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Chael Sonnen has claimed that newly crowned interim UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane was never a title contender or in line to fight Francis Ngannou. The only reason he is going to share the octagon with 'The Predator' is because of a miscalculation by Ngannou's team.
In a recently released video on his YouTube channel, Sonnen mentioned that the number one priority for a champion is to make sure he gets to keep his belt:
"Ciryl Gane was never a title contender, he was never going to be fighting Francis. He was never going to be the interim champion until a miscalculation by team Francis opened the door of opportunity that Ciryl walked through. It's very relevant, very. Your number thing that you need to do as champion is to make sure you keep that belt and there's a lot of ways to do it," Sonnen said.
However, Sonnen added that there is currently a side that viewers do not like to see, one which includes the champion refusing to fight. The former UFC fighter explained that refusing to fight is one way to keep the belt. Alternatively, a champion could follow in the likes of Kamaru Usman's footsteps and beat every challenger that steps in their path:
"There's the side that we don't like as viewers, the side that we're seeing right now, just refuse to fight. Come up with an excuse, don't get in there but your next photoshoot with your next company that's going to sponsor you will involve you having a 12-pound gold belt around your shoulder. Okay, one way to do it or you can do it the hard way, the Kamaru Usman way, which is to step in there and have to whip anybody's a** that's coming after you. Either way, your job is to keep that belt."
Ciryl Gane is set to face Francis Ngannou at some point down the road
At UFC 265, Ciryl Gane won the interim UFC heavyweight championship by beating Derrick Lewis. In doing so, the French fighter confirmed a future title shot at the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion.
Ciryl Gane is set to face Francis Ngannou in the near future in what will be an explosive bout between the former MMA Factory teammates.
