On a recent episode of Beyond the Fight, Chael Sonnen shared a strong opinion about the current crop of light heavyweight contenders.
Sonnen was a master of self-promotion during his UFC run, talking his way into a light heavyweight title shot with then-champion Jon Jones. 'The Bad Guy' is disappointed that the top three contenders in Glover Teixeira, Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev don't seem to know how to promote themselves. He stated:
"These three competitors [Ankalaev, Blachowicz, Teixeira]... don't know how to do this game. Glover asked for the fight with a question mark. Not an exclamation point... Jan Blachowicz also made [just] one statement. And now, through an interpreter, Ankalaev is talking about how many more do I have to do?"
'The Bad Guy' is encouraging these contenders to make more demands instead of asking nicely and being polite. Since no one has really been able to distinguish themselves as the clear next challenger, it will be interesting to see if anyone takes Sonnen's advice and lobbies more vocally for the next shot at the light heavyweight title.
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Watch the full episode of Beyond the Fight below:
Chael Sonnen seems to criticize Joe Rogan's diagnosis of Anthony Smith's "broken" leg
During the live broadcast of UFC 277, Anthony Smith was audibly heard saying that he "broke his leg" during the fight. Joe Rogan, who was part of the commentary team, took his word as fact. Rogan stated on air that Smith's leg was broken. Chael Sonnen talked about how this could be dangerous and seemed to criticize Rogan in a very careful way:
"My final analysis when this was over is Anthony Smith made a comment in the ring, 'I broke my leg.' Joe Rogan told the world Anthony Smith broke his leg as opposed to Anthony Smith thinks he broke his leg [or] Anthony Smith says he broke his leg. Why does that matter? Well, we don't know if the leg's broken... You got to be real careful with a guy's injuries, real careful self-diagnosing, and you have to be real careful telling the audience. That's just my opinion. I'm not coming down on anybody."
Dana White confirmed in the post-fight press conference that there was indeed no fracture in Anthony Smith's leg. Chael Sonnen is friendly with Rogan and has made multiple appearances on his podcast. So, although 'The American Gangster' was critical, he tried to be so in the most lenient manner possible.
Watch Dana White give update on Smith's injury below: