"A lot of this came from Conor and Khabib" - Chael Sonnen on fighters like Jorge Masvidal, Paddy Pimblett, and Ilia Topuria brawling backstage

Chael Sonnen feels that the recent hotel-brawl between Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria is a bad look for the UFC. According to Sonnen, the rivalry between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov has set an unwanted precedent for UFC fighters.

Speaking about the recent brawl between Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria, Sonnen said that McGregor and Nurmagomedov's antics in the leadup to their 2018 clash at UFC 229 made some fighters assume that violence outside the cage is what sells.

'The American Gangster' pointed out that despite McGregor putting fellow fighters at risk by throwing a dolly on the bus Nurmagomedov was traveling in, the UFC went ahead and used the footage to promote the fight.

As per Sonnen, since UFC 229 became the highest-selling pay-per-view in the promotion's history, some fighters are of the opinion that this could be a great way to sell fights.

Although the UFC tapped into the bad blood between McGregor and Nurmagomedov to sell the fight, Sonnen doesn't feel the promotion encourages such behavior.

He further explained that although Jorge Masvidal's backstage brawl with Leon Edwards went viral, the UFC didn't let the rivalry culminate into a fight.

In a recent video on his YouTube channel, the former UFC middleweight contender said:

"A lot of this came from Conor and Khabib. When Conor broke into the Barclays center and took the hand truck and attacked the bus, when he had this whole thing with Khabib, then him and Khabib get in there and it ends up being the biggest pay-per-view that mixed martial arts has ever done, you could see where lights are going to go on in some fighters' head. 'Oh this is all I need to do, I need to behave like a fool.'"

Watch the video below:

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Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett must keep their rivalry aside and focus on upcoming fights at UFC London

Paddy Pimblett is scheduled to take on fellow lightweight Rodrigo Vargas at UFC London this weekend. This will be the Englishman's second fight inside the octagon. Ilia Topuria, on the other hand, is set to take on Jai Herbert in the main card opening fight at the event.

Topuria and Pimblett got into an altercation at a hotel in London where both fighters are currently lodged ahead of this weekend's Fight Night event. The fighters resorted to throwing bottles and punches at one another before security intervened.

In a tweet that has been deleted, the Englishman seemed to mock Georgians with reference to the infamous Russo-Georgian war of 2008. That's what led to the animosity between Topuria, who understandably took offense to Pimblett poking fun at his country with regard to an unfortunate event.

In a previous tweet, Topuria had seemingly warned Pimblett that if they crossed paths down the line, things were about to go down between the pair and that's exactly what happened.

Check out the tweet below:

While both Topuria and Pimblett must focus on their upcoming fights for now, it'll be interesting to see if the feud between the two lightweights culminates in a fight down the line.