Chael Sonnen has suggested that Alexander Volkanovski should fight Giga Chikadze next instead of waiting for a potential trilogy fight with Max Holloway.
Holloway is currently ranked No.1 in the featherweight division. However, he's set to face No.3-ranked featherweight Yair Rodriguez in November. The winner of the main event bout is expected to compete for the title in 2022. Despite that, Sonnen believes the champ should look elsewhere for his next challenger.
In a recent video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Sonnen said:
"Giga (Chikadze) is your next option at 145 pounds. Particularly, not only for the two things that Volkanovski wants, one is to be busy. Giga is ready today, I spoke to Giga today. He's ready to fight right now... Secondly, Volkanovski would like...some parody coming in there and Giga would definitely be new and fresh.... If they're setting up Volkanovski to go and fight Max for the third time, then how many times does Volk have to do it? And this is coming from a guy that believes Volk lost both of those fights... Where does that end? If Max goes out and beats Volkanovski...you don't think that Volkanovski is owed one?"
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Catch Chael Sonnen's take on who Alexander Volkanovski should fight next below:
Alexander Volkanovski put in a spectacular performance in his bout against Brian Ortega at UFC 266. The Australian successfully defended his featherweight title for the second time.
After his latest win, 'The Great' revealed that he wants to remain active. The 33-year-old said that he'd even be willing to go up a weight class to fight at lightweight next if necessary.
Giga Chikadze, meanwhile, is currently ranked No.8 in the featherweight division. The Georgian surprised everyone with his win against UFC veteran Edson Barboza last month at UFC Vegas 35. However, the possibility of him facing Alexander Volkanovski next for the featherweight title seems unlikely.
A potential superfight between Alexander Volkanovski and Henry Cejudo
Henry Cejudo and Alexander Volkanovski have been throwing shots at each other for a while. Their latest exchange came following the Australian's win at UFC 266. Both have expressed their willingness to square off inside the octagon.
With Max Holloway facing Yair Rodriguez on November 13, the possibility of this superfight happening doesn't seem far-fetched.
If Henry Cejudo were to win a potential superfight between the pair, then he'd be the first fighter in UFC history to win three belts in three separate weight classes.