Den pensionerade trefaldige titelutmanaren i UFC, och nuvarande ESPN-analytikern Chael Sonnen, riktade nyligen kritik mot fjäderviktsmästaren Jose Aldo. Han gick till och med så långt som att hålla med Conor McGregor, då han menade att om han fick bestämma – skulle Aldo tas ifrån titeln.
Många blev besvikna när det framkom att UFC:s fjäderviktsmästare Jose Aldo (25-1) tvingades dra sig ur titelmatchen mot Conor McGregor (17-2) på UFC 189. Inte minst blev nog UFC missnöjda, då mer pengar än någonsin lagts ner på marknadsföring inför stormatchen.
Den pensionerade UFC-fightern och nuvarande ESPN-analytikern Chael Sonnen (28-14-1) riktade nyligen kritik mot mästaren när han medverkade i MMA Junkie Radio. Faktum är att Aldo nu skadat dig inför hela fem titelförsvar, och enbart försvarat titeln sju gånger på fyra år som MMAnytt skrev om tidigare, vilket får Sonnen att undra hur ivriga UFC är att fortsätta investera i brassen som han kallar ”the worst drawing champ of all time”.
“I don’t think the UFC is going to be in a big hurry to put Jose Aldo back in the ring. He is the champion, so per the competitive architecture, they’re going to have to. But – he burned them five times. As quick as you can get that belt off Aldo and not give him a shot to get it back, not only has he burned you five times, but he is the worst drawing champ of all time.”
Sonnen fortsatte även att tala om vikten att ha sparringpartners man kan lita på, även om han är medveten om att olyckor alltid kan inträffa.
“You’ve got to have training partners you can trust. I could be sparring with a guy and he forgot his mouthpiece, it wouldn’t matter. I’m not going to loosen his tooth, ever. If he goes with me, he’s going to leave in the same condition that he showed up in. He can trust me. Those are the kind of guys that you want to be working out with.
“Accidents happen. This could have been an accident. But it was a spinning kick to the midsection. That’s a very hard strike to control – it’s the same reason we don’t throw elbows in practice. They’re just too hard to control, and if one gets away, even a light one, it can cut your opponent and he’s going to need stitches. There are some things you just don’t do on a partner; you save it for the heavy bag. I’m very confused as to how this even happened 10 days before a title fight.”
Amerikanen förundrades över hur hela situationen utspelat sig, och gick till och med så långt att han höll med McGregor om att matchen mot Chad Mendes (17-2) – som går om interimbältet – egentligen borde gälla den riktiga titeln. Trots att brassen Aldo är den enda som hållit fjäderviktstiteln sedan divisionen infördes i UFC, menar Sonnen att titeln skulle dras in om han själv fick bestämma.
“I couldn’t imagine pulling out of a fight, ever, for any reason, let alone a title fight, and he’s done it five times. You can call it an interim championship – I guess that’s what you have to do. If I’m in charge, we strip him.
“The whole thing is weird. Jose Aldo’s sitting around talking about moving up to 155 (pounds), his coach (Andre Pederneiras) is talking about no longer coaching him, or anyone else for that matter, and his training partner, who hurts him, is doing a media tour the very next day and tells the story of how he hurt him, and how he threw this kick and the champ was rolling around on the floor, crying – almost trying to put himself over. It was just really weird.
“I couldn’t imagine working out with a guy throwing kicks hard enough that he could break my ribs; I would not work out with the guy twice. And if the guy went on a media tour the very next day, putting his own name out there and describing how he did it and how I was rolling around in pain on the floor and I couldn’t get up, that’s not much of a teammate. They have a lot of success out of that gym, but it’s a disaster with the things you read.”
Trots kritiken menade han att han inte skulle tveka en sekund på att rösta på Aldo som den bästa fightern pound-for-pound om han själv var med i rankingprocessen, och han trodde även att Aldo skulle ha tagit sig förbi McGregor i stormatchen. Sonnen underströk dock vikten av marknadsföringsaspekten, och ser Aldo som totalt misslyckad i det avseendet medan McGregor tvärtom sköter det utmärkt.
“Conor did everything right – Jose did everything wrong as he always does. He’s the worst drawing champion in the history of the UFC. Numbers don’t lie; he is the worst draw with the belt. He’s never made a pay-per-view bonus because he’s never met a minimum threshold.
“As much as these sound like insults to him, they’ve got him ranked as the No. 1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and if I was on that ranking crew and got a vote, I would support it. But what makes him tick and what makes him go out there, I don’t know. It’s certainly not money. You would think (it was), because every interview he does all he does is bitch about money. He was staring 3.5 million dollars down the barrel and all he had to do was make weight, put his mouthpiece in and walk out when his music hit. And he elected not to do it, and I can tell you that a rib injury is about the most painful thing you can go through. I think it was a matter of him being tough enough and walking out there and giving his best performance on that night.
“This was his opportunity. It was a lot like with me and Anderson [Silva] – Anderson was a terrible-drawing champion, and then he had a challenger that came along and made him interesting. I think Aldo’s world would have changed next Saturday, win or lose. I think he was going to win, but even if he lost, he would have been on the map. And now he’s missed that opportunity.”
Har Sonnen några i poänger med vad han säger?
