Chael Sonnen Urges UFC to Make Dricus Du Plessis vs Israel Adesanya

• UFC

The UFC is set to host an exciting bout between Dricus Du Plessis and Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 in the coming seventh month of this year. The event, which is expected to be a phenomenal display of mixed martial arts, will be led by the likes of Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez.

However, not everyone is looking forward to the Du Plessis vs Whittaker fight, including former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen.

An Alternative Proposal

In a recent YouTube video, Sonnen called out the UFC for staging the Du Plessis vs Whittaker fight, instead proposing that Du Plessis and Adesanya should fight immediately due to recent racist exchanges between the two on social media.

"Is it too late to scratch it? Is it too late? Why are we doing this fight?" Sonnen stated in the video. "We shouldn't have made Du Plessis vs. Whittaker, should have we, guys? We should’ve made Du Plessis vs. Adesanya, shouldn’t have we, guys?" According to Sonnen, Adesanya has made it clear that he will not fight anyone else until he fights Du Plessis, regardless of the outcome of the Du Plessis vs Whittaker fight.

"When Izzy says, 'I won’t fight anybody until I fight him,' that was not Izzy coming out and saying, 'I predict that he beats Whittaker.' As a matter of fact, Izzy predicts that Whittaker is going to beat Du Plessis," Sonnen explained.

"The inmates can’t run the asylum; believe me, I understand all of these things. But when you have a guy with that much good will, who has done everything that he’s said he was going to do, and he is now saying, 'I am not getting in there unless it’s against him — oh, and by the way, next,' I would understand why you can’t give into that," he continued.

A Terrible Idea

Sonnen believes that the UFC's plan to have Du Plessis fight Whittaker instead of Adesanya is a terrible idea, especially if Whittaker wins the bout. "Now we have an opportunity to just pull this fight. What are we doing?" Sonnen stated.

He also expressed his disappointment in the lack of promotion for the Du Plessis vs Whittaker fight, stating that as a professional in the business, he should already know the details of the fight. "I’m going to have to [promote this fight] because [Whittaker and Du Plessis are] not.

I’m going to have to convince you to watch it. I’m going to have to tell you when and where it is, because you don’t know. If it was a Chael Sonnen fight and it got announced three weeks ago, you would know who, what, when, why, where," Sonnen stated.

"Du Plessis vs. Adesanya, make that one," he concluded.