Getty (L-R) Jared Cannonier and Sean Strickland face off during the UFC Fight Night weigh-in.
UFC veteran Chael Sonnen fired shots at the headliner of the upcoming UFC Vegas 66, the final card of 2022.
Former middleweight title challenger Jared Cannonier is scheduled to face Sean Strickland today at UFC Fight Night 216 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. He goes into the bout looking to get back in the winning column after dropping his latest appearance to former champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 276.
Meanwhile, Strickland will target rebounding from his loss to reigning 185-pound king Alex Pereira, which took place on the same International Fight Week card in July.
Ahead of the nearing clash, Cannonier got asked about the outcome of Adesanya’s title loss to Pereira (at UFC 281 last month) during the pre-fight press conference.
Sonnen took to YouTube to share his thoughts on Cannonier’s response. He started by heaping praises on ‘The Killa Gorilla’ for the way he carries himself.
“This is a top guy in the world, this is a main eventer who doesn’t understand and doesn’t do media. He doesn’t come out with the tweets that make everybody laugh and get shared. Some of you absolutely love that; believe it or not, I’m not criticizing it. I’m sharing that as part of the story because he did not do that but made it to the main event. Now, he’s staying there.”
Sonnen Says Cannonier Should Not Do Media
‘The Bad Guy’ further made his case to have a main event fighter that can promote well to the media and argued that Cannonier may not be fit for the role.
“You have a very nice guy, you have a gentleman here. Now, that gentleman doesn’t do media and that’s relevant. He’s got an incredible look,” Sonnen said. “I’ve lifted weights my whole life trying to look like Jared Cannonier… it’s tough even with those ingredients to not do media and be a main event, it’s just tough. Not a ton of guys you can find that do that.
“Jared comes out yesterday, he does the media scrum,” Sonnen said. “It was after that media scrum that I realized he should not be doing media. So, Jared comes out and they ask him about Adesanya vs. Alex [Pereira], specifically the stoppage. He says, ‘I could see both sides of it. I can see it’s a championship fight let him go out on his shield.
“I can see the other side,’ let me stop you right there Jared, sorry, that one’s wrong. He does finish the thought to say, ‘I can see the other one,’ which is he looked like he was in trouble. Stop the fight.”
Sonnen Believes Cannonier Did Not Give an Answer
According to Sonnen, Cannonier failed to pick a side in the argument and ultimately, did not provide the answer needed.
“No, wait, time out. There are not two arguments. Then he went even further, he took like 3 minutes answering the question… I could see the argument of him going out on his shield. But if you left him in there, he might take more damage that he doesn’t need to take.
“He says, ‘I don’t have an opinion on the argument. I just want you to know I understand the argument.’ No, you do not. There was nothing about what you just said that is the argument. It has never been spoken that it’s a championship fight let him go out on his shield. That’s not the argument.”
Sonnen analyzed Cannonier’s stance from a legal standpoint and reiterated his conviction.
“He spent three minutes going absolutely nowhere. He has no opinion whatsoever, which to share that opinion is the only reason he was asked the question. So, he doesn’t give the one thing he was supposed to do and then he states his understanding of his argument. No, he did not.
“That is not a part of the argument that because it’s a championship fight, he should go out on his shield, not to mention the illegality with the fact that you cannot call a match different. It doesn’t matter if there’s a minute left if it’s a minute in, or if it’s for the belt or you’re jerking the curtain.”