his [Olivera's] a**. He was one punch in a middle of a scramble, well less than one second away from the referee stoping that [the fight] and giving him the win."

Watch Chael Sonnen's full comments here: