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Chael Sonnen has recently shed some light on why he believes the UFC's middleweight division is in decline.
In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Chael Sonnen discussed the faltering middleweight division. 'The Bad Guy' acknowledged that Israel Adesanya is the definition of entertainment. However, he believes the rest of the division lacks the type of drawing power that entices fans to watch their fights.
The former UFC middleweight also put the blame on the division's competitors for not bringing attention to themselves.
"There's not a godamn thing going on at 185. None of you guys are getting headlines, none of you guys are being interesting. None of you guys have anything coming up that anybody's talking about. "
Watch Chael Sonnen share his thoughts in the video below:
Chael Sonnen dismisses Israel Adesanya's next title bout
Chael Sonnen recently discussed the UFC's booking of Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker 2. With a crop of rising contenders at 185lbs, Sonnen is confident that there are plenty of fighters who deserve opportunities at gold instead of 'The Reaper'.
"The division is still failing. The mere fact that [Israel] Adesanya and [Robert] Whittaker are going to rematch when there was nothing, I do mean nothing was competitive about the first time they fought. The mere fact that we have guys within that division that have never lost in the division, guys that are on seven fight win streaks, and they're not even in the conversation... That is a sign your division is failing. "
Sonnen continued, opining that fans don't even care about the upcoming rematch between Adesanya and Whittaker.
"If I went to the average fight fan and said, 'Hey, do you want to see this fight? Do you know when it is? Do you know what arena they're fighting in? Do you know what the day is?' I'm going to get crickets,"
Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker are scheduled to rematch at UFC 271 on February 12th, for the UFC middleweight championship.
The two previously met at UFC 243, where 'The Last Stylebender' knocked out 'The Reaper' in the second round to become the undisputed UFC middleweight champion.
