"Calm down Umc" - Fans confused after Chael Sonnen proclaims Tom Aspinall 'Active HWT Champion of the UFC'

Chael Sonnen and Tom Aspinall, as far as their MMA careers are concerned, occupy different ends of the spectrum. Before his retirement, Sonnen was known for being one of the sport's greatest trash-talkers, whose gift of gab earned him three UFC title shots, two at middleweight and one at light heavyweight.

Unfortunately, 'The American Gangster' failed to capture UFC gold at every turn. Meanwhile, Tom Aspinall is a mild-mannered fighter who doesn't do much talking, yet has managed to capture the UFC interim heavyweight title, after knocking out Sergei Pavlovich in round one at UFC 295.

Chael Sonnen has now taken it upon himself to speak for Tom Aspinall, due to his belief that Aspinall lacks mic skills. Now, after the Englishman's recent heavyweight championship triumph, Sonnen took to X/Twitter to label Aspinall an active heavyweight champion, which drew a mixed reaction from fans.

While some were in support of Chael Sonnen's claim, others disagreed with him, with some even hinting that he's merely saying so as a jab to Jon Jones, a former foe with whom he has never seen eye to eye. One fan, in agreement with Sonnen, mentioned the reluctance on the part of both Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic to face the Englishman:

"Yeah especially since Jon and Stipe are abviously afraid of him"

Another fan, however, described Sonnen's claim as premature, as Aspinall has yet to even defend his title:

"He hasn't even defended it yet. Calm down Umc"

One fan even referred to Aspinall as the 'disputed' heavyweight champion:

"If he’s not the Undisputed Champ… that makes him the Disputed HW Champ"

Others, however, agreed with Sonnen, with one fan predicting Aspinall will dominate the division:

"He will dominate"

A collage of fan reactions can be seen below:

Fan reactions

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Chael Sonnen's last four UFC fights

Chael Sonnen left the UFC after a fairly unsuccessful stretch of fights that saw him go 1-3 in his final four bouts with the promotion. This began after a first-round TKO loss to Anderson Silva in a rematch of their UFC 117 fight, which took place two years prior. Both instances saw Sonnen fail to capture the middleweight title.

He subsequently made his return to the UFC light heavyweight division, losing via first-round TKO to Jon Jones, before rebounding with a submission win over former 205-pound champion Maurício 'Shogun' Rua. Then, on his final fight with the UFC, he faced another former champion in Rashad Evans.

Sonnen lost via first-round TKO, which saw him exit the promotion after facing four different champions.