"Do not support that fight" - Chael Sonnen explains why he doesn't want the Khamzat Chimaev vs. Gilbert Burns fight to happen

Chael Sonnen believes Gilbert Burns deserves better than to be matched up with surging prospect Khamzat Chimaev.

It was recently reported that the UFC is looking at Burns as a potential opponent for 'Borz.' However, Sonnen is not on board with the idea. In a video uploaded to Sonnen's YouTube channel, 'The American Gangster' said:

"Neil [Magny] should – in my opinion – get the fight. This is no, Gilbert Burns, no. Gilbert Burns and [Khamzat] Chimaev, if you hear that anywhere, do not support it. Do not get behind that, do not retweet it, do not post it – kill it. You owe that to Burns. Somebody has to jump on the grenade that is Chimaev. How good is he? How good is he not? What's real?? What's not? Let him figure that out. But somebody still has to jump on the grenade of taking on a very good prospect."

Sonnen also explained why he wasn't in favor of a Burns-Chimaev matchup. The former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight contender said it would be unfair for No.3-ranked Burns to potentially be used as a "stepping stone" at this stage of his career. He added:

"Gilbert has done enough favors, it should not – at this point – be Gilbert. If Chimaev is as good as the people think he is and someone has to be the stepping stone along the way, it should not be Gilbert. Not right now. Gilbert's done enough of that. Gilbert's phone has rung enough times to do a job that nobody else had the balls to do."

Check out Chael Sonnen's take on Gilbert Burns vs. Khamzat Chimaev:

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Gilbert Burns explains why he wants to fight Khamzat Chimaev

After a dominant performance at UFC 267, it seems like many welterweight contenders aren't too keen on fighting Khamzat Chimaev. However, Gilbert Burns appears to be up to the task.

Appearing on MMA Fighting’s Portuguese-language podcast Trocação Franca, the Brazilian star explained why he has mixed feelings about the potential of fighting Chimaev. 'Durinho' looks forward to the challenge of facing a hype train, but isn't too happy that he has to fight a No.10-ranked fighter. He said:

“I don’t think I’ll fight him while he’s ranked at No. 10, I think he’ll fight one more time and, [after] winning against a top-5 or top-6 [welterweight], getting closer to the top 5, I’d fight him, no problem at all. Top-10, I wouldn’t fight [him]. But that’s me fighting against myself. Top-10 doesn’t make sense, but I want to fight, so it’s complicated."